Let you entertain me
Column’s up: The lost patriots of Hollywood
Sigh. They just don’t make men like Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen anymore. Brad Pitt? Yawn. Colin Farrell? Ewww. Ben Affleck? Gag.
Anyway, I’m enabling comments on a trial basis and would love to hear about your favorite WWII flicks and scenes.
Me first: I’ll never forget the hanging scene at the school in Back to Bataan. Watched the movie when I was 8. Still get choked up thinking about the principal’s body and the American flag.
Look forward to your reflections. See you in the morning.
Update: Thanks for all the inspiring recommendations! Your extensive list of movies should help me avoid the following argument with my husband at the Blockbuster checkout line for the 10th time:
“Honey, why are we renting The Waterboy again?”
“There’s nothing else to watch.”
“Nothing?”
“C’mon. The Waterboy is a classic.”
“Again?!?!?!”
Update II: Coupla folks thought the date of the Academy Awards ceremony I mentioned was a typo since it occurred before Pearl Harbor. Nope. True, we were not officially at war yet, but Walter Wanger saw the need to support our allies’ efforts and defend America’s good name as our place in the world was under fire. We were on the precipice of war and the MPA rallied to the side of the good guys. Regarding Collateral Damage, I know it was made before 9/11 and released afterward. Probably should have worded that more clearly. The point is that p.c. was hampering our ability to name the enemy before 9/11 and it continues to handicap us even more today. The same reluctance to confront our enemies did not infect Hollywood before and during WWII (they didn’t substitute Mongolian fighter pilots for Japanese ones, as far as I’m aware!).
Update III: I stopped liking Harrison Ford when he dumped his wife, stuck that goofy diamond stud in his ear, and shacked up with Ally McBeal.
Update IV: Jeff Quinton’s thoughts are here.
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Categories: Hollyweird, War
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Stalingrad (by the director Das Boot, which is good also.)
Battle of Britain (great flying scenes)
A Bridge Too Far (better then The Longest Day to me)
Story of GI Joe (With Burgess Meredith playing Ernie Pyle)
Sink The Bismarck (should be a remake of this story with better effects)
Band of Brothers (based on true accounts + good effects)
Saving Pvt Ryan has good effects but terrible plot line (The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff requested this personally but don’t take a radio…..) Favorite porn title: “Shaving Ryan’s Privates”
Midway and Tora,Tora,Tora are both good (I didn’t like Midway using scenes from Tora,Tora,Tora though)
Thin Red Line? Sucked just like the book.
Pearl Harbor…I’ll just say–Thank God for scene selection option on DVD players.
I heard Ambrose was working on book about Iwo Jima when he died, and Spielberg was goung to make it into a movie. I’d like to see that, or a movie about Tarawa.
If I’m not mistake the film Collateral Damage was filed prior to 9/11. It was originally schedule for release just after 9/11 but was instead kept in the can for many months due to fears that it would “hit too close to home” after the 9/11 attacks.
Also, please remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger withstood a lot of criticism for his film “True Lies” that was one of the few films in the past 10 years to depict Arab terrorists. There was a mountain of criticism for this movie and he weathered it all and did not change the villains in the movie to more PC villains like the remake of Tom Clancy’s “Sum of all Fears”.
Thank You
Matt
While not a theatre-type movie as such, I vote for the entire Victory At Sea series.
Accurate histories, compelling narration and the incredibly moving score all combine to take the veiwer along on those epic voyages.
Saving Private Ryan is indeed a modern classic. What amazes me though is how Hanks can still remain a Hollweird Lefty.
Consider if you will, his having been so deeply immersed in that movie, as well as the Red, White & Blue folks from NASA in his Apollo 13 flick, then going on to play a key role in bringing the WWII memorial to fruition in the D.C. mall.
In the light of all that, one wonders; does Hollyweird idealology trump the lessons taught to him by so many patriots, tried and true?
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Thanks for the comments section! I sent two messages to your comcast account and felt like I was intruding on your private life!
I just remember when war movies were about WAR and that the “happy ending” was when the enemy was dead and the nation vanquished.
Now we get movies like Black Hawk Down that are excellent but leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Glad to see someone else put up A Bridge Too Far … saw that movie in childhood and kept wondering when the Allies were going to win. But instead they overreached and got taken prisoner.
A sobering reminder that real life doesn’t come with guaranteed happy endings.
Another great war movie that could and should be remade today given vastly better special effects: The Dambusters, a British film few Americans have seen save in the excerpts used in Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
It’s just an incredibly great story about the RAF’s bouncing-bomb raid on German dams. Even has an American in it, a pilot who flew for the Royal Canadian Air Force, so you would have something for an American audience to empathize with.
First, thanks for putting up a comments section. I really enjoy your blog as much as I enjoy your writing!
