This weekend in honor of Memorial Day, Turner Classic Movies is showing war movies. I am providing the schedule for you along with a star rating (on a scale of 1-5) from Brassey's Guide to War Films and the IMDB summary for the films that are not famous. Some of the movies are very obscure and there are several that I have not seen yet. It just goes to show, you can watch over 800 war movies for your blog, but there will still be war movies that you have not seen yet. Don't get me wrong, I am not planning to watch any obscure 1 star movies this weekend. The movie I recommend the most is "Westfront 1918" which just so happens to be celebrating its 90th anniversary on Saturday. (You'd think TCM would be aware of that, but it is showing it on Monday. All the times are Eastern.
06:00 a.m. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) *** Newlyweds Gil
(Henry Fonda) and Lana Martin (Claudette Colbert) try to establish a
farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the
Revolutionary War begins.
08:00 a.m. Captain Caution (1940) ** When her father dies, a young woman helps a
young man take command of the ship to fight the British during the war of 1812.
10:00 p.m. Waterloo Bridge (1940) *** During World War I, believing her fiance to
be dead, a young ballerina loses her job and is forced to turn to prostitution.
12:00 a.m. Cornered (1946) N/A Canadian flyer Laurence Gerard finds that his wife has been murdered
by a French collaborator. His quest for justice leads him to Switzerland and
Argentina.
02:00 a.m. Uncertain Glory (1944) ** After a career criminal (Errol Flynn) is
recaptured and knows he faces the guillotine, he offers to exchange his life
for 100 hostages slated for execution by the Nazis.
03:45 a.m. Edge of Darkness (1943) ** After two years under German rule, a small
Norwegian fishing village rises up and revolts against the occupying
Nazis. (another Flynn movie)
Sunday, May 24
06:00 a.m. Reunion in France (1942) * In German-occupied Paris, a Frenchwoman (Joan
Crawford) hides a downed RAF pilot (John
Wayne) and tries to smuggle him into Portugal despite the strict surveillance
by the suspicious Gestapo officers.
08:00 a.m. Assignment in Brittany (1943) * A French captain (Jean-Pierre Aumont) poses
as a Nazi to pinpoint a U-boat base off the coast of France, while assuming the
identity of a "look-a-like" French citizen.
02:30 p.m. The Wings of Eagles (1957) N/A A biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter
Frank W. "Spig" Wead (John Wayne).
08:00 p.m. Hell to Eternity (1960) ** When his adoptive Japanese-American family is
sent to Manzanar after Pearl Harbor, a young Chicano (Jeffery Hunter) enlists
in the marines to become a hero in the Battle of Saipan.
10:15 p.m. Pride of the Marines (1945) *** Marine hero Al Schmid (John Garfield) is blinded in battle and returns home to be
rehabilitated. He readjusts to his civilian life with the help of his soon to
be wife.
03:00 a.m. Westfront 1918 (1930) ***** A group of German infantrymen of the First
World War live out their lives in the trenches of France. They find brief
entertainment and relief in a village behind the lines, but primarily terror
fills their lives as the attacks on and from the French army ebb and flow. One
of the men, Karl, goes home on leave only to discover the degradation forced on
his family by wartime poverty. He returns to the lines in time to face an
enormous attack by French tanks.
Monday, May 25
11:00 p.m. Till the End of Time (1946) N/A Drama about former WW2 Marines readjusting to
civilian life and dealing with their mental and physical traumas.
03:30 a.m. Homecoming (1948) * At the end of WW2, aboard a repatriation ship, an Army doctor
reminisces about his war years while being interviewed by a reporter. Clark Gable & Lana Turner
Pride of the Marines, Till the End of Time,and The Best Years of Our Lives would be more appropriate for Veteran's Day.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the TCM list, I think it is apparent they did not choose movies based on Americans dying for their country. I do not think it was their intention to have a theme. It looks like more of a random list of movies from their vault.
DeleteMovies suitable for Memorial Day, IMHO:
ReplyDeleteThe Story of G.I. Joe
The Bridges at Toko Ri
Run Silent, Run Deep
Mister Roberts
Wake Island
The Fighting Seabees
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Some of them are not really great movies, but all have American major characters who get KIA.
Excellent list.
Delete