POWs

By any measure, they are one of the dreariest (and scariest) places on earth, and yet, prisoner of war camps have been the subject of many good movies. 

Let’s start with the outstanding Stalag 17 (1953). Billy Wilder directed fellow director Otto Preminger (really good as the Nazi commandant), William Holden, and an excellent ensemble cast. The film blends comedy and drama nicely, and makes the boredom of the prisoners’ everyday lives very watchable. Mr. Holden is suspected of collaborating with the Germans. Find out for yourself!

Mr. Holden also appears in Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), which won a half-dozen Oscars including Best Picture.  Alec Guiness, as the ranking Allied Officer, won for Best Actor. He becomes enamored with the task of building a bridge for the Japanese, one that Mr.Holden et al want to blow up. This is one of the most suspensful movies ever made!

Steve McQueen, in a role that made him a star, heads a stellar cast in The Great Escape (1963), including  Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. The title says it all. Mr. McQueen’s motorcycle ride is as thrilling as the prisoners’ escape attempt. This film is tremendously exciting!

King Rat (1965) features George Segal, Tom Courtenay, John Mills and James Fox in James Clavell’s story of the effect of being a POW on the inmates. More cerebral and less cliched than most of the genre, this one still has plenty of excitement. 

POWs are not a big part of The Deer Hunter (1978), yet the infamous tiger cages are not easily forgotten. This one took Best Movie and a host of other Oscars.It is the compelling story of young Pennsylvania steelworkers before, during and after their stint in Viet Nam. Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep head a fine cast. The image of Christopher Walken playing Russian Roulette for money sticks with you. 

Frank Sinatra is an Allied Colonel leading an escape from a Nazi prison camp in Von Ryan’s Express (1965). It’s not giving too much away to tell you the plot involves hijacking a German train. The scene with Mr. Sinatra racing to catch up to the end of the train is splendid. 

More recently there is The Mauritanian (2021) with Jodie Foster as good as she has ever been as a lawyer determined to get justice for an innocent man held in the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison camp. This one is on us, folks. She finally gets him released after 14 years in detention, never having been charged. She is aided by Army attorney Stuart Couch (from Asheboro!) ably portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. 

And finally, there is Unbroken (2014) with a virtually unknown cast in a true story of a horrible Japanese prison camp and the redemption of an inmate.

All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are ok for ages10 and up.

                                                      KILLER ROAD MOVIES

There’s a very interesting little sub-category of movies that I really like. For want of a better tag, I’ll call them Killer Road Movies.

The polar star of this category is Bonnie And Clyde (1967) with Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunnaway as Bonnie Parker. Gene Hackman, Michael T. Pollard and Estelle Parsons complete the gang, and Denver Pyle is the lawman determined to bring them down. Gene Wilder has a small part in his first film. This groundbreaking, and hugely entertaining, film dares to glorify common criminals and to show violent death realistically. Those who are gunned down herein do not crumple prettily to the ground. They are slaughtered in slow motion with enough blood and gore to float a canoe.                             

Thelma And Louise (1991), with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, do not set out to be lawbreakers. They’re just girls who want to have fun, but their road trip turns ugly when they kill a would-be rapist. A Buddy Movie for women isn’t new, but the ideas in this one are. Is it a metaphor for the modern woman? You decide- but we can all agree it is a tremendous amount of fun.

Kalifornia (1993) is most notable for the incredible performance of Brad Pitt as a slack-jawed, low-life psychopath. He and a reluctant Juliette Lewis hook up with a writer and photographer who are doing a story on serial killers and are unaware they are riding with one. 

Terrence Malik’s Badlands (1973) features an impossibly young Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as Charles Starkweather and Mary Fugate. They leave a bloody trail across the U.S. and yet somehow manage to appeal to us, against our wills. 

Wild At Heart (1990) can be a little hard to take, but Nicholas Cage (as Sailor) and Laura Dern (as the unrelenting Lula) are convincing wildlings in this dark David Lynch film. Dianne Ladd was actually nominated for an Oscar for her part as Marietta, Lula’s overbearing mother who totally hates Sailor. Sailor thinks he’s Elvis and Lula thinks she’s Marilyn Monroe. We think they are Southern-fried trouble with a capital T. 

All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. 

                                                       GOING TO THE DOGS

We Americans just love dogs and small boys. Put them together and you usually have a winning combination. There are some excellent Boy And His Dog films, starting with  My Dog Skip (2000). Frankie Muniz of TV’s Malcolm In The Middle is the small boy, and Skip is a series of engaging Jack Russell terriers. Skip was penned by Mississippian Willie Morris and the story perfectly captures the early 40's in the Deep South. A highlight is Skip’s frenzied reaction to any mention of Adolph Hitler. This film is a real charmer.

