War

Quote:
A Superlative War Picture.
An eloquent pictorial epic of the World War was presented last night at the Astor Theatre before a sophisticated gathering that was intermittently stirred to laughter and tears. This powerful photodrama is entitled “The Big Parade,” having been converted to the screen from a story by Laurence Stallings, co-author of “What Price Glory,” and directed by King Vidor. It is a subject so compelling and realistic that one feels impelled to approach a review of it with all the respect it deserves, for as a motion picture it is something beyond the fondest dreams of most people.Read More »

Synopsis:
“Patton” tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton’s career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Europe and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton’s numerous faults such his temper and tendency toward insubordination, faults that would prevent him from becoming the lead American general in the Normandy Invasion as well as to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.Read More »

Synopsis:
During World War II, German Colonel Dankhopf (David Hurst) is captured by the Americans, but before he can be interrogated, an artillery barrage hits the camp. However, Lieutenant Kelly (Clint Eastwood) manages to reach the Colonel, get him drunk, and learn that he is on a secret mission to ship sixteen million dollars of gold to a base in France. Kelly is determined to get the gold, and plans for himself and a few of his fellow soldiers to slip into enemy territory and steal the bullion.Read More »

During World War II, Norway was occupied by Germany. In the deep fjords, the Nazis worked on a revolutionary new type of weapon; one which, theoretically, could destroy all life. Here, the Nazis’ scientists tried to produce “heavy water”; a vital component in the making of an atomic bomb. A weapon which would win the war for Germany. Norwegian resistance learns of it, and the allied are alerted. But will they have time and opportunity to stop this from happening?Read More »

American Wartime Film: Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943)
by Carl Savich

The 1943 American movie Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas is a time capsule that shows how Draza Mihailovich and the Chetnik guerrillas were integral parts of the American and Allied war effort. At the height of World War II in 1943, the movie demonstrated their influence and impact on the “greatest generation”. The movie had a widespread impact not only on the American home front, but globally as well. The American public needed a symbol of resistance and defiance, a sparkplug to get Americans going after years of slumber, to galvanize public opinion and morale in the United States. Draza Mihailovich represented determination, defiance, and indefatigable will.Read More »

Synopsis:
Lt. Bruno Stachel (George Peppard), a brash German World War I fighter pilot, is driven to shoot down 20 enemy planes, thus garnering him the Blue Max, a coveted medal. His superior, Count von Klugermann (James Mason), is aware that Bruno will stop at nothing to receive the honor, and admires his tenacity. The count’s nephew, Willi (Jeremy Kemp), is Bruno’s main competition for the prize, but Bruno is determined to eliminate his adversary and secure the honor for himself.Read More »

Synopsis:
Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the “rice-bowl” system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat’s presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.Read More »

Eddie Chapman (Christopher Plummer) is a smooth operator, blowing up safes under the noise of a back firing car outside of the buildings and leaving a calling card before absconding with the pick of the jewels he steals. But whilst in Jersey he is caught and locked up for his crimes on the island which is where he spots the invasion of German soldiers as they marched on to the island. Spotting an opportunity he convinces those in command to let him work as a spy for Germany at which point his execution is faked and he spends time in France being trained by the Germans before being sent to London. But he hands himself in and becomes a double spy working for the British as long as he is pardoned, compensated and receives a wartime commendation for his work.Read More »

Synopsis:
Sitting out the war as the jailer of a Union prison stockade in Eastern New Mexico, Amos Charles Dundee (Charlton Heston) seizes upon a local Apache massacre to ignore his assignment and launch a search-and-destroy mission into Mexico. Having already lost many troopers to the the Indian chief Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate), Dundee is forced to augment his command with local thieves and drunks, promote his black cavalrymen to active status and make a deal with the leader of his Confederate prisoners, the cavalier Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris). It’s an all-or-nothing gambit; Dundee will either find his Apache quarry and come home a national hero, or return empty-handed and face the wrath of military superiors who already see him as an untrustworthy glory hound. Either way, he’d be wise to avoid the thousands of French troops that are also in Northern Mexico, harshly suppressing the revolution of Benito Juarez.Read More »