I’ve seen this movie previously and have been very
impressed by the writing, the acting and the overall
feel that is conveyed by the film. Henry Fonda stars
as the title character-Lt [jg] Douglas Roberts.
Fonda’s character is assigned to a cargo ship
somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but he
longs to be where the action is on a battleship
assigned to a large task force. He even sees the task
force go by him while he’s working one evening.
The film also has Jack Lemon, William Powell and James
Cagney playing significant roles. Lemon plays
Ens.Frank Pulver who is the comic relief through most
of this film. He tries multiple times to “score” with
any woman who comes across the path of the “bucket”
that they serve. Powell plays the ship’s
doctor/surgeon and is the resident wise man to both
the men and the officers on board. Cagney plays the
crotchety, old captain and has no humor, no good will
and no like for anyone but himself-if Scrooge or the
Grinch met Cagney in this film they’d find a friend to
be sure!
The film was made in the mid 1950’s and conveys some
of the boredom that many soldiers and sailors may have
experienced in the war. The film does really seem to
be very dramatic-how exciting can a cargo ship
be?-until near the end when we learn how much the crew
appreciates Fonda’s work with them as well as the
emotional ending where we learn that Fonda’s
character-after having gained a transfer to one of
those battleships in the task force-was killed during
an air raid attack near Okinawa.
I’m writing about this film because I recently saw
online that it will be broadcast this evening-Saturday
December 29, 2007-on the local Detroit PBS station at
9pm. For anyone who has not seen it and who enjoys the
Second World War genre then I’d recommend viewing this
film.
Mr. Roberts [1955] imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048380/
Amazon.com DVD Mr. Roberts
http://www.amazon.com/Mister-Roberts-Henry-Fonda/dp/6305225761
youtube.com-Mr. Roberts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddskeaNSTBc
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Showing posts with label world war 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world war 2. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Great Escape
I watched this film last night and was yet again
amazed at the story that was presented in it. Those
men-soldiers-who were prisoners of war in a Nazi POW
camp, were able to work undetected-for the most
part-and dig several tunnels under and out of the camp
over the course of many months. The movie presents
nothing but a positive outlook by the allied
prisoners. This seems somewhat unlikely-that after
being stuck in a prison-many of them for years-that
they did not harbor any disgust, ill will or dislike
towards the German soldiers, and the movie did not
show disrespect for the German soldiers to their
faces.
The movie I must remember is partly that-a movie. It’s
meant to entertain and it also educates and pays
tribute to the men who fought and died in that camp,
in all the POW camps and in the Second World War. The
allied soldiers also needed help from the outside-the
red cross or other aid groups sent tools and radio
parts to help the POWs in their attempt to keep in
contact with the outside world and to know what was
going on with the war.
The bigger picture in respect to the escape was that
these men who were able to escape wanted to take
troops away from the frontline. That is said in the
film, but what is not explicitly stated is that they
did this around the time of D-day. So that when the
invasion of France occurred many thousands of troops
were scattered across Germany looking for POWs instead
of defending the coastal area of France.
The film shows several individuals and their part in
the planning and implementation of the escape. It does
have drama built in to it. The scene where “the 50”
are shot and killed is really very depressing. Much
like what war must really be like-the killing of
others and depressing to all involved. The movie ends
on an amusing note-perhaps to avoid being so
depressing from the previous scene with the 50 being
killed. Steve McQueen-who is called “the cooler king”
is sent back to the cooler-for the 4th time in the
film-and receives his trusty baseball mitt and ball to
pass the time while he sits in the cooler, waiting to
be released and presumably for his chance to escape.
This may represent the non-conformist and undeterred
spirit of the US soldier, or it may represent what is
good in all of us-that we will not put up with
tyranny, oppression and dictators-and that we will
continue to work against all those the work against
freedom.
The Great Escape (1963)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/
History Channel Classroom:
http://www.history.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.0491.html
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
amazed at the story that was presented in it. Those
men-soldiers-who were prisoners of war in a Nazi POW
camp, were able to work undetected-for the most
part-and dig several tunnels under and out of the camp
over the course of many months. The movie presents
nothing but a positive outlook by the allied
prisoners. This seems somewhat unlikely-that after
being stuck in a prison-many of them for years-that
they did not harbor any disgust, ill will or dislike
towards the German soldiers, and the movie did not
show disrespect for the German soldiers to their
faces.
The movie I must remember is partly that-a movie. It’s
meant to entertain and it also educates and pays
tribute to the men who fought and died in that camp,
in all the POW camps and in the Second World War. The
allied soldiers also needed help from the outside-the
red cross or other aid groups sent tools and radio
parts to help the POWs in their attempt to keep in
contact with the outside world and to know what was
going on with the war.
The bigger picture in respect to the escape was that
these men who were able to escape wanted to take
troops away from the frontline. That is said in the
film, but what is not explicitly stated is that they
did this around the time of D-day. So that when the
invasion of France occurred many thousands of troops
were scattered across Germany looking for POWs instead
of defending the coastal area of France.
