document_title: Allied invasion of Italy

question_text: who was the us general who led forces in italy

text: Allied invasion of Italy

text: Background[edit]

text: Allied plan[edit]

text: Following the defeat of the Axis Powers in North Africa in May 1943, there was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, in particular wanted to invade Italy, which in November 1942 he called "the soft underbelly of the axis" (and General Mark W. Clark, in contrast, later called "one tough gut").[2] Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and he believed an invasion would remove Italy, and thus the influence of Axis forces in the Mediterranean Sea, opening it to Allied traffic. This would reduce the amount of shipping capacity needed to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East[3] at a time when the disposal of Allied shipping capacity was in crisis[4] and increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, it would tie down German forces. Joseph Stalin, the Premier of the Soviet Union, had been pressing Churchill and Roosevelt to open a "second front" in Europe, which would lessen the German Army's focus on the Eastern Front, where the bulk of its forces were fighting in the largest armed conflict in history against the Soviet Red Army.

text: However the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, and much of the American staff wanted to avoid operations that might delay an invasion of Europe, discussed and planned as early as 1942, which finally materialized as Operation Overlord in 1944. When it became clear that no cross-channel invasion of occupied France could be undertaken in 1943, it was agreed to invade Sicily, with no commitment made to any follow-up operations. However, both Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the U.S. President, accepted the necessity of Allied armies continuing to engage the Axis in the period after a successful campaign in Sicily and before the start of one in northwest Europe.[5] The discussion continued through the Trident Conference in Washington in May but it was not until late July, after the course of the Sicilian campaign had become clear and with the fall of Benito Mussolini, the Italian Prime Minister and fascist leader, that the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), to go ahead at the earliest possible date.[6]

text: Joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) were operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it was they who planned and commanded the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland.

text: The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, codenamed Operation Husky, was highly successful, although many of the Axis forces managed to avoid capture and escape to the mainland. The Axis viewed this as a success. More importantly, in late July, a coup deposed Mussolini as head of the Italian government, which then began approaching the Allies to make peace. It was believed a quick invasion of Italy might hasten an Italian surrender and produce quick military victories over the German troops that could be trapped fighting in a hostile country. However, Italian (and more so German) resistance proved relatively strong, and fighting in Italy continued even after the fall of Berlin in April 1945. In addition, the invasion left the Allies in a position of supplying food and supplies to conquered territory, a burden which would otherwise have fallen on Germany. As well, Italy occupied by a hostile German army would have created additional problems for the German Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring.[7]

text: Prior to Sicily, Allied plans envisioned crossing the Strait of Messina, a limited invasion in the "instep" area (Taranto), and advancing up the toe of Italy,[8] anticipating a defense by both German and Italian forces. The overthrowing of Mussolini and the Fascisti made a more ambitious plan feasible, and the Allies decided to supplement the crossing of the British Eighth Army, under General Bernard Montgomery, with a seizure of the port of Naples. Although the Americans favored Napoleon's maxim that Italy, like a boot, should be entered from the top, the range limits of Allied fighter planes based in Sicily reduced Allied choices to two landing areas: one at the Volturno River basin and the other at Salerno.[9] Salerno was chosen because it was closer to air bases, experienced better surf conditions for landing, allowed transport ships to anchor closer to the beaches, had narrower beaches for the rapid construction of exit roads, and had an excellent pre-existing road network behind the beaches.

text: Operation Baytown was the preliminary step in the plan in which the British Eighth Army would depart from the port of Messina on Sicily, to cross the Straits of Messina and land near the tip of Calabria (the "toe" of Italy), on 3 September 1943. The short distance from Sicily meant landing craft could launch from there directly, rather than be carried by ship. The British 5th Infantry Division (Major-General Gerard Bucknall) of XIII Corps, under Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, would land on the north side of the "toe" while its 1st Canadian Infantry Division (Major-General Guy Simonds) would land at Cape Spartivento on the south side. Montgomery was strongly opposed to Operation Baytown. He predicted it would be a waste of effort since it assumed the Germans would give battle in Calabria; if they failed to do so, the diversion would not work, and the only effect of the operation would be to place the Eighth Army 300 miles (480 km) south of the main landing at Salerno. He was proved correct; after Operation Baytown the British Eighth Army marched 300 miles north to the Salerno area against no opposition other than engineering obstacles.

text: Plans for the use of Allied airborne forces took several forms, all of which were cancelled. The initial plan to land glider-borne troops in the mountain passes of the Sorrento Peninsula above Salerno was abandoned 12 August. Six days later it was replaced by Operation Giant, in which two regiments of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division (Matthew Ridgway) would seize and hold crossings over the Volturno River. This was at first expanded to include the entire division, including an amphibious landing by the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, then deemed logistically unsupportable and reduced to a two-battalion drop at Capua to block the highway there. The Italian surrender on 3 September cancelled Operation Giant I and replaced it with Operation Giant II, a drop of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Stazione di Furbara and Cerveteri airfields, 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Rome, to aid Italian forces in saving Rome, possibly the most historically important city in the world, from German razing, a condition of the Italian armistice.[10][11] Because the distance from the Allied beachheads precluded any substantial Allied support of the airborne troops, Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor, the acting assistant division commander (ADC) of the 82nd Airborne Division, was spirited into Rome to assess the willingness of Italian troops to cooperate with the Americans. Taylor's judgment was that the operation would be a trap and he advised cancellation, which occurred late on the afternoon of 8 September after pathfinders had already taken off aboard their troop carrier aircraft.

text: The main landings (Operation Avalanche) were scheduled to take place on 9 September, during which the main force would land around Salerno on the western coast. It would consist of the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, comprising the U.S. VI Corps under Major General Ernest J. Dawley, the British X Corps under Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, with the 82nd Airborne Division in reserve, a total of eight divisions and two brigade-sized units. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping Axis troops further south. The naval task force of warships, merchant ships and landing craft totaling 627 vessels came under the command of Vice Admiral Henry K. Hewitt.[12] Following the disappointing air cover from land-based aircraft during the Sicily landings, Force V of HMS Unicorn and four escort carriers augmented the cruisers USS Philadelphia, Savannah, Boise, and fourteen destroyers of Hewitt's command.[13] Cover for the task force was provided by Force H, a group of four British battleships and two fleet carriers with destroyers in support, which was directly subordinate to the C–in–C Mediterranean Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham.[12]

text: In the original planning, the great attraction of capturing the important port of Taranto in the "heel" of Italy had been evident and an assault had been considered but rejected because of the very strong defenses there. However, with the signing of the armistice with the Italians on 3 September the picture changed. It was decided to carry the British 1st Airborne Division (Major-General George F. Hopkinson) to Taranto using British warships, seize the port and several nearby airfields and follow up by shipping in Lieutenant-General Charles Allfrey's British V Corps and a number of fighter squadrons. The airborne division, which was undergoing training exercises in two locations 640 kilometres (400 mi) apart, was ordered on 4 September to embark on 8 September. With such short notice to create plans, Operation Slapstick was soon nicknamed Operation Bedlam.[14]

text: The Avalanche plan using less than half the troops landed during Operation Husky was daring, considering possible resistance by six German divisions.[15] The Fifth Army would be landing on a very broad 56 km (35 mi) front, using only three assault divisions (one American, the 36th, under Major General Fred L. Walker, in VI Corps, and two British, the 46th, under Major-General John Hawkesworth, and 56th, under Major-General Douglas Graham, in X Corps),[16] and the two corps were widely separated, both in distance (19 km (12 mi)) and by the Sele River.[17] Clark initially provided no troops to cover the river, offering the Germans an easy route to attack, and only belatedly landed two battalions to protect it.[17] Furthermore, the terrain was highly favorable to the defender. Planning for the Salerno phase was accomplished in only forty-five days, rather than the months that might be expected.[17] A U.S. Army Ranger force, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William O. Darby, consisting of three U.S. Ranger battalions (the 1st, 3rd and 4th) and two British Commando units, under Brigadier Robert Laycock (consisting of No. 2 (Army) Commando and No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando) was tasked with holding the mountain passes leading to Naples, but no plan existed for linking the Ranger force up with X Corps' follow-up units. Finally, although tactical surprise was unlikely, Clark ordered no naval preparatory bombardment or naval gunfire support take place, despite experience in the Pacific Theater demonstrating it was necessary. (Major General Walker, commanding the U.S. 36th "Arrowhead" Division, believed the defenders, from Traugott Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps, were too scattered for it to be effective.)[17] The element of surprise was further limited by belated discovery of naval minefields off Salerno requiring landing craft to spend two hours traveling 19 km (12 mi) from the transports to the landing beaches.[18]

text: On the German side, Albrecht von Kesselring lacked the strength to push the Salerno landing back, and was refused two panzer divisions from northern Italy to assist him.[17]

text: Operation Avalanche was planned under the name Top Hat and supported by a deception plan, Operation Boardman, a false threat of an Allied invasion of the Balkans.