Onto WWII:
Patton – this whole movie is one memorable scene after another
Midway – While non one memorabloe scene comes out, it was an excellent depiction of the turning point of the war in the pacific
Saving Pvt Ryan – One of the most moving final scenes in a movie ever. I can see this a thousand times and be moved to tears every time.
Mr. Roberts is great comic relief and also qite moving at the saame time.
There are just too many, now that I think about it. I even liked Catch 22 because it was so deranged and abstract, sort of like the anti-Memphis Belle, even though Catch 22 wasmade many years earlier.
“Yeah, yeah, I know – “High Noon’s” not really a war movie, But it’s a great metaphor for the world we and our country are in right now…the lone cowboy standing “unilaterally” against the barbarians while the townsepeople cower – oh sorry, display their nuance and cultural sensitivity”
Do you know it was a metaphor for standing up to McCarthyism, written using a front by a blacklisted screenwriter who was disgusted at the way none of his friends stood up for him?
Not the best, but I am surprised to see no mention of “The Guns of Navarone.” Excellent movie and a gag line of a superb “The Dick Van Dyke Show” episode.
To continue my point about Collateral Damage. Yahoo Movies reported on July 4, 2001 that filming had wrapped up “a while ago”.
“Best WWII novel, BTW, is The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. Forget the movie, which only comprises part of the novel”
As well as being supinely afraid of being as critical of the Navy on an institutional basis, as the book was …
Dear Ms Malkin (Michelle),
Love your columns and love your blog. As an 18-year Army Lieutenant Colonel, I have more than a passing interest. All my fav WWII movies have been mentioned already, with one exception, “Enemy At The Gates”, the movie with Jude Law and Ed Harris that depicts the epic sniper dual (based on a true story from the battle) in the Stalingrad rubble between the best the Russians had and the best the Germans had (their real names escape me at the moment). A superb depiction of the brutality between and among the Germans and Russians. However, I’d like to add a few more that, to me, are timeless classics of film that highlight the tragedy, comedy and range of humanity that comes from war:
1. Gettysburg – the defense of Little Round Top scene with Jeff Daniels; American leadership at its finest; still gives me a lump in my throat when they charge the Confederates, literally without ammunition
2. The Crossing – an A&E cable film that also stars Jeff Daniels as George Washington and depicts his crossing of the Delaware and assault on the Hessian mercenaries on Christmas Day. Shows you why GW is the STILL the mold from which all subsequent US presidents are judged against.
3. Breaker Morant – film about the gray areas soldiers find themselves in in circumstances other than full combat. Stars Edward Woodward and Brian Brown as Aussie soldiers fighting Dutch guerillas on the South African velt at the turn of the century.
4. Pork Chop Hill – about the only film that depicts Korean War combat to any degree; stars Gregory Peck as the US lieutenant who has to carry out the attack while US and Chinese generals negotiate the truce. Korea is the one war that Hollywood has not done real justice too; think of the epics battles nad stories to be told: the brave defense against the North Koreans along the Naktong River near Pusan; the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir. Still waiting, Hollywood.
Thanks and Keep Up Your Great Work
Lieutenant Colonel Dave
US Army
“Yeah when was the last time neo Nazi groups (as odious as they are) tried to get WMD’s?”
Texas. Last year. Fortunately the FBI caught them at it.
We’ve been amused at people complaining about the change in the way the villains in “Sum of All Fears” are depicted: in the book, it has been pointed out, they indeed include Arabs, but not terribly religious Arabs.
To add to what Lt. Col Dave just wrote, the Battle of Fredericksburg as presented in “Gods and Generals,” the prequal to “Gettysburg,” is the most harrowing depiction of a battle ever filmed, and that includes “Saving Private Ryan.”
The scene where the Confederate Irish regiment fights the Union Irish regiment is heartbreaking.
Another great WWII film: “From Here to Eternity.” (Apologies if it was already mentioned.)
And has anyone mentioned “Casablanca?” The battle of the songs is the best part from that great Bogie movie.
“It’s gotta be the scene in the dirty dozen when the gang kills all of the german officers and their escorts hiding in the bunkers.
If they remade that movie today, they’d either remove that scene, or leave it in as a way of showing that “Really, there were atrocities committed on both sides.””
So, either way you could criticize them as being a bunch of spineless leftists?
And try to defend Dresden as anything other than an atrocity … (of course, at that time the truths of the death camps had become known, so it’s understandable, but it was still widely debated even at the time as to whether it was really the honorable thing to do).
SullyWatch – some would argue that Arabs murdering people by beheading them aren’t being very religious either. What’s your point?
The simple fact is that the makers of “The Sum of All Fears” chickened out, changing a plot that’s very believable to one that’s just plain silly.