The film shows several individuals and their part in
the planning and implementation of the escape. It does
have drama built in to it. The scene where “the 50”
are shot and killed is really very depressing. Much
like what war must really be like-the killing of
others and depressing to all involved. The movie ends
on an amusing note-perhaps to avoid being so
depressing from the previous scene with the 50 being
killed. Steve McQueen-who is called “the cooler king”
is sent back to the cooler-for the 4th time in the
film-and receives his trusty baseball mitt and ball to
pass the time while he sits in the cooler, waiting to
be released and presumably for his chance to escape.
This may represent the non-conformist and undeterred
spirit of the US soldier, or it may represent what is
good in all of us-that we will not put up with
tyranny, oppression and dictators-and that we will
continue to work against all those the work against
freedom.
The Great Escape (1963)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/
History Channel Classroom:
http://www.history.com/classroom/admin/study_guide/archives/thc_guide.0491.html
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Market Garden-A Bridge Too Far
When I was a young boy I can remember a movie coming
out entitled A Bridge Too Far. It had many big name
actors in it-none of whom I knew of-and it was set in
Europe during the Second World War. I didn’t’ know the
significance of the battle that it was portraying at
the time. I was young and only knew that it was a war
movie. So I wanted to see it and experience all the
noise, explosions and glory that went along with
battle-the glory thought of by a 7 year old. I’ve
watched that movie a few times since I’ve reached
adulthood. It has a much different meaning to me now
than it did some 30 years ago. I’ve lived through a
few less than fun events in my own life. Things that
many people go through-car accidents, being sick and
hospitalized and seeing family or friends die-these
events make what all the men and women who suffered
and fought for during the Second World War mean much
more to me.
I had the chance to view part of a PBS
documentary-currently being broadcast- that presented
the overall plans and effects of operation Market
Garden. This is the battle that was presented in the
movie A Bridge Too Far. The documentary was less
entertaining to watch, but presented much the same
information as the three hour movie. The Allied forces
wanted to capture six bridges on the north western
coast of Europe-in Belgium and the Netherlands. The
idea was to drop thousands of troops behind enemy
lines to take and secure the bridges. Then the ground
forces would come through the front line and support
and secure the troops that took the bridges.
In theory it sounds great even now. A problem was that
the Allied forces didn’t expect the Germans to offer
any resistance. They apparently didn’t listen to their
own underground reports from Belgium/Netherlands about
the strength of the German forces that were in the
towns that they were about to attack. It made for a
difficult operation as it took much longer for the
ground forces to reach the bridges-if they reached
them at all.
The over all thought was to gain control of the
territory north of the German’s defensive wall that
was built on the German border but stopped in the far
north-near Arnhem, Netherlands. Then the Allies could
turn east into Germany and take Berlin and stop the
war by Christmas of 1944. The battle was not 100%
successful and as most of us are aware the war lasted
until the following summer in Europe.
Operation Market Garden
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5222.htm
PBS documentary-The War
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0075784/
Political map of the Netherlands
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/510.htm
Monday, November 05, 2007
out entitled A Bridge Too Far. It had many big name
actors in it-none of whom I knew of-and it was set in
Europe during the Second World War. I didn’t’ know the
significance of the battle that it was portraying at
the time. I was young and only knew that it was a war
movie. So I wanted to see it and experience all the
noise, explosions and glory that went along with
battle-the glory thought of by a 7 year old. I’ve
watched that movie a few times since I’ve reached
adulthood. It has a much different meaning to me now
than it did some 30 years ago. I’ve lived through a
few less than fun events in my own life. Things that
many people go through-car accidents, being sick and
hospitalized and seeing family or friends die-these
events make what all the men and women who suffered
and fought for during the Second World War mean much
more to me.
I had the chance to view part of a PBS
documentary-currently being broadcast- that presented
the overall plans and effects of operation Market
Garden. This is the battle that was presented in the
movie A Bridge Too Far. The documentary was less
entertaining to watch, but presented much the same
information as the three hour movie. The Allied forces
wanted to capture six bridges on the north western
coast of Europe-in Belgium and the Netherlands. The
idea was to drop thousands of troops behind enemy
lines to take and secure the bridges. Then the ground
forces would come through the front line and support
and secure the troops that took the bridges.
In theory it sounds great even now. A problem was that
the Allied forces didn’t expect the Germans to offer
any resistance. They apparently didn’t listen to their
own underground reports from Belgium/Netherlands about
the strength of the German forces that were in the
towns that they were about to attack. It made for a
difficult operation as it took much longer for the
ground forces to reach the bridges-if they reached
them at all.
The over all thought was to gain control of the
territory north of the German’s defensive wall that
was built on the German border but stopped in the far
north-near Arnhem, Netherlands. Then the Allies could
turn east into Germany and take Berlin and stop the
war by Christmas of 1944. The battle was not 100%
successful and as most of us are aware the war lasted
until the following summer in Europe.
Operation Market Garden
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5222.htm
PBS documentary-The War
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0075784/
Political map of the Netherlands
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/510.htm
Monday, November 05, 2007
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