The Battle of Britain (1969)
DIRECTOR: Guy Hamilton
CAST:
Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Robert Shaw, Michael Caine, Ian McShane, Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave, Sir Laurence Olivier, Kenneth More, Ralph Richardson, Patrick Wymark, Edward Fox, Curt Jürgens, Karl-Otto Alberty, Manfred Reddemann, Alexander Allerson, Harry Andrews, Michael Bates, Hein Reiss, Rolf Stiefel
REVIEW:
This British-German co-production from director Guy Hamilton was intended as an epic war classic paying tribute to the courageous pilots of the Battle of Britain, but is unfortunately a largely muddled production boasting the usual large all-star cast and some excellently choreographed air battle sequences but lacking much in the way of focus, clarity, storyline, or human interest. Continue reading
The Longest Day (1962)
DIRECTOR:
American scenes: Andrew Marton
British scenes: Ken Annakin
German scenes: Bernhard Wicki
CAST:
Americans: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Beymer, Rod Steiger, Sal Mineo, Roddy McDowall, Eddie Albert, George Segal, Paul Anka, Red Buttons, Fabian, Mel Ferrer, Steve Forrest, Robert Ryan, Robert Wagner, Stuart Whitman
British: Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Kenneth More, Sean Connery
Germans: Curt Jürgens, Hans Christian Blech, Heinz Reincke, Paul Hartmann, Richard Münch, Wolfgang Preiss, Peter Van Eyck, Werner Hinz, Gert Fröbe
French: Irina Demick, Christian Marquand, Georges Wilson
REVIEW:
The king of the ’60s and ’70s epic WWII films. One of the most colossal productions ever mounted, and a pet project of high-rolling Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, The Longest Day was an adaptation of journalist and author Cornelius Ryan’s book of the same name, a 180 degrees chronicle of D-Day from compiled interviews from both Allied and German participants, as well as French Resistance agents and civilians. Like Ryan’s book, the movie tells the story of the pivotal Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France in June 1944 from every conceivable angle, from the Allied commanders risking it all on a nail-biting roll of the dice, to their harried German counterparts across the English Channel struggling to organize an effective counterattack amid hopeless confusion, to the common soldiers fighting it out on the beaches and in the hedgerows, to the French Resistance fighters doing their part to aid the liberation of their country, to the French civilians, overjoyed even as they are plunged into the middle of one of the most famous battles in history. This is a boon to history buffs with a strong interest in the subject matter, while those less enthralled might uncharitably refer to The Longest Day as “the longest movie” (it runs a formidable three hours). It’s not for everyone, and it lacks the intensity and immediacy of smaller-scale, more character-driven onscreen depictions of the D-Day invasion from Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers, but for history buffs seeking a comprehensive overview of D-Day, or fans of classic ’60s and ’70s war films, this is an epic “classic” the way they don’t make them anymore. Continue reading
Spartacus (1960)
DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick
CAST: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Peter Ustinov, Charles Laughton, John Gavin
REVIEW:
Rightfully regarded as one of the best of the old sword and sandals Roman and/or Biblical epics that were in vogue in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s (see also the likes of The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, etc), Spartacus exists in the same vein as the likes of Braveheart or Gladiator, blending epic spectacle on the kind of lavish grandiose scale seldom mounted, and a surprising amount of intellectual weight. Some elements are dated, but the core aspects retain their strength.
Continue readingIt’s a Wonderful Life (1947)
DIRECTOR: Frank Capra
CAST: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, Gloria Grahame
REVIEW:
Contrary to popular belief, It’s a Wonderful Life took a while to achieve its beloved status and was not an immediate hit. In fact, it received mixed critical reviews and despite being nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, it won none of them and barely made back its budget costs at the box office. But after its copyright was allowed to expire in 1974 and the film entered the public domain, the previously relatively forgotten movie became a mainstay re-running on television during the Christmas season and enraptured new generations of viewers, in both the original black-and-white version and subsequent colorizations, until 1994 when NBC obtained exclusive rights to its television broadcasts. Today, It’s a Wonderful Life is held up as such a timelessly popular Christmas movie (though only the climax actually takes place at Christmastime) that it’s strange to think it was once received lukewarmly. There’s reasons why It’s a Wonderful Life holds a timeless appeal. It’s a “feel good” movie through and through, but a well-constructed “feel good” movie that isn’t so saccharine as to avoid some darker moments (the central premise, after all, involves a man believing the world would be better off if he’d never existed and contemplating suicide) and holds some themes about the importance of the individual and the triumph of human values over penny-pinching bottom lines that feel just as timely and relevant today. Continue reading