Old Yeller (1957) is the Disney version of A Boy And His Dog and though it has been around for many years, it’s popularity remains high with kids and adults. Tommy Kirk (who has probably grown up by now) is the kid and Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker are his parents. The boy becomes attached to a yellow hunting dog and the feeling is decidedly mutual. It is an excellent depiction of Texas just after the Civil War and a fine story of loyalty and friendship.

Brandon DeWilde is the kid in Goodbye, My Lady (1956) also set in the South. Walter Brennan is good as the grumpy but loveable older guy. Sidney Poitier and comedian Phil Harris complete an unusual but fine cast. The basenji dog of the title brings joy to all in this tear jerker.

Benji (1974) is now more than 40 years old but still high on the list for viewers who like doggie movies. The little ragmop dog is so cute he elicits immediate “aw”s and the story is a good one. The dog saves two small children from kidnappers and manages a joke or two on the way. There are two sequels to Benji and neither is within miles of the quality of the original. But they are definitely ok for kids who like this sort of thing.

There are loads of good Lassie movies but the best one in this genre is Lassie (1994).  The boy in this film (Thomas Guiry) is a troubled teenager whose family moves to the farm to try to straighten out their lives. The reluctant boy is brought around slowly and believably by the love of a collie dog. Richard Farnsworth and Helen Slater are among the other fine cast members. 

Shiloh (1997) is really not up to the standard of the other films above, but small children love it. 

All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for all ages. Littlies love them,  but so will grownups (mostly)!

 

                                                                2020 Sleepers

                                                                    Part 2

Herewith the second, and last, installment of 2020 movies that didn’t get much attention but that I thought are quite good.

Let Him Go stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as grandparents determined to rescue their grandson. After their son dies in a riding accident, their daughter-in-law remarries. The new husband takes her and the grandson away to his distant family, not even saying good-bye. The grandparents decide to see how things are at the grandson’s new home. Not good. Leslie Manville, as the dreadful new grandmother Blanche, is totally poisonous, as is the rest of her toxic brood. An attempt to extricate their daughter-in-law and grandson goes spectacularly wrong and lots of violence ensues. 

There is nobody in The Photograph you’ve ever heard of, but they’re all good. It tells a rather complicated story about how a single picture taken long ago unlocks the truth of a relationship too long kept secret. The entanglements of the plot and the time shifts can be daunting, but it’s worth sticking with it. 

Rebecca with Lily James as the new Mrs. DeWinter, has a brand new and incredibly complicated plot. Frankly, it is most interesting to compare it with the 1940 version directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Lawrence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.  The earlier film follows Daphne DuMaurier’s novel much more closely and is better for that. Still, the new one is worth watching and coupled with the original would make a fine double feature. 

The Way Back features Ben Affleck as a former star basketball player who has become a heavy drinker. He is asked to coach the basketball team at his former high school when the head coach has a heart attack. With few, and inferior, players he builds the team around a full court press and fierce defense. But his drinking continues. Not your usual film about a guy trying to beat alcoholism,  but well done by the screen writer and Mr. Affleck. 

I realize that including a movie that won the Oscar for Best Screen Play and was nominated for four others is a bit of a stretch in an article about sleepers.  I liked this movie so much I decided to stick it in here. Carey Mulligan is Cassie,  the Promising Young Woman of the title. While in college her best friend is brutally raped by another student. Neither the school nor the authorities do anything about it, and the friend becomes a suicide. Cassie vows revenge and her methods are interesting and effective. She designs a plan to totally humiliate the rape perpetrator and goes all out to achieve it. You would not want to mess with this sweet-faced young woman! But you would want to watch this stellar film.

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and are for grown-ups. 

                                                            THE CIVIL WAR

The Civil War is the setting for several good films, though not as many as you might expect. Birth of a Nation (1915) is a silent classic that practically invented movies as we know them. Directed by the Founding Father, D.W. Griffith, it is unfortunately sympathetic to the KKK , but it is one of the first movies to tell a story. Its battle scenes are still incredibly realistic. 

Glory (1989) tells the true story of an all-black Union infantry unit. Blacks have criticized it because it is more the story of the white colonel (Matthew Broderick) who commands the unit and less about the soldiers. This is a fair enough objection, but the screenplay was based on the letters of the character played by Broderick. Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, two of our best actors of any color, are splendid as soldiers. 

Friendly Persuasion (1956) is about Quakers during the Civil War and the hardcase testing of their nonviolence. Gary Cooper is the determined father, and Anthony Perkins has a nice turn as the son who is worried that he will be seen as hiding cowardice behind religious principles. 

You knew Gone With The Wind (1939) was coming and here it is. The Yankees are the bad guys, the sweeping panorama of Atlanta at war is captivating and Clark Gable is wonderful. Vivian Leigh has a fine time flouncing about and batting her eyes. 

Audie Murphy was a real life Congressional Medal of Honor winner and he plays Stephen Crane's antihero soldier in The Red Badge of Courage (1951). It was the high water mark, by several gallons, of his movie career.

