A film I had never heard of. Halliwell's film guide says a marine patrol in Korea is commanded by a black man and the racial tension take precedence over fighting the enemy.
Simple-minded, parsimoniously budgeted war melodrama.
Sidney Poitier is the Sergeant who is given command by the Lieutenant as he is dying.
Alan Ladd is the most experienced but has no stripes. The first part of the film is setting the scene and they end up defending a house against faceless enemy who they machine gun and grenade by the score.
Alan Ladd gets his leg crushed by a tank and they save him The patrol hold out long enough for them to be saved by their own side.
No much of a film and not one that you would bother seeing again. They spent too little on the story. It was a pity the great Shane ( Alan Ladd) was reduced to this. He rode off in the sunset after saving the town form the baddies just to end up being banale on a snow covered hill side in Korea.
Sidney Poitier was rehearsing for his tough put upon black man roles.
What do they call you boy ?
They call me MISTER Tibbs !
Sunday, 18 February 2007
Friday, 16 February 2007
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
WAR FILMS
I thought I would look at the war category. It is obviously US biased and again there are quite a few I have not heard of but we are on a voyage of discovery. They are as follows in alphabetical order.
1 African Queen(1951)
2 All Quiet on the Western Front(1929)
3 Andreie Rublev(1969)
4 Apocalypse Now(1979)
5 The Ascent(1976)
6 Ashes and Diamonds (1958) POPIOL I DIAMENT
7 BarryLyndon (1975 )
8The Battle of Algiers (1965) Battagllia di Algeri
9 Battle of San Pietro (1945)
10 Battleship Potemkin (1925) Bronenosets Potyomkin
11 Best Years of our Lives( 1946)
12The Big Parade(1925)
13 The Big Red One(1980)
14 The Burmese Harp (1956) Biruma No Tattegoto
15 The Boat (1981) Das Boot
16 Braveheart (1995)
17 Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
18 Carbaret (1972)
19 Chimes at Midnight(1965) Campanadas A Medianoche
20 The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)Chagrin et la Pitie
21Come and See (1985) Idi i Smotri
22 Cranes are Flying (1957) Letjat Zhuravli
23 The Red and the white (1967) Csillagosok, Katonak
24 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
25 The Deer Hunter (1978)
27 Dr Strangelove(1964)
28 Dr Zhivago(1965)
29 The English Patient(1996)
30 Europa Europa(1990 Hitlerjunge saloman
31 Forbidden games (1952) Jeux Interdits
32 From Here to Eternity (1953)
33 Full Metal jacket (1987)
34 Gallipolli (1981)
35 The Leopard(1963) iL GATTOPARDO
36 The General (1927)
37 Glory (1989)
38 Gone with the Wind(1939)
39 Good Morning Vietnam(1987)
40 Grand Illusion(1937) La Grande Illusion
41 Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Hotaru No Haka
42 The Great Escape(1963)
43 Gunga Din(1939)
44 Henry V (1944)
45 Hill 24 Doesn't Answer(1955)
46Hiroshima Mon Amour(1959)
47 Red Sorghum(1987) Hong Gao Liang
48 I know where I am going(1945)
49 The Killing Fields ( 1984)
50 Kippur( 2000)
51 Throne of Blood (1957) Kumonosu Jo
52 Lawrence of Arabia(1962)
53 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp(1943)
54 MASH(1970)
55 Napoleon(1927)
56 Night of the shooting stars(1982) La Notte di San Lorenzo
57 No Mans Land(2001)
58 Open City (1945) Roma. Citta Aperta
59 Paisan(1946) Paisa
60 Paths of Glory(1957)
61 Patton(1970)
62The Pianist (2002)
64 Platoon (1986)
65 Storm over Asia(1928) Potomok Chingis-Khana
66 Ran (1985)
67 Salvador( 1986)
68 Saving Private Ryan(1998)
69 Schindler's List(1993)
70 The Wanton Countess(1954) Senso
71 Sergeant York(1941)
72 Sherman's March((1986)
73 Shoah (1985)
74 Shame(1968) Skammen
75 Soldier of Orange(1977) Soldaat Van Oranje
77 The Thin red Line(1998)
78 Three Kings (1999)
79 To Be or Not to Be (1942)
80 To have and to have not (1944)
81 Underground(1995)
82 The War Game(1965)
I thought I would look at the war category. It is obviously US biased and again there are quite a few I have not heard of but we are on a voyage of discovery. They are as follows in alphabetical order.
