On the eve of America's entrance into World War II, Walter Brennan embodied fundamental decency and democratic virtues that made him indispensable to Cooper's signature Everyman roles. Brennan's performance in Sergeant York (September 27, 1941) foreshadows the country's emergence from isolationism into a reluctant, then confirmed internationalism. Although Brennan received an Academy Award nomination for his work in Sergeant York, his low-key style is barely mentioned in later accounts of the film, which focus on Gary Cooper as Alvin York, a backwoods Tennessee conscientious objector who overcomes religious objections to war to become the nation's greatest war hero. Brennan's Pastor Pile persuades York to fight for his principles, to abide by the law and register for the draft, and then to serve in the army after he is denied conscientious objector status.