text: Axis defensive organization[edit]

text: In mid-August, the Germans had activated Army Group B (Heeresgruppe B) under Erwin Rommel with responsibility for German troops in Italy as far south as Pisa.[19] Army Command South (OB Süd) under Albert Kesselring continued to be responsible for southern Italy[20] and the German High Command formed a new army headquarters to be Army Command South's main field formation. The new German 10th Army (10. Armee) headquarters, commanded by Heinrich von Vietinghoff, was activated on 22 August.[21] The German 10th Army had two subordinate corps with a total of six divisions which were positioned to cover possible landing sites. Under Hermann Balck's XIV Panzer Corps (XIV Panzerkorps) was the Hermann Göring Panzer Division (Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, under Wilhelm Schmalz), 15th Panzergrenadier Division (15. Panzergrenadier-Division, Eberhard Rodt) and 16th Panzer Division (16. Panzer-Division, Rudolf Sieckenius); and under Traugott Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps (LXXVI Panzerkorps) was 26th Panzer Division (26. Panzer-Division, Heinrich Freiherr von Luttwitz), 29th Panzergrenadier Division (29. Panzergrenadier-Division, Walter Fries) and 1st Parachute Division (1. Fallschirmjäger-Division, Fritz-Hubert Graser).[22] Von Vietinghoff specifically positioned the 16th Panzer Division in the hills above the Salerno plain.

text: Battle[edit]

text: Operations in southern Italy[edit]

text: On 3 September 1943, the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey and composed of the 1st Canadian and British 5th Infantry Divisions, launched Operation Baytown under General Bernard Montgomery's direction. Opposition to the landings was light and the Italian units surrendered almost immediately. Albert Kesselring and his staff did not believe the Calabria landings would be the main Allied point of attack, the Salerno region or possibly even north of Rome being more logical. He had already therefore ordered General Traugott Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps to pull back from engagement with the Eighth Army, leaving only 29th Panzergrenadier Division's 15th Panzergrenadier Regiment in the 'toe' of Italy. By 3 September, most of this unit was in prepared positions at Bagnara, some 40 km (25 mi) from the landings which it had orders to hold until 6 September. After this they were to withdraw to join the rest of 29th Panzergrenadier Division which was concentrating at Castrovillari, some 130 km (80 mi) to the rear. The Krüger Battle Group (two battalions of 71st Panzergrenadier Regiment, 129th Reconnaissance Battalion and detachments of artillery and engineers) under 26th Panzer Division, would then stand at Nicotera, roughly 24 km (15 mi) up the coast from Bagnara.[23]

text: On 4 September, the British 5th Infantry Division reached Bagnara Calabra, linked up with 1st Special Reconnaissance Squadron (which arrived by sea) and drove the 3rd Battalion, 15th Panzergrenadier Regiment from its position. On 7 September, contact was made with the Krüger Battle Group. On 8 September, the 231st Independent Brigade Group, under Brigadier Robert "Roy" Urquhart, was landed by sea at Pizzo Calabro, some 24 km (15 mi) behind the Nicotera defenses. They found themselves attacked from the north by a mobile force from 26th Panzer Division and from the south by the Krüger Battle Group which was withdrawing from the Nicotera position. After an initial attack which made no headway, the Krüger Battle Group veered away but the northern attack continued throughout the day before the whole German force withdrew at dusk.[24]

text: Progress was slow as demolished bridges, roadblocks and mines delayed the Eighth Army. The nature of the countryside in the toe of Italy made it impossible to by-pass obstacles and so the Allies' speed of advance was entirely dependent on the rate at which their engineers could clear obstructions.[23] Thus, Montgomery's objections to the operation were proved correct: the Eighth Army could not tie down German units that refused battle and the main obstacle to their advance was the terrain and German demolitions of roads and bridges.

text: By 8 September, Kesselring had concentrated Heinrich von Vietinghoff's 10th Army, ready to make a rapid response to any Allied landing.[25] In Calabria, Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps had two divisions concentrated in the Castrovillari area. Its third division, 1st Parachute Division (1. Fallschirmjäger-Division), was deployed toward Taranto. The rearguard in the toe was BattleGroup von Usedom, comprising a single battalion (1/67th Panzergrenadier Regiment) with detachments of artillery and engineers.[26] Meanwhile, Hube's XIV Panzer Corps was positioned to face possible landings from the sea with 16th Panzer Division in the Gulf of Salerno, the Hermann Göring Division near Naples and the 15th Panzergrenadier Division to the north in the Gulf of Gaeta.[27]

text: On 8 September (before the main invasion), the surrender of Italy to the Allies was announced, first by General Eisenhower, then in the Badoglio Proclamation by the Italian government. Italian units ceased combat and the Navy sailed to Allied ports to surrender. The German forces in Italy were prepared for this and implemented Operation Achse to disarm Italian units and occupy important defensive positions.

text: Operation Slapstick commenced on 9 September. The first echelon of the British 1st Airborne Division arrived on four British cruisers, a U.S. cruiser, and the British fast minelayer HMS Abdiel. The Italian battleships Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio with two cruisers passed by, en route to surrender in Malta. There were no Germans in Taranto and so disembarkation was unopposed. The only casualties occurred when Abdiel, at anchor, struck a mine and sank in minutes, with 168 killed and 126 injured.[28] On 11 September, as patrols were sent further afield, there were some sharp encounters with elements of the German 1st Parachute Division. But 1st Parachute could do little but skirmish and fall back because most of its strength was attached to the 26th Panzer and Herman Göring Divisions at Salerno. Major-General George Frederick Hopkinson, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British 1st Airborne Division, was mortally wounded in one of these actions. By 11 September the ports of Bari and Brindisi, still under Italian control, were occupied.[28]

text: Salerno landings[edit]

text: Operation Avalanche–the main invasion at Salerno by the American Fifth Army under Lieutenant General Mark Clark–began on 9 September 1943, and in order to secure surprise, it was decided to assault without preliminary naval or aerial bombardment. However, as Admiral Henry Hewitt, the amphibious force commander, had predicted, tactical surprise was not achieved. As the first wave of Major General Fred Walker's U.S. 36th Infantry Division approached the Paestum shore at 03:30[29] a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English: "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The Allied troops attacked nonetheless.[30]

text: Major General Rudolf Sieckenius, commander of the 16th Panzer Division had organised his forces into four mixed arms battle groups which he had placed roughly 10 km (6 mi) apart and between 5 and 10 km (3 and 6 mi) back from the beaches. The Dőrnemann group was just east of Salerno (and therefore were opposite Major General John Hawkesworth's British 46th Infantry Division when it landed), the Stempel battle group was between Pontecagnano and Battipaglia (and so faced Major General Douglas Graham's British 56th Infantry Division), the Holtey battle group was in a reserve role at Persano on the Sele river which formed the corps boundary between Lieutenant General Richard McCreery's British X Corps and Major General Ernest Dawley's U.S. VI Corps, while the von Doering battle group responsible for the Albanella to Rutino sector was 6 km (4 mi) south-east of Ogliastro, somewhat south of the U.S. 36th Division's beaches.[31]