Some comments seemed to have drifted from the main topic: movies made in war time with patrioic themes.
Check two Charles Laughton movies:
This Land Is Mine deals with occupied France. Why do people tolerate the Sadaams, the Baathist thugs, the Sadr’s?
The Canterville Ghost – a comedy in form it deals significantly with how men fine the courage to risk all.
BTW I believe Saving Private Ryan was a subversive film – the message being there was no difference between GI and Nazi and that the GI had no idea why he was fighting and higher commands were unthinking, unfeeling brutes who didn’t give a damn about the men who served. Hated the film despite a fine beginning and ending.
Just when I think you’ve hit the target you write material about big-mouth actors and show me the bull’s eye. I use to love The Chicksy Dicks, but can’t listen to them on the radio now. There are many actors I can’t watch now for the same reason. They’ve got big mouths. Forgive them Lord, for they know what they say, and pitiful people should be forgiven. Naaaa! I don’t buy a certain food product now for fear of helping the campaigning of a big mouth that is saying all the crap he thinks people want to hear. To me that’s camoflaged lying. I just can’t vote for Gomer’s brother. Thanks for writing material that so many I know agree with, but don’t have the medium to do so.
“A Midnight Clear.”
1. “Patton” – You can’t beat the scene in which George C. Scott reads the prayer written by his Chaplain. It still applies today.
2. “Midway” – Torpedo 8’s suicide attack on the Japanese Task Force. One of history’s most under-acknowledged acts of selflessness.
3. “Bridge on the River Kwai” – Alec Guinesss’s resistance to the Japanese commander’s insistance on the officers doing manual labor and both sides reaction when the Japanese relent.
4. “Band of Brothers” – I was in awe when watching the scene where the C-47’s are approaching France. They could see and hear the FLAK ahead and continue forward. Bravery indeed.
5. “Back to Bataan” – The school teacher’s refusal to haul down the American flag, even to save his own life.
6. “Battle of the Bulge” – Not a very accurate portrayal of the battle but I love this line:
Maj. Wolenski: Take off those aprons and grab a rifle.
Cook: But Major, were cooks.
Maj. Wolenski: Lunch is over.
And I can’t leave without mentioning these movies simply because the whole thing is good:
“Stalag 17″, “The Great Escape”, “Black Hawk Down”, “Tora!, Tora!, Tora!”, “In Harms Way”, “von Ryans Express” and “Mr. Roberts”
I was 5 years old when Pearl Harbor happened. You cannot even imagine the number of patriotic movies I have seen! And I certainly can’t remember them all. But I do want to tell you about the patriotic cartoons I watched. Many of them were in black and white, not even in color. I cannot remember all their names either but every Sat. morning there was a new one. Even then we realized they were propaganda but it was a theme we enjoyed, we cheered them on. Now they won’t even show them on the cartoon channels because they are considered racist, and they were, but we knew who the enemy was, whether they were Japanese or Nazis they were the enemy and we all had the sense to know it.
BTW Michelle, sure glad you have a blog, I wrote you one time about a C-span appearance, and I still talk with my hands, too.
My Apologies; I forgot another one:
The Lost Battalion – believe it is another A&E or History Channel production that stars Rick Schroeder as MAJ Charles Whittlesey, who led an American infantry battalion of the 77th Infantry Division in an attack during the Argonne Offensive in Oct 1918. The battalion was cut off by the Germans when the other battalions on either side could not press the attack. Whittlesey’s men held off German counterattacks for 6 days until finally relieved. Whittlesey earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. The movie does a fairly good job of accounting the fight; I was pleasantly surprised by Schroeder’s performance. Sad note – Whittlesey carried a heavy burden from the battle and committed suicide in 1921.
Well if you like older actors…try us. Brando, Mae and Joan.
I’d read “All Quiet on the Western Front” again.
Hollywood has sure let us down over the last 20 years. John Wayne must be spinning in his grave!
If we are going to list the great movies about WWII lets not forget “Battleground.” Made in 1949 and starring Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Leon Ames, George Murphy & Ricardo Mantalban, Battleground tells the story of a platoon of men from the 327th glider infantry regiment of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. Simply put, it’s one of the best war movies to come out of Hollywood. Battleground is entertaining and funny yet it still drives the message home that war is hell.
As for todays actors, very few, if any can hold a candle to the likes of Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, William Powell & Humphry Bogart. The only exception is Tom Hanks. Hanks is a throwback; he knows his craft, he’s not a whiner and he has an appreciation for history.
I’m a big “War and Rememberance” fan myself…love it…
Michelle: Love the blog too! Great stuff!
