The movie's most famous scene has Lancaster and Kerr clinching in the waves, but the real love story here is between Warden and Prewitt. During his last scene with Mrs. Holmes, Warden is struggling to explain himself to her when he notices a scrawny soldier who could be the now-AWOL Prewitt. At the same time, no matter how jaded or hardened the soldiers, they respond to the purity of Prewitt's talent with the bugle. Today, a director would draw out the scene when Prewitt avenges Maggio with a knife and telegraph the one when he mourns him with a bugle. We grasp the notes first as they come in from the parade grounds through the barracks windows, then as Prewitt repeats the somber tune with the amplifying megaphone pointed in an alternate direction.
Men stand on the barracks steps and listen for a second time.
It's one of the most stirring and heroic sequences in any military movie, and there isn't a shot to be heard. Because of Tuesday's attacks, many arts, entertainment and leisure events have been canceled or postponed. It is advisable to call venues for confirmation of events through the weekend.