text: The British X Corps, composed of the British 46th and 56th Infantry Divisions and a light infantry force of U.S. Army Rangers and British Commandos of Brigadier Robert "Lucky" Laycock's 2nd Special Service Brigade, experienced mixed reactions to its landings. The U.S. Rangers met no opposition and with support from the guns of HMS Ledbury seized their mountain pass objectives while the Commandos, from No. 2 (Army) Commando and No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando, were also unopposed and secured the high ground on each side of the road through Molina Pass on the main route from Salerno to Naples. At first light units of No. 2 Commando moved towards Salerno and pushed back a small force of tanks and armoured cars from the 16th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion.[32] The British Commandos captured the town of Salerno after some serious fighting that cost 40 (Royal Marine) Commando and 41 Commando nine killed and thirty-seven wounded.[33]

text: The two British infantry divisions, however, met determined resistance and had to fight their way ashore with the help of naval bombardments. The depth and intensity of German resistance forced British commanders to concentrate their forces, rather than driving for a linkup with the Americans to the south.

text: At Paestum, the two lead battalions of the 36th (Texas) Division (from the 141st and 142nd Infantry Regiments) received stiff resistance from two companies of the von Doering group.[32] German observers on Monte Soprano directed fire onto the landing craft. LST 336 took 18 hits, and some LCTs and DUKWs sheered away to avoid German shellfire.[34] The division had not been in combat before and as a result of the Italian surrender, there was a general belief amongst the soldiers that the landings would be routine.[35] The 141st Infantry lost cohesion and failed to gain any depth during the day which made the landing of supporting arms and stores impossible, leaving them without artillery and anti-tank guns.[36] However, the 142nd Infantry fared better and with the support of the 143rd Infantry, the reserve formation which had landed by 08:00, were able to push forward. Minesweepers cleared an inshore channel shortly after 09:00; so by late morning destroyers could steam within 91 m (100 yd) of the shoreline to shell German positions on Monte Soprano. USS Philadelphia and Savannah focused their 15 cm (6 in) guns on concentrations of German tanks, beginning a barrage of naval shells which would total eleven-thousand tons before the Salerno beachhead was secured.[37]

text: By the end of the first day the Fifth Army, although it had not gained all its objectives, had made a promising start: the British X Corps' two assault divisions had pushed between 8 and 11 km (5 and 7 mi) inland and the special forces had advanced north across the Sorrento Peninsula and were looking down on the Plain of Naples. To the south, the U.S. 36th Division had established itself in the plain to the right of the Sele river and the higher ground to a depth of 8 km (5 mi), although the 141st Infantry was still stuck near the beach. However, the XIV Panzer Corps commander, Hermann Balck, had seen the 16th Panzer Division's battle groups perform as intended and he had ordered both the Hermann Göring Division south to the battle and later in the day had been able to order 15th Panzergrenadier likewise. Meanwhile, to the south, the 29th Panzergrenadier Division from LXXVI Panzer Corps had also been directed to Salerno.[38] Neither side had gained the initiative.

text: Luftwaffe response[edit]

text: Luftwaffe planes began strafing and bombing the invasion beaches shortly after 04:00 on the morning of 9 September[34] before X Corps seized the Montecorvino airfield 5 km (3 mi) inland later that day destroying three dozen German planes; but failure to capture the high ground inland left the airfield within easy range of German artillery and therefore unusable by Allied aircraft.[39] On 10 September German bombers began targeting Admiral Hewitt's flagship USS Ancon while the ship was serving as General Clark's headquarters. The flagship called thirty "red alerts" over a period of 36 hours in response to 450 Luftwaffe sorties. Admiral Hewitt reported: "Air situation here critical."[40] The aircraft carriers had intended to withdraw on 10 September, but remained with the invasion shipping so their Supermarine Seafires could provide the air cover invasion planners had expected to operate from Montecorvino.[41]

text: Eighty-five Allied vessels were hit by German bombs off Salerno.[42] Fritz X glide bombs dropped by Dornier Do 217s disabled USS Savannah and narrowly missed USS Philadelphia on the morning of 11 September.[43] The following morning Clark moved his headquarters ashore, and Hewitt transferred with his staff to the small amphibious force flagship USS Biscayne so the large Ancon with its conspicuous antenna array could retire to North Africa.[44]

text: Consolidation of the beachhead[edit]

text: The Allies fought to expand their beachhead for three days while the Germans defended stubbornly to mask the build-up of their reinforcements for a counter-offensive.[45] On 10 September, Clark visited the battlefield and judged that it was unlikely that X Corps would be able to push quickly east past Battipaglia to link with VI Corps. Since X Corps' main line of thrust was to be north towards Naples, he decided to move the VI Corps left hand boundary north of the Sele river and move the bulk of Major General Troy Middleton's U.S. 45th Division into the gap. In view of the enemy reinforcements approaching from the north he also ordered a battalion-sized mixed arms group to reinforce the Rangers the next day.[46] Over the same period, German reinforcements filtered into the battlefield. Units, short of transport and subjected to other delays, arrived piecemeal and were formed into ad-hoc battle groups for immediate action. By 13 September, all the immediately available reinforcements had arrived including additional elements from the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division which had been released by Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring from further north near Rome.[47] By contrast, the Allied build-up was constrained by the limited transport available for the operation and the pre-determined schedule of the build-up based on how, during the planning phase, it had been anticipated the battle would develop. By 12 September, it had become clear that the Fifth Army had an acute shortage of infantry on the ground.[48] On 12 September, General Sir Harold Alexander, the 15th Army Group commander, reported to General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), in London: "I am not satisfied with the situation at Avalanche. The build-up is slow and they are pinned down to a bridgehead which has not enough depth. Everything is being done to push follow-up units and material to them. I expect heavy German counter-attack to be imminent."[49]

text: By 12 September, X Corps had taken a defensive posture because every battalion was committed and there were no reserves available to form an attack.[50] In the south, the 36th Division made some progress but towards midday a counterattack by elements of the 29th Panzergrenadier Division overran the 1st Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment.

text: German counterattacks[edit]

text: On 13 September, the Germans launched their counteroffensive. While the Herman Göring battle groups attacked the northern flank of the beachhead, the main attack was on the boundary between the two Allied Corps which ran roughly from Battipaglia to the sea, with the greatest weight due to fall on the VI Corps side [51] On the morning of 13 September elements of Major General Walker's 36th Division attacked and captured Altavilla in the high ground some 14 km (9 mi) behind Paestum but a counterattack forced them to withdraw as darkness fell. During the afternoon, two German battlegroups, the Kleine Limburg and the Krüger had attacked Persano and overrun the 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry before crossing the Sele to engage the 2nd Battalion of the 143rd Infantry and virtually wipe it out.[52]

text: The battle groups continued their strike south and south-west until reaching the confluence of the Sele and its large tributary the Calore, where it was stopped by artillery firing over open sights, naval gunfire and a makeshift infantry position manned by artillerymen, drivers, cooks and clerks and anyone else that Major General Walker could scrape together.[53] Clark's staff formulated various evacuation plans: Operation Brass Rail envisioned Clark and his 5th Army headquarters staff leaving the beachhead to establish headquarters afloat aboard HMS Hilary. Operation Sealion envisioned shifting British X Corps to Paestum with VI Corps, while the alternative Operation Seatrain envisioned shifting VI Corps to the X Corps sector. The navy protested that reversing the landing process would be impossible, since loading beached landing craft would make them heavier and unable to withdraw from the beach. Advice from superiors and subordinates convinced Clark to continue fighting, and he later denied seriously considering evacuation.[54]