Paul,
I agree. There are a handful of Hollywooders I would categorize along with Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, et al: Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, and let’s not forget the great Charlton Heston. These actors aren’t afraid to say and stand for positive things about our country and our way of life. Tom Hanks is a superb actor, and I’ll give him an honorable mention. But he is silent when it comes to really taking a controversial stand against the grain of the overwhelming numbers of his contemporaries.
LTC Dave
Kelly’s Heroes:
“If you think the bridge will be there, the bridge will be there”
And of course The Longest Day has the best cast ever assembled for any film!
Julianne Moore’s breasts in The End of the Affair.
Now, aren’t you sorry you started a Comments section? Personally, I think your contributions in the form of thought and opinion are too important to have you spending much time on the likes of us. Starting a blog is a huge commitment, but paying attention to your readers’ comments could be an enormous drain of your time. Please don’t spread yourself too thin.
ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS OF WWII HAS TO BE COMMAND DECISION WITH CLARK GABLE!!
THIS FILM SHOWED THAT WHATS RIGHT IS NOT ALWAYS POPULAR AND WHATS POPULAR IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT.
ALSO ENENMY AT THE GATE IS A GOOD LOOK FROM THE VIEW OF OUR ALIES
A good overlooked WWII movie: 1995’s “Tuskegee Airmen”, based on the true story of the famed all-black fighter squadron. (A little over the top in places but worthwhile for the honor of these brave airmen.)
One WWII movie that always chokes me up is Empire of the Sun.
On my list of greats, in no particular order:
The Dambusters
Casablanca
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
Cross of Iron
The Cockleshell Heroes
The Battle of Britain
Hope and Glory
Mrs Miniver
The Bridge at Remagen
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Matter of Life and Death
Carve Her Name WIth Pride
The Bridge on the River Kwai
and for great entertainment value:
Where Eagles Dare
The Guns of Navarone
The Dirty Dozen
Kelly’s Heroes
The Eagle Has Landed
633 Squadron
Note that not all of the above are the standard blood-and-guts movies that we usually associate with the term ‘war movie’. I also think, in my chauvinistic way, that the Brits are better at making the truly great WWII movies.
My personal picks are “The Great Escape” and the mini-series “Band of Brothers”.
Oh yeah .. I forgot Run Silent, Run Deep.
I forgot one of my favorites earlier, a movie that showed profound bravery and the triumph of the human spirit…and I haven’t seen it mentioned at all here: “Glory.” Best scene comes where Denzel Washington starts getting preachy and Morgan Freeman stops him and reminds him of all the white men who are dying for his freedom.
Patton. The most powerful peformance I have ever seen.
I’d say “Midway,” except it forces us to withstand the excruciating “acting” of Charlton Heston, whose performances never exceeded that of William Shatner but whose ego wouldn’t allow himself to become camp.
Tom Hanks, dying on the bridge in Saving Private Ryan, telling Ryan, “earn this.”
I think he was also telling all of us that we must always earn the sacrifice the WW2 generation made to keep us free.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” (WWI) is the best war movie ever made, in my opinion.
WWII–”Saving Private Ryan” and “Bridge on the River Kwai”
Korea–”MASH”
Vietnam and after–let’s not go there…
The scene in the movie, Anzio, after a soldier was killed. While lying dead in the mud, the picture of his wife and children comes free from his grasp and floats down a small rivulet on the battlefield.
Also, Black Hawk Down – the scene were the two Delta Force guys volunteer to go down and defend the crew of a downed chopper against hundreds if not thousands of swarming armed Somalis. The kicker is, they didn’t know the crew – and didn’t know if the crew was alive. But they did their duty to defend their fellow man, and paid the ultimate price.
In that they are a microcosm of the U.S. military, the greatest force for liberation and freedom the world has ever known.
hey, upper case Jay:
turn off your caps lock. you’re shouting.
I vote for my all time favorite WWII:
Kelly’s Heros. (I’m more into entertainment that history.)
For me, WWII movies begin and end with “The Longest Day.”
Love the fact that the German actors are speaking German (with sub-titles), and are largely portrayed as being very overconfident in their belief that the allies would never have the audacity to invade in such “terrible weather”
As for best scenes, there are many, but in the end, one must always bow to the great, the one and only, the true American HERO, John Wayne.
His character leads one of the paratroop divisions on their early morning jump just outside of St. Mere Eglise, and breaks his ankle during the operation. When the doctor tells him this, The Duke merely tells him to “lace up his boot–tight”, and he proceeds to lead the platoon into the besieged city to assist the other paratroopers in holding it.
Awesome.
saving private ryan
black hawk down
give me dirty gritty horrible realism tied in with true heroism and tied in woth a bow of duty and honor
Michelle, i love this blog and your articles, keep it up!