1 African Queen(1951)
2 All Quiet on the Western Front(1929)
3 Andreie Rublev(1969)
4 Apocalypse Now(1979)
5 The Ascent(1976)
6 Ashes and Diamonds (1958) POPIOL I DIAMENT
7 BarryLyndon (1975 )
8The Battle of Algiers (1965) Battagllia di Algeri
9 Battle of San Pietro (1945)
10 Battleship Potemkin (1925) Bronenosets Potyomkin
11 Best Years of our Lives( 1946)
12The Big Parade(1925)
13 The Big Red One(1980)
14 The Burmese Harp (1956) Biruma No Tattegoto
15 The Boat (1981) Das Boot
16 Braveheart (1995)
17 Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
18 Carbaret (1972)
19 Chimes at Midnight(1965) Campanadas A Medianoche
20 The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)Chagrin et la Pitie
21Come and See (1985) Idi i Smotri
22 Cranes are Flying (1957) Letjat Zhuravli
23 The Red and the white (1967) Csillagosok, Katonak
24 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
25 The Deer Hunter (1978)
27 Dr Strangelove(1964)
28 Dr Zhivago(1965)
29 The English Patient(1996)
30 Europa Europa(1990 Hitlerjunge saloman
31 Forbidden games (1952) Jeux Interdits
32 From Here to Eternity (1953)
33 Full Metal jacket (1987)
34 Gallipolli (1981)
35 The Leopard(1963) iL GATTOPARDO
36 The General (1927)
37 Glory (1989)
38 Gone with the Wind(1939)
39 Good Morning Vietnam(1987)
40 Grand Illusion(1937) La Grande Illusion
41 Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Hotaru No Haka
42 The Great Escape(1963)
43 Gunga Din(1939)
44 Henry V (1944)
45 Hill 24 Doesn't Answer(1955)
46Hiroshima Mon Amour(1959)
47 Red Sorghum(1987) Hong Gao Liang
48 I know where I am going(1945)
49 The Killing Fields ( 1984)
50 Kippur( 2000)
51 Throne of Blood (1957) Kumonosu Jo
52 Lawrence of Arabia(1962)
53 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp(1943)
54 MASH(1970)
55 Napoleon(1927)
56 Night of the shooting stars(1982) La Notte di San Lorenzo
57 No Mans Land(2001)
58 Open City (1945) Roma. Citta Aperta
59 Paisan(1946) Paisa
60 Paths of Glory(1957)
61 Patton(1970)
62The Pianist (2002)
64 Platoon (1986)
65 Storm over Asia(1928) Potomok Chingis-Khana
66 Ran (1985)
67 Salvador( 1986)
68 Saving Private Ryan(1998)
69 Schindler's List(1993)
70 The Wanton Countess(1954) Senso
71 Sergeant York(1941)
72 Sherman's March((1986)
73 Shoah (1985)
74 Shame(1968) Skammen
75 Soldier of Orange(1977) Soldaat Van Oranje
77 The Thin red Line(1998)
78 Three Kings (1999)
79 To Be or Not to Be (1942)
80 To have and to have not (1944)
81 Underground(1995)
82 The War Game(1965)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
A sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-Brit rebellion
I like Ken Loach's work as he did great films such as Poor Cow (1967) and Kes (1969) he came out of the sixties as a socialist film maker. Also one of his films in in the top 100 being Land and Freedom (1995)
You know you are going to get a tough uncompromising view of what ever he is looking at. On this occasion the Irish rebellion for Independence and the Irish civil war. It got bad press even before if was shown because it was branded as anti British.
