Recommend a war movie!

During and directly after WWII, quite a number of very good war movies (and many not so good) were produced. Here are a handful.

They Were Expendable / John Ford (1945). An epic telling of the fall of the Philippines in the first months of WWII and of the proving of the worth of the Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats, small, light but very swift crafts with a crew of about a half dozen men each. Robert Montgomery stars. John Wayne, oddly, takes second billing at this point in his career – but he gets the romantic subplot and gets to “make love” (in a 1940s meaning) to Donna Reed.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo / Mervyn LeRoy (1944). Only four months after Pearl Harbor, an Army Air Force commander, Col James “Jimmy” Doolittle, laid a top secret plan to bomb the Japanese mainland. He recruited volunteer bomber crews (flying Mitchell B-25s) who would take on a dangerous mission without knowing what it was going to be. We follow the crew of the Ruptured Duck, piloted by the real-life Ted Lawson – who wrote the book that inspired the film. Lawson is played by Van Johnson. Robert Walker (second billed) is the gunner; Don DeFore the navigator. Vet director Mervyn LeRoy at the helm. The set-piece at the center is the bombing mission itself. Forced to set the mission in motion early, the bombers take off from an aircraft carrier in bad weather. The Ruptured Duck’s target is Tokyo. This 20 minute sequence is a spellbinder. There is no music soundtrack. The roar of engines and the shouts of men yelling orders and good luck at each other provide the aural excitement. The bomb run over a Tokyo factory district demonstrates some special effects that still stand up today. To my more experienced eyes, the rear projection effects are more noticeable, but they are much more well done and match the action in the foreground much better than is usually seen in movies of the time. Spencer Tracy makes a huge impression (as you might imagine) as Col. Doolittle even though it is just an extended cameo and most of his lines are delivered as speeches to a room full of military flyers.

In Which We Serve / Noël Coward and David Lean (1942). Magnificent WWII seagoing epic with author/co-director Coward also starring as a stoic Destroyer Captain. His wife is played by the wonderful Celia Johnson. On board as member of his loyal crew are Petty Officer Bernard Miles, Seaman John Mills and Seaman Richard Attenborough (uncredited in his film debut). The story opens with the sinking of the Destroyer. The Captain and several of his crew swim to a rubber raft and hang on to the side as German plans dive down to strafe them. Flashbacks ensue with memories washing up and over the men – and sometimes intermingling - as they flounder in the water. Their lives and loves back in England fill their thoughts. One nail-baiter of a sequence features two of the sailors’ wives and a mother in their London flat listening to bomb explosions coming closer and closer. It’s propaganda, sure, but not cheap. Intense direction and sensitive acting make this a film that holds up as universal long after the historical events.

The Americanization of Emily / Arthur Hiller (1964). Screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky. I think that this was one of the best movies of a very good year (a year that included “Dr. Strangelove,” “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Fail-Safe”, “Becket”, and “Goldfinger”). “Emily”, which came out the same year as “Mary Poppins”, was Julie Andrews’ first picture to be released even though, I think, “Poppins” was filmed first. James Garner was first cast to play the second male lead. Hiller was going for William Holden to play Charlie Madison. When a deal with Holden didn’t materialize, Garner was bumped to lead and James Coburn was brought on to play Bus. “Emily” has a kind of light irreverence that was a typical attitude of the rebellious ‘60s. Even though it is set during the Good War, just before D-Day, it is anti-war and anti-military, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. Some have said that the ending is a cop-out, but I say it is perfect. This is a comedy, after all, and Emily gets to teach Charlie some of the lessons he had been preaching to people throughout the film. Julie Andrews is quite wonderful. I always believed that her Oscar that year should have gone to her for “Emily” instead of “Mary Poppins.” James Garner proves himself once again (as he kept trying through the early ‘60s) as capable of a transition from the small screen to the big. Melvyn Douglas, as the befuddled Admiral, is great in the follow-up to his Oscar winning performance in “Hud”, the previous year. This film is highly recommended even though its opinions concerning patriotism and the honoring of war dead would probably not fly in today’s Support The Troops world.

L’Armée Des Ombres (Army Of Shadows) / Jean-Pierre Melville (1969). Dismissed by critics and the public in 1969, this masterwork by Melville had its first theatrical release in the United States and a DVD release in the New Century. Melville was a member of the French Resistance in WWII, but instead of telling his own story he chose to adapt a novel. It stars the fine character actor Lino Ventura. Co-starring is Simone Signoret in a strong role as a female resistance leader. Ventura and Signoret are unforgettable. This is yet another emerging sign (little by little his films are becoming widely available) that Melville is one of the greatest and most important film directors.

Hacksaw Ridge

MASH
Empire of the Sun
Braveheart
The Last Samurai
Glory
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Stalag 17
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Black Book
Patton
Valkyrie
The Patriot
Paths of Glory
Enemy at the Gates
The Deer Hunter
Apocalypse Now
Saving Private Ryan