text: The U.S. VI Corps had by this time lost the best part of three battalions and so the forward units of both its divisions were withdrawn to reduce the length of the defensive line. The 45th Division consolidated at the Sele - Calore position while the 36th Division was on the high ground on the seaward side of the La Caso stream (which flowed into the Calore).[55] The new perimeter was held with the assistance of Major General Matthew Ridgway's 82nd Airborne Division. Two battalions (roughly 1,300 paratroopers) of Colonel Reuben Tucker's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), after the cancellation of Giant II, had been assigned to execute the final version of Operation Giant I at Capua on the evening of 13 September. Instead they jumped inside the beachhead, guided by Rebecca/Eureka beacons and moved immediately into the line on the right of VI Corps. The next night, with the crisis passed, 2,100 paratroops of Colonel James Gavin's 505th PIR also parachuted into the beachhead and reinforced the two battalions of the 504th. A clear sign of the crisis passing was that when, on the afternoon of 14 September, the final unit of 45th Division, the 180th Infantry Regiment, landed and Clark was able to place it in reserve rather than in the line.[56] The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, reinforced by the 3rd Battalion, 504th PIR, landed by sea on 15 September. A night drop of 600 paratroops of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion to disrupt German movements behind the lines in the vicinity of Avellino was widely dispersed and failed,[57] incurring significant casualties. In the X Corps sector the lead elements of Major General George Erskine's British 7th Armoured Division began to land, along with the 23rd Armoured Brigade.

text: With strong naval gunfire support from the Royal Navy and well-served by Fifth Army's artillery, the reinforced and reorganized infantry units defeated all German attempts on 14 September to find a weak spot in the lines. German losses, particularly in tanks, were severe. In addition, on 14 September and the following night Tedder ordered every available aircraft to support the Fifth Army, including the strategic bomber force. Over 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped during the daylight hours of that day.[58]

text: On 15 September both the 16th Panzer and 29th Panzergrenadier Divisions went on the defensive, thus marking the end to the thrust towards Paestum.[59] Further north the Schmalz group of the Hermann Göering Division achieved surprise, attacking the 128th (Hampshire) Brigade (comprising three battalions, the 2nd, 1/4th and 5th, of the Hampshire Regiment), of the British 46th Division, on the high ground east of Salerno. The armoured column following up was intercepted and driven back leaving the German infantry exposed.[60]

text: The Allied bomber effort continued on 15 September, although slightly less intense than the previous day, as did the naval bombardment. The arrival of the British battleships HMS Warspite and Valiant, with 38 cm (15 in) guns off the beaches provided the Allied troops with a morale boost, although Valiant was not required to shoot and Warspite's 29 rounds fired were awe-inspiring but a minor contribution to the 2,592 naval rounds fired in total that day.[61]

text: On 15 September, Kesselring reported to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht that the Allied air and naval superiority had forced LXXVI Panzer Corps onto the defensive and that a decisive success would depend on the current attack by XIV Panzer Corps. If this failed, the 10th Army must break off the battle to avoid being 'mangled'.[62]

text: On 16 September, the Schmalz group renewed its efforts on the X Corps front but with no more success, although No. 2 Commando suffered casualties, including 31-year-old Captain Henry Wellesley, the then-Duke of Wellington, who was killed. The air force and navy continued to batter enemy targets, although during an air raid by Dornier Do 217 K-2 bombers armed with Fritz X radio-controlled glide bombs, Warspite was hit and disabled which required her to be towed to Malta for repair.[57]

text: Eighth Army ordered to apply pressure[edit]

text: On 9 September, Montgomery's formations had been strung out along the coastal roads in the 'toe' of Italy. The build-up across the Straits of Messina had proved slow and he was therefore short of transport. On 9 September, he decided to halt his formations in order to reorganise before pushing on but General Alexander replied on 10 September that "It is of the utmost importance that you maintain pressure upon the Germans so that they cannot remove forces from your front and concentrate them against Avalanche". This message was further reinforced on 12 September by a personal visit from Alexander's Chief of Staff, Brigadier A. A. Richardson.[63] Montgomery had no choice and while reorganising the main body of his troops sent light forces up the coast which reached Castrovillari and Belvedere on 12 September, still some 130 km (80 mi) from the Salerno battlefield. On 14 September, he was in a position to start a more general advance, and by 16 September the British 5th Infantry Division had reached Sapri, 40 km (25 mi) beyond Belvedere, where forward patrols made contact with patrols from VI Corps' 36th Division.[64]

text: German withdrawal[edit]

text: On 16 September, von Vietinghoff reported to Kesselring that the Allied air and naval superiority were decisive and that he had not the power to neutralize this. 10th Army had succeeded in preventing troops being cut off, and continuing the battle would just invite heavy losses. The approach of the Eighth Army was also now posing a threat. He recommended to break off the battle, pivoting on Salerno to form a defensive line, preparatory to commencing withdrawal on 18/19 September. Kesselring's agreement reached von Vietinghoff early on 17 September.[65]

text: Salerno mutiny[edit]

text: The Salerno battle was also the site of the Salerno Mutiny instigated by about 500 men of the British X Corps, which had by this time suffered over 6,000 casualties, who, on 16 September, refused assignment to new units as battle casualty replacements. They had previously understood that they would be returning to their own units from which they had been separated during the fighting in the North African Campaign, mainly because they had been wounded. Eventually the corps commander, Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, persuaded about half of the men to follow their orders. The remainder were court-martialled. Three NCOs who led the mutiny were sentenced to death but the sentence was not carried out and they were eventually allowed to rejoin units.

text: Further Allied advances[edit]

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text: With the Salerno beachhead secure, the Fifth Army began its attack northwest towards Naples on 19 September. The day afterwards, Major General Ernest J. Dawley, the U.S. VI Corps commander, was relieved of his command by Clark and replaced by Major General John P. Lucas. The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, after suffering serious casualties near Altavilla, was shifted to British X Corps, joining the U.S. Army Rangers and the British 23rd Armoured Brigade on the Sorrento Peninsula to flank the German defenses at Nocera Inferiore, Sant'Antonio Abate, and Angri, which the British 46th Infantry Division attacked. The British 7th Armoured Division, passing through the 46th Division, was assigned the task of taking Naples, while the newly landed U.S. 3rd Infantry Division took Acerno on 22 September and Avellino on 28 September.

text: The Eighth Army made good progress from the "toe" in spite of German demolitions and linked with the British 1st Airborne Division at Taranto. Its left linked up with the Fifth Army's right on 16 September. The Eighth Army now concentrated its forces east of the Apennine Mountains and pushed north along the Adriatic coast through Bari. On 27 September, the Eighth Army captured the large airfield complex near Foggia, a major Allied objective.

text: German troops occupying Naples provoked a rebellion by the population, starting on 27 September, and had to evacuate. On 1 October, "A" Squadron of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards, the armoured car regiment of X Corps, entered the city, the first Allied unit to do so. The entire Fifth Army, now consisting of five American and three British divisions, reached the line of the Volturno River on 6 October. This provided a natural defensive barrier, securing Naples, the Campanian plain and the vital airfields on it from German counterattack.

text: Meanwhile, on the Adriatic Coast, the Eighth Army advanced to a line from Campobasso to Larino and Termoli on the Biferno river.

text: Aftermath[edit]

text: The 10th Army had come close to defeating the Salerno beachhead. The stubborn initial resistance by 16th Panzer Division's battlegroups and the Germans' ability to reinforce them by land more quickly than the Allies could land follow-up forces by sea or air had almost tipped the battle. The Fifth Army planners had concentrated the main weight of its forces in X Corps on its left wing, in line with its major objective of advancing on Naples. This had left its right wing too thinly manned to defend X Corps' right flank and left a particular weakness at the corps boundary.[66] In the end, the Germans, aware of the limited time available to deal with the Salerno landings because of the inevitable arrival in due course of the Eighth Army, were obliged to make hurried and uncoordinated attempts to force a quick decision[64] and had failed to break through Allied lines and exploit the gains in the face of total Allied air superiority and artillery and naval gunfire support. The Allies had been fortunate that at this time Adolf Hitler had sided with the view of his Army Group commander in Northern Italy, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, and decided that defending Italy south of Rome was not a strategic priority. As a result, Kesselring had been forbidden to call upon reserves from the northern Army Group.