It shows British soldiers as the Black and Tans killing and terrorising unarmed civilians. In a guerrilla war situation there are times when the occupying power overreacts and atrocities are committed.
The Irish rebels then use ambushes and executions against the soldiers which then fuels more reprisals.
Although it is thought of a an anti British film nobody comes out of it very well. The Irish kill their own for being traitors. The story follows two brothers who eventually end up on the wrong side of the civil war and one is executed by the other.
A moving film and not one you would want to watch too many times because of the subject matter. It has an effect but shows human behaviour at its worse.
The criticisms are that the dialogue is spoken too quietly and I missed even the fact that the two protagonists were brothers. It looks and sounds like a documentary which I suppose was the intention.
The baddies are the British and then it becomes the Irish free state soldiers who use the same tactics as the British and they end of killing each other.
Vita è bella, La (1997) Life is Beautiul
56. Life Is Beautiful, 1997
An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all.
It is on the list of top 100 war films. I had heard of it and recently Film 4 has shown it a few times. With modern television it is easy to dip in and out of films as I had done with this.
I forced myself to sit and watch all of it last night. Many times the beginning of a film is the key to it all so it is not a good idea to form and idea by coming half way through.
The director is the writer and the main actor
. You have to watch it closely because it is sub titled but you get to like some of the words in Italian. He calls ladies princess or princepessa as in Buon giorno, Principessa!
He is a very funny character who gets into a variety of scrapes and in the first half of the film like all funny men ends up with the girl.
They have a child Giosué and by the time they are rounded up as jews he is about 8. Obviously going to a concentration camp is a traumatic experience. Dad explains it is all a game and that the boy will win a tank if he gets enough points and wins the game.
The quick thinking of dad means they seem to survive . The boy starts to learn that maybe it isn't a game as all the other children have gone to the showers. He has heard that they are being turned into soap and buttons. Dad explains otherwise and continues with the game.
Dad gets shot by the Germans but off camera so you are hoping it is a mistake but it isn't. The boy is standing there as the Americans turn up to an empty camp as all the inmates have walked off after the guards left.
The tank stops in front of him and he looks open mouthed. It is true he has won the tank. he finds mum and it ends.
A very sentimental film and could e accused of not being realistic but it was a different view of the Holocaust. It is said there are certain things that you cannot make jokes about. Obviously that is not true as this is a very funny film even though very sad indeed.
I could watch it quote a few times and not tire of it. A truly great film and worthy of being in the top 100 war films. One I would have missed if it had not been on the list.
I was disappoint that some on the websites claimed they never watched films that were black and white or had subtitles. It is very prejudiced and ignorant not to eh try more unusual films or exclude them because they are not in colour or are foreign.
It is 56 on the list just after the half way point and deservedly so.
An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all.
It is on the list of top 100 war films. I had heard of it and recently Film 4 has shown it a few times. With modern television it is easy to dip in and out of films as I had done with this.
I forced myself to sit and watch all of it last night. Many times the beginning of a film is the key to it all so it is not a good idea to form and idea by coming half way through.
The director is the writer and the main actor
 | Roberto Benigni | .... | Guido Orefice |
He is a very funny character who gets into a variety of scrapes and in the first half of the film like all funny men ends up with the girl.
They have a child Giosué and by the time they are rounded up as jews he is about 8. Obviously going to a concentration camp is a traumatic experience. Dad explains it is all a game and that the boy will win a tank if he gets enough points and wins the game.
The quick thinking of dad means they seem to survive . The boy starts to learn that maybe it isn't a game as all the other children have gone to the showers. He has heard that they are being turned into soap and buttons. Dad explains otherwise and continues with the game.
Dad gets shot by the Germans but off camera so you are hoping it is a mistake but it isn't. The boy is standing there as the Americans turn up to an empty camp as all the inmates have walked off after the guards left.
The tank stops in front of him and he looks open mouthed. It is true he has won the tank. he finds mum and it ends.