Hey Michelle, love the blog, love the columns. However, you mentioned Arnold’s mediocre film “Collateral Damage” as a “post-9/11″ film, when in fact it was written & filmed well before the 9/11 attacks. They were going for a fall 2001 release, but out of respect, both Arnold and the studio agreed it would be best to delay the release for several months after, just as was done with the Dave Barry-scripted “Big Trouble” (in which a nuclear bomb gets on a plane), and, I believe, with Joel Schumacher’s “Phone Booth”, for its similarity to the D.C. sniper attacks.
A commenter may have pointed this out already, but there’s like 150 to scroll through, so.
Battle of Britain
A Bridge Too Far
only because they haven’t been mentioned…
I’ve been obsessing lately on ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘World at War’.
The list is LONG. These are just a FEW of my favorite. (Thanks for your columns, your perspective, and your blog. Don’t give up.)
The Best Years of Our Lives
Private Ryan
The Longest Day
The Big Red One
Back to Bataan
Kelly’s Heroes
The Great Escape
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Michelle,
While Collateral Damage was scheduled to be released post-9/11, it had been written and produced before it.
cheers
-a.
My response to this column at 4:27 EDT at http://www.jquinton.com/archives/001199.html already mentioned the Collateral Damage issues raised by Eric and Atrios.
A Bridge Too Far
A great movie with a great cast. I was so moved, that when I took my wife to Europe we planned a whole day to drive the route of Operation Market Garden. To stand at the bank of the Waal river and imagine having to cross in canvas boats while being shot at by the Germans dug in on the other side…
Viewing the Airborneplein in Arnhem was also very moving.
Battleground – 1949, with Ricardo Montalban. It is the first movie I ever remember seeing about World War II. It is centered on the Battle of the Bulge.It pulls no punches about war, but it is terribly patriotic.
I would have to say Patton runs a VERY close second.
I like a Bridge Too Far, so I’m glad it has rated a few favorable comments on here. A year or so ago I read the book upon which it is based, and then saw the movie again, and it’s very accurate, assuming of course that the book was accurate.
It had everything: desperate fighting, heroism, some mistakes by those in command, and ultimately a setback for the allies. Good acting, good cinematography, etc.
what no Canadians out there
I didn’t see listed a great movie
“The Devils’ Brigade” with William Holden
rent it,own it
great blog Michelle
The Band of Brothers series
Kelly’s Heroes for a comedy about WWII
Saving Private Ryan – great movie and it was also the last movie I saw with my Dad before he past away.
The Longest Day
I think Thin Red Line could have been a great war movie, but the director, can’t remember his name, had to try to make it too artsy. About 40-45 minute on the cutting room floor would have made it very good.
Casablanca – saw it at Radio City and the scene where Rick warns the Germans about attacking NYC, got everyone laughing.
“Patton” is hands down my favorite WWII film. The scene, at the outset, where he stands in the road as the Luftwaffe do a strafing run, and everyone else flees. That’s a leader. And I would have smacked the soldier, too, even though I know it was wrong. I can’t imagine either that soldier’s fear or General Patton’s frustration.
“The Bridge on the River Kwai” will always be a special movie. Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is another timeless hero. And for the American to go back, after escaping. An absolutely great story, superbly acted and directed.
Love the blog Michelle…
Forgot to mention earlier that one of the thrills of my young life was that the man who was written about in God is my Co-Pilot came to our school. I believe I was in the fourth grade at the time. But it is a blur in my mind with the song “Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer” which was very popular also. So maybe someone out there can tell me if that song was in the movie “God is my Co-Pilot”.
The really good WWII movies include:
Saving Private Ryan
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Big Red One
Guns of Navarone
Soldier of Orange
Patton
The Longest Day
To Hell and Back
The Great Escape
A Bridge Too Far
Sink the Bismarck
Stalingrad
The Dirty Dozen
Das Boot
Empire of the Sun
Die Brucke
Band of Brothers
Enemy at the Gate
Sahara
The Desert Fox
13 Rue Madeleine
Please explain what the Clooney basketball thing is about.
Was he secretly in a movie about basketball?
Is it a hobby of his?
How are we supposed to know that?
Were you not paying attention?
last year I bought a bunch of old classic war Movie DVDs and ran through them in one long sitting. They were all fantastic:
The Longest Day-the song as the closing credits roll still gives me chills.
Midway- brilliant summary of the battle that bears its name.
Patton- Scott’s opening monolougue and final diatribe “politicians always make us stop short, leave us another war to fight” should be required reading at Anapolis.
Run Silent, Run Deep- Clark Gable fights self doubt and the doubt of his crew in the ultimate cat-and-mouse submarine thriller.
Does “I was a male war bride” count? I love that movie!
I’ve got to go with a couple of scenes from Patton. The opening speech and when he stands out in the open shooting his pearl handled revolvers at the strafing Messerschmidt.