text: The success of the 10th Army in inflicting heavy casualties, and Kesselring's strategic arguments, led Hitler to agree that the Allies should be kept away from German borders and prevented from gaining the oil resources of the Balkans. On 6 November,[67] Hitler withdrew Rommel to oversee the build-up of defenses in northern France and gave Kesselring command of the whole of Italy with a remit to keep Rome in German hands for as long as possible.[68]

text: By early October 1943, the whole of southern Italy was in Allied hands, and the Allied armies stood facing the Volturno Line, the first of a series of prepared defensive lines running across Italy from which the Germans chose to fight delaying actions, giving ground slowly and buying time to complete their preparation of the Winter Line, their strongest defensive line south of Rome. The next stage of the Italian Campaign became for the Allied armies a grinding and attritional slog against skillful, determined and well-prepared defenses in terrain and weather conditions which favoured defense and hampered the Allied advantages in mechanised equipment and air superiority. It took until mid-January 1944 to fight through the Volturno, Barbara and Bernhardt lines to reach the Gustav Line, the backbone of the Winter Line defenses, setting the scene for the four battles of Monte Cassino which took place between January and May 1944.

text: Clark's award[edit]

text: Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, the U.S. Fifth Army commander, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest U.S. award for valor in combat, for his front-line leadership during this crisis. He was frequently seen in the most forward positions encouraging the troops. However, in the opinion of historian Carlo D'Este, Clark "mistakenly believed he had saved the Allied invasion by his leadership, when in fact it was precisely his inexperience that precipitated most of the problems the invasion force faced."[69]


document_title: Pokémon Yellow

question_text: who do you play as in pokemon yellow

question_tokens: who do you play as in pokemon yellow

root

text: Pokémon Yellow

text: Gameplay[edit]

text: Pokémon Yellow is an enhanced version of the Game Boy games Pokémon Red and Blue.[1] Like its predecessors, it is a third-person, overhead perspective and consists of three basic screens: an overworld, in which the player navigates the main character; a side-view battle screen; and a menu interface, in which the player configures his or her Pokémon, items, or gameplay settings. The player can use his or her Pokémon to battle other Pokémon. When the player encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by a trainer, the screen switches to a turn-based battle screen that displays the engaged Pokémon. During battle, the player may select a maneuver for his or her Pokémon to fight using one of four moves, use an item, switch his or her active Pokémon, or attempt to flee. Pokémon have hit points (HP); when a Pokémon's HP is reduced to zero, it faints and can no longer battle until it is revived. Once an enemy Pokémon faints, the player's Pokémon involved in the battle receive a certain number of experience points (EXP). After accumulating enough EXP, a Pokémon may level up. A Pokémon's level controls its physical properties, such as the battle statistics acquired, and the moves learned.

tag: p

text: Catching Pokémon is another essential element of the gameplay. During battle with a wild Pokémon, the player may throw a Poké Ball at it. If the Pokémon is successfully caught, it will come under the ownership of the player. Factors in the success rate of capture include the HP of the target Pokémon and the type of Poké Ball used: the lower the target's HP and the stronger the Poké Ball, the higher the success rate of capture. The ultimate goal of the games is to complete the entries in the Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading to obtain all 151 creatures. Pokémon Yellow allows players to trade Pokémon between two cartridges via a Game Link Cable, including the previous games Pokémon Red and Blue. This method of trading must be done to fully complete the Pokédex, since each of the two games have version-exclusive Pokémon. The Link Cable also makes it possible to battle another player's Pokémon team.

text: Pokémon Yellow features several enhancements and changes. Including the below-mentioned inclusion of Pikachu as the only available Pokémon to start with, Pikachu is given both a voice and a personality unique from other Pokémon. It follows the player on the overworld, and can be examined by speaking to it by pressing A when the overworld character is facing Pikachu. While it initially has an indifferent opinion of the player, it can grow to love or hate him based on the player's actions; leveling up will keep Pikachu happy, while fainting frequently will make it unhappy (this enhanced feature would be used again in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, (the remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver). There is an area in Pokémon Yellow that features a "Surfing Pikachu" mini-game.[2] In order to play it, players must have a Pikachu who can learn "Surf", a Water-based attack. At the time, players could only accomplish this by winning a contest to get a "surfing Pikachu". However, if players use their Pikachu from Yellow in Pokémon Stadium and beat a certain mode under the proper circumstances, they are rewarded with the move Surf, which can be used both in battle, out of battle, and in the above-mentioned mini-game.[3] Pokémon Yellow has slightly improved graphics from its predecessors and can print Pokédex entries onto stickers using the Game Boy Printer.[2][4]

text: Plot and setting[edit]

text: Like Pokémon Red and Blue, Yellow takes place in the region of Kanto, which features habitats for 151 Pokémon species. The objectives remain the same as well, though some differences exist along the way.[5] For example, in the beginning, the player is not given an option of choosing one of three starter Pokémon. Instead, a wild Pikachu that Professor Oak catches becomes the player's starter Pokémon, while the rival character takes an Eevee. The plot is loosely based on the Indigo League saga of the anime, and features characters that were not featured in the game or have been enhanced to resemble their designs used in the anime, including Jessie, James, Meowth, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Similar to the anime, Pikachu refuses to evolve. Players are also given the opportunity to obtain the original three starters. As players quest on, they gradually progress catching Pokémon for the Pokédex which you use to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and eventually the Elite Four, all the while battling Team Rocket, a gang devoted to using Pokémon in order to make themselves more powerful. By the time of the encounter with the Elite Four the player has had the opportunity to capture 149 types of Pokémon; in the after game (after the Elite Four is defeated) a player may enter Cerulean Cave, where Mewtwo, the final Pokémon in regular gameplay, can be found, battled and captured.[6] The last Pokémon in the Pokédex, Mew, cannot be captured during ordinary gameplay, though exploiting bugs in the game makes this possible[citation needed].

text: Development[edit]

text: Pokémon Yellow first began development after the completion of the Japanese Pokémon Blue's development, which was made after the Japanese Pokémon Red and Green. It was developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy handheld game console. Its release was made to coincide with the release of Pokémon: The First Movie. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata commented that people likely felt Yellow to be unnecessary due to the upcoming release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, which were scheduled to be released in the same year.[7] It was released in Japan on September 12, 1998, in Australia on September 3, 1999,[8] in North America on October 19, 1999, and in Europe on June 16, 2000.[9] A Pikachu-themed Game Boy Color bundle was released in North America on October 25, 1999.[10] A collaboration between Volkswagen and Nintendo resulted in the creation of a yellow Volkswagen New Beetle with some features taken from Pikachu. This was done as a promotion for Pokémon Yellow.[11] Nintendo World Report listed Pokémon Yellow as one of the notable handheld releases in 1999.[12]

text: Reception and legacy[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text:
Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator
Score

GameRankings
85.47%[14]

Review scores

Publication
Score

AllGame
[13]

EGM
8.5/10[14]

Game Informer
6.5/10[14]

GameSpot
8.9/10[15]

IGN
10/10[16]