A very sentimental film and could e accused of not being realistic but it was a different view of the Holocaust. It is said there are certain things that you cannot make jokes about. Obviously that is not true as this is a very funny film even though very sad indeed.
I could watch it quote a few times and not tire of it. A truly great film and worthy of being in the top 100 war films. One I would have missed if it had not been on the list.
I was disappoint that some on the websites claimed they never watched films that were black and white or had subtitles. It is very prejudiced and ignorant not to eh try more unusual films or exclude them because they are not in colour or are foreign.
It is 56 on the list just after the half way point and deservedly so.
Monday, 12 February 2007
Battle of Britain (1969)
29. Battle Of Britain
Our brave lads in the RAF give jerry what for. It was their finest hour.
I am surprised this film is so high up the rankings of greatest war films.
The story is simple enough. Our brave boys hold back the Luftwaffe as they defend this green and pleasant land. The flying scenes are in the main very good as they soar and wheel over the channel you get great views.
The air fighting scenes are good until an airplane actually gets shot down. The planes seem to blow up in exactly the same way each time. A lot of the shots are repeated immediately after one another.
Most of the action the ground is shot from different angles so when a building explodes you see the same building blow up again a few seconds later.
The best shots were when the British planes were going into action or when the airfield was being bombed.The shots from the air were spectacular.
A lot of the special effects are amateurish which is bad for 1969.
The basic story line is good but they introduce loads of different characters but none are developed so we do not get to know any of them . Most of them are caricatures such as Michael Caine as the tally ho fighter pilot with the racing car and the dog waiting for him when he gets back.
I was in Essex when the film was being made and I actually saw a flight of German bombers being followed by a plane that was filming them. Also one day a spitfire came low over a hedge as I was driving along.
We were sitting at tea when my uncle got up and said that's a German plane. he said he could recognise the different engine sound and he was right as we went out on a summers night to see the German bombers flyover ahead.
Apart form the flying scenes not a film you would want to keep rewatching. The story lie was too poor. A Bridge too Far and The Longest Day cover big events but they do make us believe in the characters and feel for them .This was a just a parade of chaps in RAF uniform to fill out the scenes.
Even Kenneth More who was quite capable of winning the war on his own did not get a very big or interesting part.
One of the most touching scene was when the Germans had attacked an airfield and there was a line of dead WAAF.s It showed that at that time everyone was in the front line. It did not matter that they were women, they were still going to get killed.
Also when the sergeant pilot comes home to see his family in the middle of the blitz on London . One minute they are alive the next they have been killed yet he was the pilot in the front line.
It showed how the Germans changed their tactics by not knocking out the RAF first. They swapped to bombing London. They should have stuck at one task at a time. They then abandoned their plans to invade Britain.
It is received wisdom that the RAF saved Britain and as a result we were able to fight on an win the war with of course some help from the United states and USSR.
I suppose the truth is we were the only country still fighting as whilst at the time this film depicted the USSR was an ally of Germany.
It is number 29 in the list only two after Dirty Dozen. I could and have watched Dirty Dozen many times whereas Battle of Britain would start to pall on the second viewing.
The Germans were caricatures and Goering was shown as a bit of a joke.The best scene with him was then he asked his commanders what they needed to win the battle.
One said spitfires. His face changed to rage.
In all great filming, poor story. It also lacked a great theme tune.
Our brave lads in the RAF give jerry what for. It was their finest hour.
I am surprised this film is so high up the rankings of greatest war films.
The story is simple enough. Our brave boys hold back the Luftwaffe as they defend this green and pleasant land. The flying scenes are in the main very good as they soar and wheel over the channel you get great views.
The air fighting scenes are good until an airplane actually gets shot down. The planes seem to blow up in exactly the same way each time. A lot of the shots are repeated immediately after one another.
Most of the action the ground is shot from different angles so when a building explodes you see the same building blow up again a few seconds later.
The best shots were when the British planes were going into action or when the airfield was being bombed.The shots from the air were spectacular.