Being a war movie aficionado from way back, I would be hard pressed to narrow it down to a few favorites. A few memorable quotes do come to mind though:
“I don’t have to tell you the story. You all know it. Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach: those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts. You guys are the Fighting 29th.”
-Robert Mitchum (BG Cota) in “The Longest Day”
“I haven’t seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over.”
-Steve McQueen (Hilts) in “the Great Escape”
Oh, Ralph, Ralph, Ralph. *shakes head*
As a firearms enthusiast I cringe every time someone mentions Patton’s “pearl handled revolvers”. *shudders*
They had ivory handles (gasp, yes REAL ivory, heaven forfend!). General Patton always had a visceral, quite negative reaction to anyone mentioning his “pearl handled revolvers”. He is famous for the following quote:
“Only a pimp in a New Orleans whorehouse or a tin-horn gambler would carry a pearl-handled pistol.”
Contrary to popular belief, he wore only one pistol at a time–either a highly engraved nickel-finished Colt Single Action Army in .45 Colt with engraved ivory grips (raised eagle), or a blued Smith & Wessson .357 magnum with smooth ivory grips with his initials engraved in them.
Many thanks to Mr. Bob Tuley for this excellent info and photos of both guns, if you are interested, can be found here:
http://www.bobtuley.com/georgepatton2.htm
Ralph, as penance, I think you should do a month’s worth of daily reading at http://www.kimdutoit.com, and each day, you should pick a firearm from the Gratuitous Gun Picks along the left side and familiarize yourself with it.
Go thou, and sin no more. General Patton must spin in his grave every time he hears this “pearl handled revolver” nonsense.
If you’re ever in the Philly area, email me and I’ll take you shooting at my gun club range.
1)”The Caine Mutiny”
2)”The Enemy Below,” about a German submarine vs an American destroyer
3) “Carve Her Name With Pride,” about the British secret agent Violette Szabo
4) “The Battle of Monte Cassino,” a very grim documentary that was originally made as a U.S. Army training film.
I’ll never forget the “Bastogne” episode in Band of Brothers. Man, did those guys take some hell. The opening monologue of Patton is another that has stayed with me. That is leadership.
Midway….hands down, my favorite. What a cast! Close second would be The Great Escape.
There are countless worthy posts here: Great Escape, Longest Day, Kwai, Battle of the Bulge, among others.
But y’all have overlooked another great one: Hitchcock’s 1944 “Lifeboat.”
I have a few favorite WWII movies and if you haven’t seen them check them out.
Roughly Speaking with Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson
Since you Went Away with Claudette Colbert
Show’s how the women remained strong and waited for their men to come home and the resilience of the American Spirit
If you need a laugh check out, “The Doughgirls” with Ann Sheridan and Jane Wyman
For action I like Battleground and Edge of Darkness.
catch-22
remember? starring jon voight as the Kellogg Brown and Root role model?
Hey Chad….
Another good war movie by Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Hara is “This Land is Mine”. I love the movies of the 40’s as they left you feeling good.
The best war movie ever made was “Francis Joins the WACS” starring Donald O’Connor and Francis Mule. O’Connor was a real man, a manly warrior and Francis was the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. She certainly brought my little soldier to attention.
Second Best: “The Green Berets” It was a fantastic film, every bit as good as Francis Joins the WACS. It would be number one if Francis hadn’t so thouroughly out-acted John Wayne.
Third: “SA Mann Brand” This old German flick is über alles. Not only was it the right movie for Germany on it’s day, it perfectly expresses American values in the Bush Era.
Our Commander-in-Chief reminds me of my favorite war movie:
“Battle for the Planet of the Apes”.
You people need to get serious! The best war movie ever made was “Duck Soup”
I’m so glad you finally have a blog Michelle.
YOU ROCK!
No American patriotism in this movie, but a classic WWII movie nonetheless:
Das Boot
Sorry – best WWII movie is “Sink the Bismarck”, and only two Americans in a Catalina to show for it.
Something to think about: “patriotic movies” don’t get made, because they don’t make money and fly against our ingrained individualism.
Remember, the Great Depression and WWII saw the United States develop into a quasi-Socialist state, with government controls, rationing, etc. People were involved in the mass movements of the time.
With the “War on Terror”, movies about shopping, tax cuts, and hugging your kids could get rather boring fairly quickly.
To the above list I would add “Ice Cold in Alex”. “Sands of Iwo Jima” I specially like snce my dad was there. We once watched it together & he told me about the island & where his company was during battle.
“U-571″ I won’t watch because I’m completly fed up with Hollyweird stealing histiry from other countries & making them American accomplishments. We have are own history, we don’t need to take others.