Nintendo Power
4/5[14]

tag: table

text: Since its release, Pokémon Yellow has been well received by critics, holding an aggregate score of 85.47% from GameRankings based on 15 reviews. This made it the fifth best Game Boy game and the 1,017th best video game.[14] Nintendo Power gave it an eight out of 10, while Game Informer gave it a 6.5 out of 10.[14][14] Electric Playground gave it a 7.5 out of 10.[14] The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recommended Yellow as a good game for children.[17] In a panel of 10 children, nine of the children gave it a "very good" or "excellent" score in the fun category, but only five recommended its purchase.[18] RPGFan called it "so revoltingly addictive that any player of it has no choice but to "catch 'em all"". They also called Yellow "insulting" in how limited the additions from Red and Blue were.[19] IGN's Craig Harris praised the game's mechanics, commenting that Yellow was the best game of the three to start with. He gave it a perfect score.[16]

text: GameSpot's Cameron Davis called it a "stopgap" to appease players until the release of Gold and Silver, commenting that "the new challenges are enough to fill the hole - but only just".[15] GameDaily's Chris Buffa listed it as one of the best Pokémon games, commenting that while it was a rehash, there was enough that was new to warrant playing.[20] Allgame's Brad Cook commented that for those who didn't play Red and Blue, Yellow was good; but otherwise, he advised that they wait until Gold and Silver.[13] The Daily Telegraph's Steve Boxer commented that while it had good gameplay mechanics, it was held back by the lack of features. He described Nintendo's actions as avaricious, commenting that Yellow "marks the point where Pokémon ceases to become a game and becomes a marketing exercise/obsession-satisfier".[21]

text: Sales[edit]

text: Pokémon Yellow is considered a commercial success. Before its release, Nintendo anticipated that it would make them $75 million in the 1999 holiday season.[22] The Pokémon Yellow Game Boy Color bundle was predicted to be the second most popular toy of the holiday season.[23] Nintendo executive George Harrison predicted that Yellow's sales would exceed 3 million in sales, and would also surpass Donkey Kong 64 in the process, another title anticipated to sell well by Nintendo.[24] In North America the game received roughly 150,000 pre-orders.[25] The bundle debuted at #2 in video game sales and claimed the #1 spot a week later.[26] For the month of December, Yellow was surpassed by both Donkey Kong 64 and Gran Turismo 2.[27] A survey conducted by CNET found that none of the stores it contacted had Yellow in stock.[28] The standard cartridge sold over 600,000 units in its first week and more than one million copies by the next week, becoming the fastest selling handheld game of all time when it was released.[29] Pokémon: The First Movie, a film released around the same time as Yellow, was expected to give it a sales boost.[30][31] A Nintendo spokesman attributed the high demand for the Game Boy Color during the Christmas season of 1999 to Yellow.[32]

text: Gwenn Friss of the Cape Cod Times called it one of the hottest items of the 1999 Christmas season, comparing it to popular Christmas toys from previous years such as Furby and Tickle me Elmo.[33] Thomas Content of USA Today reiterated the comparison, commenting that it was "poised to stomp" them. He added that it, along with Red and Blue, were responsible for the boost of Game Boy sales from 3.5 million in 1998 to 8 million in 1999.[34] Yellow was the third best-selling video game in North America in 1999, with the other four spots occupied by other Pokémon titles.[35] The demand for Yellow resulted in Target to issue an apology for not being able to meet the "unprecedented demand".[36] A spokesperson for FuncoLand attributed a drop in sales to shortages of both the Game Boy Color and Pokémon Yellow.[37] Yellow is the fastest selling Pokémon title in the United Kingdom.[38] Wii Fit for the Wii's command of the number one spot on the United Kingdom's top list of best-selling games was equal to Yellow's.[39] The Idaho Statesman called it the "hottest new title for the Game Boy Color".[40]

text: Virtual Console[edit]

text: On November 12, 2015, it was announced during the latest Nintendo Direct that Pokémon Yellow, alongside Red, Green, and Blue, would be released on the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo 3DS on February 27, 2016 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. In addition to retaining their original graphical and musical formats, all three games will feature local wireless functionality to enable trading and battling with other players due to the 3DS' usage of wireless communication. The game would also be bundled with a special yellow version of the Nintendo 2DS in Japan.[41] While the international versions of the game will be a Game Boy Color title, the Japanese version was only released in its black and white Game Boy format since it was originally released in Japan about a month before the Game Boy Color was released in that region. The Game Boy Printer features will not work on the 3DS VC version of Pokémon Yellow. The VC version will also be compatible with Pokémon Bank, allowing players to transfer their captured creatures to Pokémon Sun and Moon.[citation needed]


document_title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

question_text: who plays kim in scott pilgrim vs the world

text: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

text: Plot

text: In Toronto, 23-year-old Scott Pilgrim is a bassist in Sex Bob-Omb, a floundering garage band. To the disapproval of his friends, he is dating Knives Chau, a 17-year-old high-school student. Scott meets an American Amazon delivery girl, Ramona Flowers, having first seen her in a dream, and loses interest in Knives, but doesn't break up with her before pursuing Ramona. When Sex Bob-Omb plays in a battle of the bands sponsored by record executive G-Man Graves, Scott is attacked by Ramona's ex-boyfriend Matthew Patel. Scott defeats Patel and learns that, in order to date Ramona, he must defeat the remaining six evil exes.

text: Scott breaks up with Knives, who blames Ramona and swears to win him back. Scott defeats Ramona's second evil ex, Hollywood actor and skateboarder Lucas Lee, by tricking him into performing a dangerous stunt. He defeats her third ex, superpowered vegan Todd Ingram, who is dating Scott's ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams, by tricking him into drinking dairy. He defeats her fourth ex, Roxy Richter (with Ramona's help, as he can't hit a girl), by touching the spot behind her knee (Ramona tells him this is Roxy's weak point).

text: Scott becomes upset with Ramona's dating history, and Ramona breaks up with him. At the next battle of the bands, Sex Bob-Omb defeats Ramona's fifth and sixth evil exes, twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi, earning Scott an extra life. Ramona gets back with her seventh evil ex, Gideon, AKA G-Man Graves. Sex Bob-Omb accepts Gideon's record deal, except for Scott, who leaves the band in protest.

text: Gideon invites Scott to his venue, the Chaos Theater, where Sex Bob-Omb is playing. Resolving to win Ramona back, Scott challenges Gideon to a fight for her affections, earning the "Power of Love" sword. Knives interrupts the battle, attacking Ramona, and Scott is forced to reveal that he cheated on both of them. Gideon kills Scott and Ramona visits him in limbo to reveal that Gideon has implanted her with a mind control device.

text: Scott uses his 1-up and re-enters the Chaos Theater. He makes peace with his friends and challenges Gideon again, this time for himself. He gains the "Power of Self-Respect" sword and disarms Gideon. He apologizes to Ramona and Knives for cheating on them, and Scott and Knives join forces to defeat Gideon.

text: Free from Gideon's control, Ramona prepares to leave. Knives accepts that her relationship with Scott is over and, at her encouragement, he leaves with Ramona.

text: Cast

text:
Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers
Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells
Ellen Wong as Knives Chau
Alison Pill as Kim Pine
Mark Webber as Stephen Stills
Johnny Simmons as "Young" Neil Nordegraf
Anna Kendrick as Stacey Pilgrim
Brie Larson as Natalie "Envy" Adams
Aubrey Plaza as Julie Powers
Nelson Franklin as Comeau
Satya Bhabha as Matthew Patel
Chris Evans as Lucas Lee
Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram
Mae Whitman as Roxy Richter
Shota Saito (ja) as Kyle Katayanagi
Keita Saito (ja) as Ken Katayanagi
Jason Schwartzman as Gideon Graves