A lot of the special effects are amateurish which is bad for 1969.
The basic story line is good but they introduce loads of different characters but none are developed so we do not get to know any of them . Most of them are caricatures such as Michael Caine as the tally ho fighter pilot with the racing car and the dog waiting for him when he gets back.
I was in Essex when the film was being made and I actually saw a flight of German bombers being followed by a plane that was filming them. Also one day a spitfire came low over a hedge as I was driving along.
We were sitting at tea when my uncle got up and said that's a German plane. he said he could recognise the different engine sound and he was right as we went out on a summers night to see the German bombers flyover ahead.
Apart form the flying scenes not a film you would want to keep rewatching. The story lie was too poor. A Bridge too Far and The Longest Day cover big events but they do make us believe in the characters and feel for them .This was a just a parade of chaps in RAF uniform to fill out the scenes.
Even Kenneth More who was quite capable of winning the war on his own did not get a very big or interesting part.
One of the most touching scene was when the Germans had attacked an airfield and there was a line of dead WAAF.s It showed that at that time everyone was in the front line. It did not matter that they were women, they were still going to get killed.
Also when the sergeant pilot comes home to see his family in the middle of the blitz on London . One minute they are alive the next they have been killed yet he was the pilot in the front line.
It showed how the Germans changed their tactics by not knocking out the RAF first. They swapped to bombing London. They should have stuck at one task at a time. They then abandoned their plans to invade Britain.
It is received wisdom that the RAF saved Britain and as a result we were able to fight on an win the war with of course some help from the United states and USSR.
I suppose the truth is we were the only country still fighting as whilst at the time this film depicted the USSR was an ally of Germany.
It is number 29 in the list only two after Dirty Dozen. I could and have watched Dirty Dozen many times whereas Battle of Britain would start to pall on the second viewing.
The Germans were caricatures and Goering was shown as a bit of a joke.The best scene with him was then he asked his commanders what they needed to win the battle.
One said spitfires. His face changed to rage.
In all great filming, poor story. It also lacked a great theme tune.
Saturday, 10 February 2007
100 Best War Films
Channel Four's 100 Best War films
1. Saving Private Ryan, 1998
2. Apocalypse Now, 1979
3. The Great Escape, 1963
4. Schindler's List, 1993
5. Full Metal Jacket, 1987
6. Platoon, 1986
7. A Bridge Too Far, 1977
8. Zulu, 1964
9. Black Hawk Down , 2001
10. The Bridge On The River Kwai, 1957
11. The Dam Busters, 1954
12. The Deer Hunter, 1978
13. Braveheart, 1995
14. The Guns Of Navarone, 1961
15. The Killing Fields, 1984
.16. The Thin Red Line, 1998
17. Das Boot, 1981
18. Dr Strangelove, 1964
19. Born On The Fourth Of July, 1989
20. The Longest Day, 1962
21. Where Eagles Dare, 1968
22. M*A*S*H, 1974
23. Paths Of Glory, 1957
24. Gladiator, 2000
25. Spartacus, 1960
26. Ice Cold In Alex, 1958
27. The Dirty Dozen, 1967
28. Enemy At The Gates, 2001
29.
30.
31. Good Morning,
32. The Pianist, 2002
33. All Quiet On The Western Front, 1930
34. Kelly's Heroes, 1970
35. The Last Of The Mohicans, 1992
36. Henry V, 1944
37. Cross Of Iron, 1977
38.
39. Tora! Tora! Tora!, 1970
40.
41. The Cruel Sea, 1953
42. Catch 22, 1970
43. Empire Of The Sun, 1987
44. Patton, 1970
45. 633 Squadron, 1964
46. Master And Commander, 2003
47. A Matter Of Life And Death, 1962
48. Gallipoli, 1981
49. Carve Her Name With Pride, 1958
50. Three Kings, 1999
51. A Town Like
52. Hope And Glory, 1987
53.
