Gift Horse (1952)

 

            The British WWII movie “Glory at Sea” was shown in American theaters as “Gift Horse”.  The American title was more appropriate because it is a reference to the phrase:  “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”  This fits a WWI American destroyer that was loaned to Britain in the destroyers for bases deal.  With the Battle of the Atlantic raging, the British could not be particular when it came to convoy escorts.  The film was directed by Compton Bennett.  It did not do well at the box office in America.

            The movie was dedicated to the 50 destroyers given to Great Britain before the U.S. entered the war.  The now HMS Ballantrae was turned over at Halifax, Canada.  It will have an inexperienced crew with a hard-luck captain.  Capt. Fraser (Trevor Howard) has been pulled from retirement.  It was a forced retirement due to a court-martial, so we have a redemption arc.  The ship is put on convoy duty.  The convoy has to leave it behind because an engine breaks and for hours they are a sitting duck for u-boats.  And it leaks.  Fraser is your typical strict captain that insists on the crew busting their ass to make the ship perform better than it looks.  He postpones shore leave to make the ship ship-shape.  Naturally, he is not popular with the crew.  And there is dysfunction with his executive officer.  If that’s not enough cliches, the crew gets into a bar fight with another crew. Hey, only we can say bad things about our shitty captain.   (There’s going to be another bar fight.) 

            The narrative follows a standard British destroyer template.  It is similar to “The Cruel Sea” which means it covers a series of realistic convoy escort incidents.  The Ballantrae deals with a u-boat and is attacked by German planes.  What sets it apart is the ship is a Jonah with a captain that doesn’t exactly have a stirling reputation.  In spite of this, the captain and crew volunteer for a suicide mission!  The Admiralty believes that because the ship is good at running into things, he will be used to ram into German dry dock in France.  Although the ship needs to be put out of its misery, it would seem an unlikely choice for an important mission.  And you would think Fraser would not be high on the list of potential captains.  But this is a war movie, not a documentary.  The final 20 minutes is based on the famous St. Nazaire Raid with the Ballantrae playing the role of the HMS Campeltown. 

            “Gift Horse” is not as good as “The Cruel Sea” and “In Which We Serve”, but it is a worthy example of the Battle of the Atlantic subgenre.  It is full of the cliches that mark the nautical subgenre and war movies in general.  Besides the strict, but fair captain in need of redemption and the bar fights, we get the hard-luck ship that dies heroically.  One of the crew loses his family to the Blitz.  It’s competently done by a great cast.  Howard is fine as the captain.  He could do stiff upper lip in his sleep.  Fraser has an interesting, if predictable, back-story.  The crew gets some coverage because the movie is not all about command.  There is a pair of mates that provide some humor, or what passes for humor in a British WWII movie.

            The main reason for watching it is for the raid.  The convoy duty is realistic, for an old tub.  There is not a whole lot of it.  “Greyhound” it ain’t.  It saves most of the action for the raid.  The concluding act is exciting.  It is about as good a reenactment of Operation Chariot as you could hope for using models.  The sound effects and explosions are nicely done.  It’s worth the wait, but we still do not have the definitive movie on the St. Nazaire Raid.  However, “Gift Horse” is better than “Attack on the Iron Coast”.  It is an entertaining film with a lot of quality British thespians, including James Donald, Richard Attenborough, and Bernard Lee.

GRADE  =  B   

THE 100 BEST WAR MOVIES: #93. Mister Roberts (1955)

 