tag: ul

text: Production

text: Development

text: After artist Bryan Lee O'Malley completed the first volume of Scott Pilgrim, his publisher Oni Press contacted producer Marc Platt to propose a film adaptation.[6] O'Malley originally had mixed feelings about a film adaptation, stating that he "expected them to turn it into a full-on action comedy with some actor that I hated" but ultimately "didn't even care. I was a starving artist, and I was like, 'Please, just give me some money.'"[7] Universal Studios contracted director Edgar Wright, who had just finished Shaun of the Dead (2004) and agreed to adapt the Scott Pilgrim comics.[6][8] In May 2005, the studio signed Michael Bacall to write the screenplay.[8] Wright cited Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968) as an influence on his approach to Scott Pilgrim, describing it as an "Italian influence, a sense of completely unbridled imagination. They don't make any attempt to make it look realistic. Mario Bava's composition and staging has a real try-anything attitude."[9] Bacall said that he wanted to write the Scott Pilgrim film because he felt strongly about its story and empathized with its characters.[10] By 2010, casting had been completed and the film was titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[11] Wright said that O'Malley was "very involved" with the script of the film from the start, contributing lines and adding polish. Due to the long development, several lines from various scripts written by Wright and Bacall were used in later Scott Pilgrim comics.[12] No material from Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, the sixth Scott Pilgrim volume, appeared in the film, as the comic was not complete at the time of the film's production. O'Malley contributed suggestions for the film's ending and gave the producers his notes for the sixth volume,[13] but stated that the film's ending was "their ending".[14]

text: Casting of the principal characters began in June 2008.[15] Principal photography began in March 2009 in Toronto[16][17] and wrapped as scheduled in August.[15][18] In the film's original ending, written before the release of the final Scott Pilgrim book, Scott gets back together with Knives. After the final book in the series was released, in which Scott and Ramona get back together, and divided audience reaction to the film's original ending, a new ending was filmed to match the books, with Scott and Ramona getting back together.[19] The film was given a production budget of $85–90 million, an amount offset by tax rebates that resulted in a final cost of around $60 million.[5] Universal fronted $60 million of the pre-rebate budget.[20] O'Malley's commentary track was recorded on August 14, 2010, one day after the film's theatrical release.[21]

text: Setting

text: One of the producers, Miles Dale, said that the film is "the biggest movie ever identifiably set in Toronto."[22] The film features Casa Loma, St. Michael's College School, Sonic Boom, the Toronto Public Library Wychwood Library, a Goodwill location on St. Clair West, a Second Cup, and a Pizza Pizza. The developers planned to set the series in Toronto because, in Dale's words, "the books are super-specific in their local details" and director Wright wanted to use the imagery from the books, so Universal Studios had no plans to alter the setting.[22] Dale stated that "Bathurst Street is practically the cerebral cortex of Scott Pilgrim".[22]

text: Casting

text: Director Wright felt confident with his casting in the film. Wright stated that "Like with Hot Fuzz how we had great people in every single tiny part, it's the same with this. What's great with this is that there's people you know, like with Michael [Cera] and Jason [Schwartzman], and then we have people who are up and coming, like Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza and Brie Larson, and then there's complete unknowns as well".[23] There was no studio interference with casting more unknowns, as Wright stated that "Universal never really gave me any problems about casting bigger people, because in a way Michael [Cera] has starred in two $100 million-plus movies, and also a lot of the other people, though they're not the biggest names, people certainly know who they are."[23] Wright planned on casting Cera while writing Hot Fuzz after watching episodes of Arrested Development.[23] Wright said he needed an actor that "audiences will still follow even when the character is being a bit of an ass."[24] Wright ran all his casting decisions by O'Malley during the casting session.[13] Mary Elizabeth Winstead was Wright's choice for Ramona Flowers two years before filming had started, because "she has a very sunny disposition as a person, so it was interesting to get her to play a version of herself that was broken inside. She's great in the film because she causes a lot of chaos but remains supernaturally grounded."[25] Ellen Wong, a Toronto actress known mostly from a role in This Is Wonderland,[15] auditioned for the part of Knives Chau three times. On her second audition, Wright learned that Wong has a green belt in tae kwon do, and says he found himself intrigued by this "sweet-faced young lady being a secret badass".[25]

text: Music

text: Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Beck, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Cornelius, Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and David Campbell all contributed to the film's soundtrack.[26][27][28][29][30] Beck wrote and composed the music played by Sex Bob-omb in the film, with Brian LeBarton playing drums and bass for the band on the film's score and soundtrack. Two unreleased songs can also be heard in the teaser trailer.[31]

text: Cast members Webber, Pill, and Simmons all had to learn to play their respective instruments, and spent time rehearsing as a band with Cera (who already played bass) before filming began.[32] The actors also sing on the film's soundtrack.[33] Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene wrote all the songs for Crash and the Boys. The tracks were sung by Knudsen, who plays Crash in the film. Drew stated that the reason behind this was that "[he] knew that [Knudsen] didn't need to be a singer to pull [it] off" because the songs were "so quick and punk and fast" and "it needed to be the character's voice."[34] Metric is the inspiration for the film's fictional band, the Clash at Demonhead, and contributed the song "Black Sheep" to the film. The clothing of Metric's lead singer, Emily Haines, is also the basis for the clothing of the lead singer of Clash at Demonhead.[35] Brie Larson provides the vocals for "Black Sheep" in the film, while the soundtrack features a version of the song with Haines as lead singer.[36] Chris Murphy of the band Sloan was the guitar coach for the actors in the film.[23] Music from the Legend of Zelda video game series is used in a dream sequence in the film. To get permission to use the music, Edgar Wright sent a clip of the film and wrote a letter to Nintendo of America that described the music as "like nursery rhymes to a generation."[24]

text: Title sequence

text: The opening title sequence was designed by Richard Kenworthy of Shynola, and was inspired by drawn-on-film animation. According to Kenworthy:

text: You can’t study animation and not be well-versed in Len Lye, Oskar Fischinger, Stan Brakhage, and Norman McLaren. We went back and re-watched those films and they were still full of life. We got excited about projecting such vivid imagery on the big screen, in front of an audience who most likely hadn’t experienced that work.[37]

text: Wright got the idea from fellow director Quentin Tarantino, who famously uses title sequences at the beginning of his films.

text: Release

text: A Scott Pilgrim vs. the World panel featured at the San Diego Comic-Con International held on July 22, 2010. After the panel, Wright invited selected members of the audience for a screening of the film which was followed by a performance by Metric.[39] Scott Pilgrim was also shown at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 27, 2010 and was also featured at the Movie-Con III in London, England on August 15, 2010.[40][41]

text: The film premiered in Japan during the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival on February 26, 2011 as an official selection. It was released to the rest of the country on April 29, 2011.[42][43]

text: Marketing

text: On March 25, 2010, the first teaser trailer was released.[44]

text: A second trailer featuring music by The Ting Tings, LCD Soundsystem, Be Your Own Pet, Cornelius, Blood Red Shoes, and The Prodigy was released May 31, 2010.[45]

text: At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, the first clip was released featuring Scott facing Lucas Lee in battle. The actors playing Lee's stunt doubles are the actual stunt doubles for Chris Evans.[46] Alison Pill, who plays Kim in the film, stated that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media stating that "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim".[47] The animated short, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, produced by Titmouse Inc., adapts the opening prologue of the second Scott Pilgrim book and was aired on Adult Swim on August 12, 2010, a day prior to the film's theatrical release, later being released on their website.[48] Michael Cera stated that he felt the film was "a tricky one to sell. I don't know how you convey that movie in a marketing campaign. I can see it being something that people are slow to discover. In honesty, I was slow to find Shaun of the Dead".[49]

text: Video game

text: A video game was produced based on the series. It was released for PlayStation Network on August 10, 2010 and on Xbox Live Arcade on August 25, being met with mostly positive reviews.[50][51] The game is published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Chengdu, featuring animation by Paul Robertson and original music by Anamanaguchi.[52][53]

text: Home media

text: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America on November 9, 2010[54] and in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2010.[55]

text: The DVD features include four audio commentaries: (director Wright, co-writer Bacall, and author O'Malley; Wright and director of photography Pope; Cera, Schwartzman, Winstead, Wong, and Routh; and Kendrick, Plaza, Culkin, and Webber), 21 deleted, extended, and alternate scenes including the original ending (where Scott ends up with Knives) with commentary, bloopers, photo galleries, and a trivia track.

