Category Archives: World War II

Haven’t We Killed Here Before?: “The Formula” (1980)

    “THE FORMULA”  (1980)    Perhaps the most interesting point of discussion regarding John G. Avildsen’s film “The Formula” is the irony of its presumably unintentionally honest title. If there has been in recent memory a big studio release thriller … Continue reading

Posted in books, George C. Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Pacific Overtures: “PT 109” (1963)

               “PT 109”  (1963)      Much can be determined from the character of a person by the substance of an autobiographical tome. In the case of “PT 109”, so much influence was exerted … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, Boston, History, Movies, war movies, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Blood and Sand: “The Longest Day” (1962)

     “The Longest Day”   (1962) (Originally published June 23, 2013)     Darryl F. Zanuck’s monumental war epic depicting the events of the D-Day invasion of World War 2 has the disadvantage of not only following dozens of characters … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's cinema, drive-in cinema, Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, John Wayne, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Richard Burton, war movies, World War II | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Cold as Ice: “The Frozen Dead” (1966)

                 “The Frozen Dead”  (1966)      If one were take Hollywood’s version of history at face value, Germany’s defeat in World War II had little to do with the strangulation of resources … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, women, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Conduct Unbecoming: “The Night of the Generals” (1967)

       “The Night of the Generals”   (1967)     The makers of any film based on Hans Hellmut Kirst’s 1962 novel The Night of the Generals face a formidable task in that the author indulges in an sizeable amount of strategically inserted … Continue reading

Posted in books, crime, History, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Peter O'Toole, World War II, writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “The Holcroft Covenant” (1985)

The resurgence of the Third Reich seems to be popular sport for thriller novelists seeking an easily identifiable scapegoat for global chicanery, and nowhere has this premise been given a more haphazard treatment than in John Frankenheimer’s film of the … Continue reading

Posted in books, espionage, History, John Frankenheimer, Michael Caine, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, World War II, writing | 2 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961)

“Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961) Starring Spencer Tracy. Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift. Written by Abby Mann. Directed by Stanley Kramer. Lengthy, literate courtroom drama, still the most intelligent film to come from Hollywood … Continue reading

Posted in Burt Lancaster, crime, History, Judy Garland, Movies, politics, Richard Widmark, Spencer Tracy, Stanley Kramer, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Concession Stand Bites: “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1972)

“SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE” (1972) Starring Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Valerie Perrine, Eugene Roche, Perry King, Kevin Conway. Directed by George Roy Hill. Written by Stephen Geller based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. When the film of a seemingly unfilmable novel … Continue reading

Posted in books, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “36 Hours” (1965)

“36 Hours” (1965) Starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor, Werner Peters, John Banner, Alan Napier. Written by George Seaton, based on the story “Beware of the Dogs” by Roald Dahl and a story by Carl K. Hittleman & … Continue reading

Posted in books, espionage, History, James Garner, Movies, psychiatry, Rod Taylor, Romance, short stories, World War II, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “The Boys From Brazil” (1978)

    Beware actors who protest their image too much. In the case of Franklin J. Schaffner’s “The Boys From Brazil”, the thespian in question is none other than venerable good guy Gregory Peck who makes a career backflip to … Continue reading

Posted in books, Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, movie reviews, Movies, music, Reviews, science, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Revisit: The Colour Out of Place: “South Pacific” (1958)

       “SOUTH PACIFIC” (1958) (Originally posted on April, 15, 2013) The 1958 Joshua Logan film of “South Pacific” is a perfect demonstration of the value of the movie soundtrack album as a preferable experience over a film. In … Continue reading

Posted in books, Movies, Musicals, Romance, theater, women, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

All Quiet on the Western Omelette: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2018 Edition, Vol. 1/2 & 1/2

All Quiet on the Western Omelette:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2018 Edition, Vol. 1/2 & 1/2     The start of a new year brings with it it’s own set of leftover problems to which the average person … Continue reading

Posted in books, comedy, food, John Wayne, Movies, silent movies, westerns, women, World War II | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Over Troubled Waters: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Nov. 2017 Edition, Vol. 7384750069858

Over Troubled Waters: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Nov. 2017 Edition, Vol. 7384750069858      As the song goes, “what goes up, must come down”. That’s right, you may have been expecting a little slice of Paul Simon, but it … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, History, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, Romance, silent movies, women, World War II, writing | 3 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Where Eagles Dare” (1969)

    There is not a poetic, contemplative, emotional nor genuinely human moment in ‘Where Eagles Dare”. It’s a damnably dirty dumbbell of a film, unashamedly made to excite the senses of undiscriminating viewers to whom empty, noisy and unceasing explosions, … Continue reading

Posted in Alistair MacLean, book reviews, books, clint eastwood, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Richard Burton, war movies, World War II, writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Up in the Air: “Battle of Britain: The Making of a Film” by Leonard Mosley

Battle of Britain: The Making of a Film by Leonard Mosley     Even the most ardent auteurist, once their proclivity toward overzealous artistic deification is tranquilized, will eventually admit that film making is a collective creative process, though most “insider” … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, History, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, war movies, World War II, writing | Leave a comment

Trigger Fingers: “1941” (1979)

      Steven Spielberg’s “1941”is symptomatic of the curious phenomenon particular to youngish directors who have reached a certain level of respectability, only to then inflate their creative impulses to a scale which neither their experience nor their inspiration is … Continue reading

Posted in acting, comedy, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Soldier Boy: CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, MARCH 2015 EDITION, VOL. 1234

SOLDIER BOY:  MARCH 2015 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 1234 It’s March, that time of the year again when the Ides signify the assassination of Roman dictators, madness creeps into college basketball ranks and most importantly it is time for … Continue reading

Posted in books, comedy, Film, food, grindhouse, History, humor, Jim Brown, Movies, politics, Reviews, Romance, silent movies, war movies, World War II, writing | 1 Comment

A Dirty Business: “The Bridge at Remagen” (1969)

     To watch World War II movies, one might get the general impression that all battles were fought and won by small units of appropriately ethnic collections of colorful characters who somehow overcome enormous odds imposed by both the enemy … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Film Reviews, History, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, war movies, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “The Final Countdown” (1980)

      Films that deal with time travel walk a fragile path as they must conform to the rigid book of history while at the same time, advancing a narrative while configuring the actions of modern day figures to not irretrievably … Continue reading

Posted in 1980's movies, Film Reviews, History, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

MASS ESCAPISM: “VON RYAN’S EXPRESS” (1965)

    Despite the sterling example of Jean Renoir’s “Grand Illusion”, the prisoner of war escape film did not find a wide popularity until well after the Second World War, presumably as the propagandistic value of the war film during actual … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's cinema, 1960's movies, Entertainment, Film, Film Reviews, Frank Sinatra, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, war movies, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Blood and Sand: “The Longest Day” (1962)

    Darryl F. Zanuck’s monumental war epic depicting the events of the D-Day invasion of World War 2 has the disadvantage of not only following dozens of characters over dozens of different locations, but also the input of three … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's cinema, drive-in cinema, Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, John Wayne, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Richard Burton, war movies, World War II | Tagged , , | 4 Comments