Gettysburg (1993) at four hours is too long by two and a half. The setting is authentic and the battle scenes are fine, but it just drags and drags. The Andersonville Trial (1970) is an excellent made-for-TV effort about the infamous Confederate prison camp. It asks some pointed questions about people at war and sorting it all out after peace finally comes. 

And finally, there is Ken Burns’ tremendous 9-hour TV documentary, The Civil War (1990). Of course it is not a movie, but it is the best thing ever done on The War Between The States. 

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. Friendly Persuasion is fine for children of all ages. The rest are suitable for mature 10-year-olds and up. 

                                     THE FORGOTTEN WAR- 70 YEARS LATER

Unbelievably (to me, anyway) this year marks more than 70 years since the Korean War began in 1950. While nowhere near the fertile movie ground of WWII or Viet Nam, Korea did spawn a hand full of excellent films.

M*A*S*H (1970) has a much darker, manic tone than the popular TV series. It starred Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skeritt, Gary Burghoff and Bud Cort. They were virtual unknowns. M*A*S*H is director Robert Altman’s breakthrough film. Its bloody O.R. and irreverent wisecracks are a microcosm of the war.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) is a good political thriller that features heart-pounding suspense and some neat plot twists.  Frank Sinatra is good as a government agent as is Angela Lansbury, uncharacteristically venomous . Some wag has said Lawrence Harvey was typecast as an automaton, but he makes a good one. Harvey was a POW of the North Koreans, and they have tried to program him into the perfect killing machine. Can Sinatra reprogram him?

A James Michener story is the basis for Men Of The Fighting Lady (1954) with Van Johnson and Walter Pigeon. The Lady of the title is the aircraft carrier from which dangerous raids are launched into North Korea. The battle footage and special effects are so good that the Pentagon called Film Editor Gene Ruggiero on the carpet to explain how he got this footage. The answer was, standard war footage and painted backdrops, skillfully edited. It was good enough for the Pentagon and good enough for an Oscar, too.

Another Michener tale is the backbone of Sayonara (1957) which garnered Supporting Actor Oscars for Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki. Marlon Brando, James Garner and Martha Scott complete the cast of this tale of interracial love during the Korean War. Frankly, it's a little dated, but has its moments.

The Steel Helmet (1951) was actually made during the Korean War.  It is directed by a virtual unknown, Samuel Fuller, and the best known cast member is Steve Brodie. And yet, it probably comes about as close as any movie to showing what it was really like in Korea. This is a very good sleeper.

Pork Chop Hill (1959) was an actual place in Korea, and this fine movie portrays an American unit's order to hold the hill against the advancing Chinese hordes at all cost. Gregory Peck heads a stellar cast that also features Rip Torn, George Peppard and Harry Guardino. Hard-hitting and authentic, it has a decidedly dark tone like most movies about the Korean War. 

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. None are suitable for children under 12.

                                                               2020 SLEEPERS

                                                                 Part 1

        This is the first of a projected two-part series on 2020 movies I thought were pretty good but didn’t get much play. Not that anything got much play! I will note that in prior years I would have four or five sleepers columns. Alas, the pandemic took its toll on the number of films. (And on everything else.)

The last Brian Dennehy movie before his death was the excellent Driveways. It is the story of a young Asian-American mother and her son moving into her deceased sister’s house to clean it out. Next door is Del (Dennehy), an aging Vietnam veteran who lives alone. Shy 8-year-old Cody gradually becomes friends with him. The unlikely partnership grows closer with time. I loved this movie (gave it a 9)! 

Supernova is an incredibly moving film starring Colin Firth as Sam and Stanley Tucci as Tusker. They are a pair of same sex lovers who have been together for many years. Tusker is slowly dying of dementia and they take one last trip together, visiting family and friends throughout Britain. Tusker reveals he wishes to take his own life before his dementia gets any worse. Sam is horrified and they argue about it. The ending had me tearing up.

The oddly, but appropriately, named Dick Johnson Is Dead is the true story of director Kirsten Johnson convincing her father, the title figure, to film a number of scenes in which he is killed or just dies. He is suffering from dementia and goes along with her rather blackish humor plot. Not fo all tastes, and certainly off the beaten path.

Alone is not your cup of tea if “woman in distress” films bother you. But, if you’re ok with that plot, this is an excellent nail biter about a woman trying to get away from a stone cold killer. I won’t reveal the ending except to say it probably isn’t what you thought it would be. The actors are all unknowns, but they do a good job. 

Collective is from Romania, of all places. It is a documentary about corruption on the highest levels in that country. Investigative reporters unearth the fact that the disinfectant used in most hospitals is ineffective. It is made by the country’s largest drug company, which denies that their product is faulty. The journalists persist. This is one heck of a story and the only reason I gave it a 7 is I thought it stopped too soon. And I realize that a film nominated for Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film is hardly a sleeper. But it is still fairly obscure so I’m using it. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Driveways is fine for all ages. The rest are for adults.