54. From Here To Eternity, 1953
55. Casualties Of War, 1989
56. Life Is Beautiful, 1997
57. In Which We Serve, 1942
58.
59. Reach For The Sky, 1956
60. The English Patient, 1996
61. La Grande Illusion, 1937
62. Ran, 1985
63. When The Wind Blows, 1986
64. The
65. The General, 1927
.66. Enigma, 2001
67. Napoleon, 1927
68. Glory, 1989
69. Went The Day Well?, 1942
70. Oh! What A Lovely War, 1969
71. Come And See, 1986
72. The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp, 1943
73. Ride With The Devil, 1999
74. Alexander Nevsky, 1938
75. Gone With The Wind, 1939
76. Sands Of
77. The Charge Of The Light Brigade, 1936
78. Breaker Morant, 1980
79. Mrs Miniver, 1942
80.
81. Love And Death, 1975
82. No Man's Land, 2001
83. Cromwell, 1970
84. The Caine Mutiny, 1954
85. To Be Or Not To Be, 1942
86. El Cid, 1961
87.
88.
89. Von Ryan's Express, 1965
90. Regeneration, 1997
91. Hell In The Pacific, 1968
92. The Birth Of A Nation, 1915
93. Europa, Europa, 1990
94. The Colditz Story, 1955
95. Welcome To
96.
97. Lacombe Lucien, 1974
98. Big Red One, 1980
99. The Eagle Has Landed, 1977
100. Rambo: First Blood, Part II, 1985
A handful I have not see nor even heard of. Some I would not regard as a war film such as Casablanca which is a great film but not really a war film as such. It is a good starting point for a study of war films.
It is a bit weighted towards more recent films and particularly Hollywood blockbusters. People can of course only vote for what they know. They are more likely to know Saving Private Ryan than Birth of a Nation. The former is a lot more accessible. I also suspect this is more of British list and the US would have a completely different list as they will not have seen such great films as Went to Day Well? which is almost the blue print of The Eagle Has Landed
Friday, 9 February 2007
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Bold! Blunt! Blistering! The battle picture without equal!
Between 1958 and 1961 even though I was only very young I used to go the pictures on my own.I used to cycle about a mile or so to the Astra. On Royal Air force stations the cinema is always called the Astra which I suppose was taken form the RAF motto Per Adua Ad Astra ( From the sky to the stars)
I was fairly unchoosy and used to watch a wide variety of films. Cowboys, comedies and war films. Whatever I was watching the most exciting bit was the trailers.
These were teasers for what was coming on next week. I remember seeing great ones for Sci Fi films that were very popular in the fifties. It was only later that all these invading aliens were in fact coded references to the communists.
There was always some speccy character in school who was into space travel. I never noticed that John F Kennedy said in the early sixties that we would be on the moon by the end of the decade. He was right of course.
One of the films that I always remember in the trailers but never got to see for many years later was Pork Chop Hill.
It is an unremitting film. I then realised that it was directed by Lewis Milestone who directed All Quiet on the Western Front ( 1929) If you watch both of them you can see a lot of similarities.
He obviously liked his theme of the futility of war and he was happy to trot it out for thirty years. Gregory Peck is very good in it as the put upon commander.
It was and is our idea of what the Korean war was like. An implacable enemy who was prepared to keep fighting and taking losses for no apparent reason. No coded references to communists in this one these were the real thing and there were lots of them trying to kill our boys.
Our boys kept on fighting against enormous odds. I will watch it if it is on but not one of the greats. Once you know an artists or writers work you realise how many times they revisit the same theme. Maybe that is all the public wants from them. The same story retold in a slightly different way. It worked in All Quiet so why not do it again for a new generation and a new war. After all there are only so many stories.
The whole thing takes place on the side of a hill with constant fighting and dying and everyone looking very tough in deed.
Our only other view othe Korean war is MASH (1970)but that never came along until the early seventies. MASH was a coded reference to Vietnam, we see no fighting but the consquences of it on the operating tables.
No jokes on Pork Chop Hill
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