OK, finally someone mentioned “Kelley’s Heroes,” which I can watch over and over just for Donald Sutherland and his weird music playing, tank driving, “There you go with them negative waves again” schtick.
Special mention to the TV mini series category, which includes stories from my favorite WWII authors, including “The Winds of War” by Herman Wouk, and “Mila 18″ by Leon Uris.
And I can’t let it go without recognizing “Tora! Tora! Tora!” the movie I saw at the drive-in with my parents which started my whole fascination with this period in history.
Some of my favorite WWII flicks are:
Band of Brothers
Schindler’s List
Since You Went Away
Mrs. Miniver
Twelve O’Clock High
Operation Pacific
They Were Expendable
Objective Burma
The Longest Day
I could go on and on, but these I can (and do) watch over and over.
I’m going to expand on Collateral Damage a bit.
For the (such as it was) story line of that movie there was no reason for the terrorists to be Arab. The movie made more sense with Columbian terrorists since a U.S. fireman would have tougher time just showing up in Tehran or any other city in the Middle East and just “start looking” for the terrorists. Columbia keeps everything in the same Hemisphere and made more sense for that film.
If you want to get angry about anything in that movie it should be that Arnold killed (or at least assaulted, it isn’t 100% clear they die) a few American soldiers that were trying to restrain him and nobody in the movie says anything about it. Thus the implication that anyone that stands between Arnold and his revenge is the bad guy, whether it be the Columbia Drug Lords or the American soldiers dutifully serving their country. That’s the part that bothered me about that movie.
There’s a scene in “Desperate Journey” (1942, starrring Ronald Reagan and Errol Flynn) where the character played by Reagan is asked by his German captor to explain a new American avaition technology advance, and Reagan proceeds to explain it all in made-up techno babble that sounds like it could be technical jargon but is really gibberish and the english-as-a-second-language German struggles to comprehend and leans close and Reagan punches him and knocks him out.
It’s a great example of a certain 1940’s American smartass attitude that helped win the war. I love that scene.
“Castle Keep” – surreal, very cool beginning.
“Catch-22″ – almost as surreal as “Castle Keep”
“Kelly’s Hero’s” – Donald Sutherland’s
remark about the German tanks “Their’s are better.”
If you’re in the mood for something scary, then please give “Below” a try.
The Big Red One has a few scenes that need mentione together. The already mentioned scene where the kid ultimatly dies from Nazi maltreatment help was just a lttle too late for him. Mark Hamill’s character killing the Nazi in the oven then standing there and slowly emptying his rifle into the oven trying to vent a fraction of the horror, indignation and anger at the Nazi death machine. The stabbing of the Nazi who they try to revive once news of the war’s end reaches the company. A fitting metaphor for American military men through the ages.
Enemy at the Gates. We get a glimpse of the two evils fighting each other wrapped around a simple farmer’s (Vasilli Zaitsev) story, his struggle to survive and ultimatly becoming the worlds premire sniper. I don’t belive any other man has surpased his confirmed kills total, not even Carlos Hathcock (A movie begging to be made – correctly) and the propagandists (Danilov) use of Zaitsev. The pride of the Nazi snipers (Konig) and the pure brutality of Stalin and Kruschev against an equally brutal enemy.
There are several sobering scenes about war. The crossing of the Volga where the newcomers are handed a rifle, every other man, under the instructions “the first man grabs a rifle and shoots, the second man follows, when the first man dies you grab his rifle and shoot.” How is that for infantry training school?
The scene where Konig takes the kid and hangs him as bait to draw Vasilli out. Up to that point Konig was just a military man doing his job killing the enemy, he wasn’t some cold blooded murderer of children.
I’ld like to see a film about Chesty Puller (Patton’s cousin) and the 1st Battalion 7th Marines at Edson’s Ridge.
Your writing inspires; don’t ever stop!
“Stalingrad”, “Cross of Iron” and “Cockleshell Heroes” have been mentioned once before – studies of honour and determination in war but not all American entries.
“Why We Fight” directed by Frank Capra has got to be the greatest motivational movie ever and was shown to millions of American and allied service men and women during WWII.
“March or Die” with Gene Hackman is a character study of the soldier even though it’s not WWII.
“The Lost Command” with George Segal, Alain Delon and Anthony Quinn is a gripping story of the epic struggle of the French at Dien Bien Phu. They fought with great honour but lost the battle to a very determined enemy fighting for freedom. In the process the French lost Vietnam. It was the fallout from the WWII political settlements the Allies made. It directly led to the partitioning of Vietnam and the unfortunate twenty year involvement of the US to implement the domino theory.
Many other great American war movies have already been mentioned.