            “Mister Roberts” was based on the novel by Thomas Heggen and the subsequent play written by Heggen and Joshua Logan.  Heggen based the novel on his experiences as a young officer on a supply ship in WWII.  Henry Fonda starred in the play, but he was not the studio’s first choice because he had not made a movie in eight years and he was considered too old at 49 to play a lieutenant.  The studio wanted William Holden or Marlon Brando, but John Ford insisted on Fonda.  He would live to regret that decision.  Ford was a notorious tyrant and he and Fonda did not get along partly because Ford insisted on dictating Fonda’s performance.  He added scenes to the screenplay, put in more broad comedy, and enhanced Jack Lemmon’s role at the expense of Fonda. It all came to a head when Ford confronted Fonda and punched him.  Ford was contrite, but at that point, it was Fonda’s film and Ford could not take being second banana.  He started drinking heavily, even on the set.  He drank two cases of beer a day.  The studio probably would have sacked him if not for his emergency bladder surgery taking him out of the picture.  Mervyn LeRoy took over and endeavored to shoot the picture the way Ford would have.  Fonda brought his play director, Joshua Logan, in to reshoot some pivotal scenes.  Logan shot the laundry scene and the final scene where Pulver stands up to the Captain.  Because of Fonda’s age, older actors were cast around him.  Cagney was 56.  He got the role when Spencer Tracy turned it down.  Cagney also had trouble with Ford who warned him on day one that they would “tangle asses”.  When that day came, Cagney told Ford it was go time and Ford backed down.  Later, Cagney described Ford as a “nasty old man.”  Cagney got along great with Lemmon and they struck up a friendship that lasted until Cagney’s death.  William Powell was 63 when he played Doc.  He was in poor health due to cancer bouts and had trouble remembering his lines.  It was his last film, but he lived almost 30 more years.  The exteriors were filmed on a Navy ship at Midway, the place where Ford had filmed his acclaimed WWII documentary.  Partly because of Ford’s service with the Navy, he had full cooperation.  The movie was a big hit and finished third at the box office that year.  It was nominated for Best Picture and Best Sound and Lemmon won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

            The USS Reluctant (nicknamed “The Bucket”) is a supply ship in the Pacific during the last days of WWII.  It is far from the action.  It’s not just the heat that is sapping the men, it’s also the monotony.  And the captain.  Captain Morgan (Cagney) is a martinet who believes efficiency trumps morale.  He has a palm tree that was a reward for efficiency that he cares more about than he does for his crew.  His executive officer is Doug Roberts.  Roberts is desperate to see some combat before the big show is over, but the Captain won’t endorse his transfer requests.  Until he gets off this slow boat to nowhere, he is determined to act as a buffer between the captain and the crew.  In order to get the crew shore leave, he promises Morgan that he will stop requesting a transfer.  But the crew can’t know about the deal. Roberts sudden deference to the captain disturbs the crew.  (The movie has them unrealistically turning on Roberts quickly, but it is necessary for the plot.) The other officers are Doc (Powell) and Ensign Pulver (Lemmon).  Doc is your stereotypical elderly father figure that you see in movies like “The Dawn Patrol”.  Pulver is the ship’s morale officer, but he is a slacker who is all talk when it comes to standing up to the captain.  He is the requisite wolf and has his own theme song -  “If I Could Be With You”.  If you’ve seen the movie, right now you can hear him sing it in your head right now.  And if you have seen the movie, you have already been gut punched by the ending.  Actually, an end scene that goes from tragedy to torch-passing conclusion.

ACTING:  A+                      

ACTION:  N/A                     

ACCURACY:  N/A 

PLOT:  A                  

REALISM:  A                      

CINEMATOGRAPHY:   B

SCORE:  not memorable                  

BEST SCENE:  worshipping the palm tree planter 

BEST QUOTE:  Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw your stinkin' palm tree overboard! Now what's all this crud about no movie tonight?  

            Usually, when a play is made into a movie, it has a stage-bound vibe.  Although it takes place almost exclusively on the ship, there is enough action to transcend that feeling.  However, although the big four are comfortable in their roles, the rest of the cast act like they are in a play.  Their emoting smacks of playing to an audience.  When I watch it, I keep waiting for them to break out in song like in “South Pacific”.  If you are a baby boomer, you’ll recognize a lot of familiar character actors on board.  But they are there to react to Mister Roberts and to get drunk on shore leave.  The movie is not memorable because of the crew.  It’s the quartet that carries it.  All four are perfect, with Lemmon stealing the show.  He earned his Oscar with one of the great comedic turns in a war movie.  I personally did not find their ages distracting.  It’s fairly common to see actors in war movies who are too old for their character.

            “Mister Roberts” is one of the best service comedies.  The plot flows smoothly and avoids the common laugh drop-off in the last act.  The plot devices work well.  The most famous palm tree in war movie history, the letters, Pulver’s fear of the captain are all memorable.  Ironically, it is a letter that leads to a poignant moment that belies the humor.  And then the movie closes with one of the greatest redemptions which whiplashes the viewer and restores smiles.  It is one of the greatest final scenes in movie history.

