World War II film set in central Italy shot entirely in Sparta, Missouri

Set in central Italy, a new historical fiction film about World War II was shot entirely in southwest Missouri.

"REVEILLE" is based on a true story and follows a group of American soldiers and their German prisoners taking cover after a skirmish in central Italy in Nov. 1943. Though the film is set in Italy, it was all shot on a private farm in Sparta, Missouri.

Film producer and location scout Myra Miller is a World War II researcher who lived in Springfield for 30 years and considers the Ozarks her second home. As a part of her research, Miller is a tour host with Footsteps Researchers, an international organization that helps families trace the stories of their loved ones who fought in World War II.

When film director and writer Michael Akkerman reached out to Miller, inquiring her interest, she was intrigued. Up until "REVEILLE," Miller had only worked on World War II documentary films, never feature films, but she felt like she could help. Not long before, Miller had guided a family in central Italy whose family member had died near the Winter Line in Dec. 1943, the same location and year Akkerman was trying to recreate in his film.

"The funny thing is, when I was there I remembered it looked so much like Missouri," Miller said about central Italy. "It's on the same lateral line, that part of the country is, as Missouri. The limestone is similar, the trees are similar and the rolling hills are similar. Michael was originally going to produce the film in California and it was with permits and it was going to cost a million dollars just to do the film. I said, 'I think we can do this in Missouri for a lot less.'"

Forty percent of "REVEILLE" is set inside a cave, Miller said, so finding an Ozarks cave that did the job right was important.

"It was one of those meant to be situations because the way we landed upon it was it was 5:30 in the evening as it was getting dark and we knocked on a door and they just happened to be willing to talk to us and show us their cave," Miller said. "It was perfect."

Production was held on the private property in Sparta between March 1-12, 2022. Working with Missouri's unpredictable springtime weather, Miller said the first half of production was dedicated to shooting outside of the cave and the second half was dedicated to the inside.

Setting a higher standard for war films

While the film's setting may have actually been over 5,000 miles away, the majority of the film's characters are based on real World War II soldiers.

Miller said the film's seven American soldiers represent real people, based on research she conducted at the National Archives in St. Louis and College Park, Maryland. Akkerman also got in contact with a few of the seven soldiers' family members to better flush out the characters.

"They're very excited about this whole thing," Akkerman said about the families he worked with. "Part of their family history is now going to be out for everyone to see."

The film's German soldiers are more fictitious, as they are not based on real people, but Miller said research was still conducted to ensure these characters were historically accurate. Akkerman also brought on German advisors and language/dialect coaches to aid the film's German-speaking actors.

"It had to sound right for the time period, not just right for the language per se," Akkerman said. "They do speak authentic German in (the film), but I don't speak fluent German, so I wanted to make sure I had people there just to make sure everything sounded perfect."

Akkerman, a graduate of Columbia College Hollywood, said he's always been a "huge fan of war films" and he wants to change how they are made.

"If you're going to tackle that subject matter, you have a responsibility because it's real stuff that happened, impactful to the world," Akkerman said. "My goal with this movie is to set a higher standard when it comes to war history."

Where can you watch 'REVEILLE'?

"REVEILLE" will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and Spectrum starting Friday, Aug. 4.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: World War II film, 'REVEILLE' shot solely in Sparta, Missouri