Malkin writes: “Can you imagine George Clooney putting down the basketball {?}and picking up an M-4? Or Chris Rock and Jon Stewart cracking codes instead of jokes? Or Brad Pitt wearing combat boots for real combat instead of a Vanity Fair photo shoot? Or Spike Lee directing films defending the War on Terror? Or Eminem marching in step with the Army Air Force band?” No, but I can imagine war hero John Kerry in combat…but on the other hand I can’t imagine George W. Bush or Dick Cheney or John Ashcroft or Paul Wolfowitz or Donald Rumsfeld or Rush Limbaugh or any other of the chicken hawks serving in combat. Must be my poor imagination….
Just so we’re all clear here, Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart were New Deal Democrats and Roosevelt supporters. Ronald Reagan and John Wayne, on the other hand, decided to sit out the war in Hollywood.
I can’t stand those metrosexual pansies in modern films either. Give me a good Rock Hudson flick, or maybe a good Danny Kaye film. That or a good gladiator movie. Greased men going mano a mano with swords and spears is much more manly than fighting with guns and bombs.
Our family likes Destination Tokyo, Run Silent, Run Deep, The Great Escape and Saving Private Ryan.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The Battle of Midway
Mr. Roberts Goes to War (?)
Sgt York (Render unto Ceasar, that which is Ceasar’s and unto God, that which is God; you wish some of the lefties would get religion like this)
The battle of the Bulge
I know it’s not a movie, but do you remember a TV series called “The Desert Rats?”
How about “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson? I love to watch that movie with the surround sound all the way up!
Sands of Iwo Jima-John Wayne
Battle Cry-Aldo Ray
But then I am probably biased as I am a retired Marine.
Semper Fi
This morning I remembered “King Rat”, the James Clavell story of a Japanese prison camp during WW II. It was made into a movie. An American corporal distains co-operation with the prisoner committee at the camp and survives quite nicely on his own selfish blackmarket dealings with the guards. It isn’t until the camp is liberated that he realizes the total moral bankruptcy of his actions and the contempt the others have for him.
What about “PT-109″ based on John F. Kennedy’s exploits as a naval lieutenant in World War II? Hey, why don’t those damn Hollywood liberals make a movie about George W. Bush’s service on a Swift boat fighting the VC in Vietnam…oh, yeah, right….that was the other guy…..
I guess you could still make a movie about Dubya’s Vietnam era service — call it “Sweet Home Alabama Air National Guard.”
Served in Vietnam: John Kerry. Al Gore. General Wesley Clark. Former Senator Max Cleland (where he lost both legs and an arm). Oliver Stone (was a rifleman in an infantry company). All of these men volunteered for the military, none were drafted.
Didn’t serve in Vietnam: George W. Bush. Richard “Dick” Cheney. Donald Rumsfeld. John Ashcroft. Paul Wolfowitz. Rush Limbaugh. Bill O’Reilly. Newt Gingrich. Dick Armey. Tom DeLay. All of these men could have served, but chose not to, even though they supported the war. They wanted someone to fight — they just preferred it be someone poorer and/or less privileged than them.
Stephan – grow up.
George W. Bush – Texas Air National Guard, 1969-1975, when the Vietnam War was winding down. (Ridicule that if you want, but while you do, try flying an F-102 like Bush did then see if you’re still laughing)
Donald Rumsfeld – US Navy 1954-57, before the Vietnam War really started, and US Naval Reserves, 1957-75
And you hateful donks always seem to forget *General* Colin Powell, who was a soldier for 35 years (a LOT longer than Kerry or Gore), a Vietnam combat veteran and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff!
so again, grow up.
I’m not forgotting Powell — I was comparing a list of Democrats who fought in Vietnam with Republicans who didn’t. Powell is one of the very very few Republicans in public life today who did serve in a war, so he didn’t fit into either of the categories. And Powell at least had the guts to fight for what he believed in, unlike all his chicken hawk compatriots in the administration. It’s not too surprising that he was in the service longer than Gore and Kerry, though, since he was a professional soldier and made the military his career and they didn’t.
The Vietnam War was was “winding down” from 1969 to 1975? Tell that to the approximately 23,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who died during those years. I’m sure at least one of them would have been glad to have had Dubya take his place.
And hell, ‘69 to ‘75 is SEVEN YEARS — that’s rather a long wind down, don’t you think? Surely enough time for a patriotic young fella like George W. to volunteer for some flight time over Hanoi. Though in his Air National Guard enlistment form, when asked the question “I do/do not volunteer for Vietnam” George W. checked “do not.”
I’m also not quite sure you should really give George W. credit for ALL of ‘69 to ‘75 — after all, he did go AWOL once the Air Force started mandating drug testing in its annual physicals. He’s never really accounted for what the hell he was doing during that year he was supposed to have shown up in Alabama but didn’t. While others were dying in Vietman Dubya simply…disappeared.