text: The Blu-ray Disc release includes all DVD features, plus alternate footage, six featurettes, production blogs, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, trailers and TV spots, storyboard picture-in-picture, a DVD copy, and a digital copy. The "Ultimate Japan Version" Blu-ray Disc includes a commentary track that features Wright and Shinya Arino. It also includes footage of Wright and Cera's publicity tour through Japan and a round-table discussion with Japanese film critic Tomohiro Machiyama. It was released on September 2, 2011.[56]

text: In its first week of release, the DVD sold 190,217 copies, earning $3,422,004 in revenue, and as of 2011 earned $27,349,933 on the total US home media sales.[57] It reached the top of the UK Blu-ray Disc charts in its first week of release.[58]

text: Reception

text: Box office

text: The film was widely released in North America on August 13, 2010, opening in 2,818 theaters.[5][59] The film finished fifth on its first weekend of release with a total of $10.5 million ($11.8 million when adjusted for inflation),[5][60][20] and by its second weekend of release had dropped to the bottom of the top ten.[61] The Wall Street Journal described this as "disappointing"[60] while Ben Fritz of the Los Angeles Times noted that the film appeared to be a "major financial disappointment".[3] Universal acknowledged their disappointment at the opening weekend, saying they had "been aware of the challenges of broadening this film to a mainstream audience"; regardless, the studio's spokesman said Universal was "proud of this film and our relationship with the visionary and creative filmmaker Edgar Wright.... Edgar has created a truly unique film that is both envelope pushing and genre bending and when examined down the road will be identified as an important piece of filmmaking."[20]

text: In the UK, the film opened in 408 cinemas, finishing second on its opening weekend with £1.6 million,[62] dropping to fifth place by the next weekend.

text: Critical response

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 81% based on 247 reviews, with an average score of 7.5 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "its script may not be as dazzling as its eye-popping visuals, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is fast, funny, and inventive".[63] Metacritic has assigned an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[64]

text: At a test screening, director Kevin Smith was impressed by the film saying "That movie is great. It's spellbinding and nobody is going to understand what the fuck just hit them. I would be hard pressed to say, 'he's bringing a comic book to life!' but he is bringing a comic book to life." Smith also said that fellow directors Quentin Tarantino and Jason Reitman were "really into it".[65] Carla Gillis, a writer for Now and former lead singer for the band Plumtree, also commented on the film, as her band's song "Scott Pilgrim" was the inspiration for O'Malley to create the series.[66] Gillis felt the film carried the same positive yet bittersweet tone of the song.[66]

text: After premiere screenings at the San Diego Comic-Con International, the film received positive reviews. Variety gave the film a mixed review, referring to the film as "an example of attention-deficit filmmaking at both its finest and its most frustrating" and that "anyone over 25 is likely to find director Edgar Wright's adaptation of the cult graphic novel exhausting, like playing chaperone at a party full of oversexed college kids."[67]

text: The Hollywood Reporter wrote a negative review, stating that "What's disappointing is that this is all so juvenile. Nothing makes any real sense...[Michael] Cera doesn't give a performance that anchors the nonsense." and "Universal should have a youth hit in the domestic market when the film opens next month. A wider audience among older or international viewers seems unlikely."[68] David Edelstein of New York magazine wrote that "The film is repetitive, top-heavy: Wright blows his wad too early. But a different lead might have kept you laughing and engaged. Cera doesn't come alive in the fight scenes the way Stephen Chow does in the best (and most Tashlin-like) of all the surreal martial-arts comedies, Kung Fu Hustle."[69]

text: Cindy White at IGN gave the film a positive rating of 8/10 calling the film "funny and offbeat" as well as noting that the film is "best suited for the wired generation and those of us who grew up on Nintendo and MTV. Its kinetic nature and quirky sensibilities might be a turnoff for some."[70]

text: Nick Schager of Slant Magazine gave the film a positive review of three and a half stars out of four, calling Edgar Wright an "inspired mash-up artist, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World may be his finest hybridization to date".[71] A. O. Scott made the film a "critics pick", stating "There are some movies about youth that just make you feel old, even if you aren't...Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has the opposite effect. Its speedy, funny, happy-sad spirit is so infectious that the movie makes you feel at home in its world even if the landscape is, at first glance, unfamiliar."[72] According to Michael Phillips, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is different, and not just because it's funny first and everything else second. Director and co-writer Edgar Wright understands the appeal of the original Bryan Lee O'Malley graphic novels...O'Malley's manga-inspired books combine utter banality with superhero hyperbole, and it's a lot for a director to take on. Wright, who is British, has taken it on and won. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World lives and breathes the style of the original books, with animated squiggles and hearts and stars filling out the frame in many individual shots. Some of this is cute; some of it is better, weirder than 'cute.'" Phillips concludes:[73]

text: "To enjoy the film you must enjoy the brash, satiric spirit of hero's quest. Cera and his fellow ensemble members, including Kieran Culkin as Scott's roommate, Anna Kendrick as his snippy younger sister and the majestically dour Alison Pill as the band's drummer, mitigate the apocalyptic craziness with their deadpan wiles. At its best, Wright's film is raucous, impudent entertainment."

text: After its premiere in Japan, several notable video game, film, and anime industry personalities have praised Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, among them Hironobu Sakaguchi, Goichi Suda, Miki Mizuno, Tomohiko Itō and Takao Nakano.[74]

text: In June 2013, Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, who is of Korean and white Canadian parentage, stated that he regretted the fact that the film's cast was predominantly white, and that there were not enough roles for minorities.[75]

text: Accolades

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text: The film received four nominations at the 2010 Satellite Awards held on December 19, 2010 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City. It won in two categories; Best film – Comedy or Musical and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Michael Cera. The film also made the final short list for a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 83rd Academy Awards, but did not receive a nomination.

text:
Awards

Award
Category
Name
Outcome

Artios Awards
Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Big Budget Feature – Comedy
Robin D. Cook and Jennifer Euston
Nominated

Austin Film Critics Association Awards
Best film
Nominated

Central Ohio Film Critics Association
Best Picture
Nominated

Best Overlooked Film
Nominated

Detroit Film Critics Society Awards
Best Director
Edgar Wright
Nominated

Best Ensemble
Overall casting
Nominated

Empire Awards
Best Film
Nominated

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Nominated

Best Director
Edgar Wright
Won

GLAAD Media Awards
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
Nominated

Hugo Awards
Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form
Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright
Nominated

Sierra Awards
Best Art Direction
Nominated

Best Costume Design
Laura Jean Shannon
Nominated

Best Song
Beck for "We Are Sex Bob-Omb"
Nominated

Best Visual Effects
Nominated

Online Film Critics Society Awards
Best Editing
Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss
Nominated

Best Adapted Screenplay
Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright
Nominated

SFX Awards
Best Film Director
Edgar Wright
Won

San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
Best Editing
Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss
Won

Best Adapted Screenplay
Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright
Nominated

Satellite Awards[76]
Best Film – Musical or Comedy
Won

Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Michael Cera
Won

Best Art Direction and Production Design
Nigel Churcher and Marcus Rowland
Nominated

Best Adapted Screenplay
Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright
Nominated

Saturn Awards
Best Fantasy Film
Nominated

Scream Awards
The Ultimate Scream
Nominated

Best Director
Edgar Wright
Nominated

Best Scream-Play
Nominated

Best Villain
Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Shota Saito, Keita Saito and Jason Schwartzman as The League of Evil Exes
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress
Ellen Wong
Nominated

Best Supporting Actor
Kieran Culkin
Nominated

Fight Scene of the Year
Final Battle: Scott Pilgrim and Knives vs. Gideon Graves
Won

Best Comic Book Movie
Won

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie: Action Actor
Michael Cera
Nominated

Choice Movie: Action Actress
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Nominated

Choice Movie: Action
Nominated

Utah Film Critics Association Awards
Best Director
Edgar Wright
Nominated

Best Screenplay
Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright
Nominated