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twwilson
Reviews
Western Union (1941)
At the very top of my favorite westerns.
I first saw this film in the theater way back in the 40s when I was a kid and always remembered the ending. There is nothing like the first impression but some movies are always a treat each time they are viewed. Something just resonates with them. This is one of those films and I agree with another reviewer who said Fritz Lang should have directed more westerns. To add to it I have always liked Randolph Scott and Robert Young. In fact, Robert Young stars in what I consider my favorite movie if I have to name just one, not an easy thing to do. That film is Northwest Passage. It led me to the superb historical novels of Kenneth Roberts. Western Union likewise led me to reading Zane Grey's novel which, in this case turned out to be one of those rare cases where I like the movie better than the novel. Not that Grey's novel is a bad one; I just like the movie story better. The movie in no way resembles the novel. It is a completely different tale, one of the biggest departures from a book I have seen.
I can't add much to the other reviews except to say I agree with many of them. I, too, wish it would be released on DVD. "Whatever happened to Randolph Scott happened to the best of me."
Farewell to the King (1989)
A fine film and a haunting score.
I started school in 1942 while the Marines were fighting on Guadalcanal. I entered the 4th grade upon Japan's surrender. In between I saw all the black and white WWII movies that came to the old Westmore Theater within walking distance of my home, now long gone with all the other old neighborhood picture palaces, replaced by the sterility of the mall clusters. Many of those films are still among my favorites. Over the years many more films dealing with various aspects of WWII have come along, mostly in color. Some capture the era and some don't but some fine ones have been made. One of those is Farewell to the King.
Now I know that such things are highly subjective but the opening sequence after the credits evokes such a feeling of nostalgia in me. You see, I remember these men "in the flare of their youth". I saw the Greatest Generation leave and return and they were ten feet tall to me. I had a box of ribbons, patches, area bombing photographs and other items they gave me when they came home.
But I digress. Farewll To The King is a testament to the futility of trying to escape history as Nigel keeps telling Leroyd. Here is a man who felt abandoned by his leader and escapes from the war himself and inadvertently finds a paradise only to have history catch up with it and destroy it. This is the great tragedy of the film. It is a tragedy for all concerned as war always is. It is not only a tragedy for Leroyd but for the soldiers who are sent to help fulfill the mission of engaging the natives of Borneo in the fight against the Japanese and who become enamored themselves with what Leroyd has found. It is a tragedy for Nigel's commanding officer who is himself smitten by it but knows what the result will be. It is a tragedy for the Japanese. And the magnificent score by Basil Poledouris just heightens the sense of it. And, as another reviewer has noted, the ending is great.
I highly recommend this film.
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
My Favorite Film of WWII
I usually hate to name a favorite film in a genre because I always have several I rate equally well, but, if asked to name one that tops the rest I have to say, in the WWII genre, this film is it. It is an intelligent and honest film about men in war; no heroics, no jingoism, no evil enemy, just regular Joes who are caught up in something big and deadly and would rather be home, but are doing their job. There are no clichés, no obligatory guy from Brooklyn, no high sounding phrases, no patriotic slogans, just an honest and realistic depiction of strictly ordinary guys caught in war. Lewis Milestone, the director, obviously understood the combat soldier.
I love the dialog, the banter among the men of "a fighting platoon", especially that between Pvts Rivera, played by Richard Conte, and Friedman, played by George Tyne. Coincidentally, Dana Andrews, one of my favorite actors, character is Sgt. Tyne. I wonder what was made of that by actor George Tyne. The cast also includes a young Lloyd Bridges and Huntz Hall, in the only roll I can recall seeing him in outside the East Side Kids/ Bowery Boys films.
The novel by Harry Brown, from which the film was made, was republished a few years ago and the dialog in the film is lifted straight out of it, which is part of what makes the film so great. In fact, this is one of those rare cases where the movie follows the book faithfully, almost to the letter.
I was nine years old when this film was released and I well remember the night I first saw it. My parents, who have just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, thought it was a romance film. I didn't want to go but when we arrived at the old Westmore Theater, now long gone, which was in walking distance of our home, and I saw the lobby photos and saw it was a war film, I was the one delighted. There was always at least one scene from these films that stayed in my mind over the years and in this one it was the hand of the German soldier with the ring on it hanging out of the wrecked armored vehicle, and the assault on the farmhouse.
"It was just a little walk in the warm Italian sun, but it wasn't an easy thing."
An excellent film made from an excellent novel with an excellent cast, all making an excellent viewing experience.
A Yank in Libya (1942)
A not bad poverty row film.
Although this film stars H.B. Warner, he is certainly not the central character, that role being fulfilled by Walter Woolf King, a little known actor, who portrays an American war correspondent who has unearthed a Nazi plot to foment a rebellion among the Arab tribes. In fact, Warner's part is rather minor. The story is pedestrian but the acting is good. There is not much big action, the only scenes promising it being at the end of the film, but, it doesn't come off. The chief of the attacking Arabs, making a sudden recovery from a Luger bullet at close range, prevents it. It turns out a small medallion on his chest stopped the bullet!
Neither Leonard Maltin nor Martin and Porter list this film in their filmograhies. I got it on DVD in a budget set of eight "War Classics". The plot of a Nazi conspiracy to foment a revolt of the Arab tribes in Libya is the nearest it gets to WWII. The sheik is played by Duncan Renaldo, perhaps better known as the Cisco Kid both in film and on TV. The Arab villain is portrayed by the prolific George J. Lewis with whom any fan of serials would be familiar, being a stock villain in that genre. He only appeared in about 260 films! Some comic relief is supplied by Parkyakarkas posing as an Arab selling razor blades!