            How realistic is it?  Although we can’t hold it to a high standard because it is a comedy and it is based on a fictional ship, it is not unrealistic.  After all, Thomas Heggan served on a cargo ship in the war.  He would have experienced the monotony of that duty.  It was dangerous, if you were in submarine waters, but most of the time you were far from the battles.  Obviously, setting the movie in the Pacific substitutes fear with boredom.  There were certainly captains like the one in the movie.  There are always leaders who are unfair and uncaring about their crews.  The other officers are archetypes, but realistic ones.  There will always be rear echelon officers who crave a combat assignment.  Some do it to enhance their record for promotion purposes.  But some are like Roberts, they legitimately feel they will have missed the chance to test their mettle in the furnace of combat. 

            “Mister Roberts” is a must-see movie.  Its humor may be firmly stuck in the 1950s. but it holds up well and while you may not laugh out loud, you’ll certainly enjoy it.  The acting alone is worth the look.  It will come as no surprise that the movie was very popular and still is.

 

THE VICTORS (1963)

 

                        “The Victors” is a film written, directed, and produced by Carl Foreman.  It was the only film he directed.  He fled the U.S. for Great Britain when he got caught up in the Red Scare.  He was blacklisted when he refused to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee.  He later said that if it had not been for that controversy, he would have directed more films.  He is mainly known for his screenplays, which included “The Guns of Navarone” and “Bridge on the River Kwai” (which he wrote under a pseudonym).  He wrote this screenplay based on a collection of short stories entitled The Human Kind by Alex Baron.  Baron was a veteran of WWII and based the book on his experiences.   Foreman wanted Steve McQueen for the lead role, but McQueen did not want to be typecast in war movies.  For the movie, the main characters were changed to Americans.  Foreman intended the movie to be very anti-war with the theme that nobody wins in a war.  The movie was a joint American/British production.  Filming occurred in Sweden, France, Italy, and Great Britain.  After a disastrous opening in England, the film was cut by around 20 minutes for American release.  One scene was cut because the Hays Code did not condone an affair between two American soldiers and a male prostitute. 

                        The movie opens with footage from “All Quiet…”, Hitler speaking, Stukas bombing, armies marching.  There is more marching just in the credits than any war movie in history.  Also, if you came in the theater not knowing the movie was going to be anti-war, now you knew.  The movie is a series of vignettes set in Italy, Normandy, and then occupied Berlin.  If you are looking for action, the first vignette disabuses you of that.  A squad led by Sgt. Craig (Eli Wallach) moves through a deserted Italian town and nothing interesting happens.  Get used to it.  The film will feature two of those men – Trower (George Hamilton) and Chase (George Peppard).  Trower is an all-American boy and Chase is a clicheish irresponsible ladies’ man.  Both will meet a series of women as they fight the war.  The movie poster includes pictures of all six significant female characters.  To give you a taste of their war adventures, here is one of the vignettes.  Trower meets a hot chick named Regine (Romy Schneider) who plays a violin in a café in Belgium.  She is morose and mousy.  Trower takes her back to her place, they kiss, and scene!  “Maybe I’ll see you again”.  “I’d like that.”   The next time Trower goes to the café, he sees his Regine with a wolf named Eldridge (Michael Callan).  Trower looks like a whipped puppy.  Regine is apparently now a slut and the loathsome Eldridge has made a woman out of her.  And scene!  This from the guy who wrote “The Guns of Navarone” screenplay.

                        The most acclaimed scene involves the Eddie Slovik execution.  Trower and Chase are witnesses to it.  It takes place in a stark, snow-covered field.  Slovik is led to the post with Frank Sinatra crooning “Have Yourself a  Merry Little Christmas”.  Foreman was aware of Sinatra’s interest in making a movie about Slovik and Sinatra recorded his version of the song for Foreman’s film.  Foreman ham-handedly closes the scene with “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”.  The cinematography is striking, but the music is too wink-wink.  Speaking of bludgeoning the audience with your anti-war theme, the movie ends with a vignette involving a knife fight between an American soldier and a Soviet soldier in occupied Berlin.  Their bodies fall in the shape of a V for Victory and dot-dot-dot-dash plays the movie out.  Here comes the Cold War, which will be just like every other war.

                        “The Victors” is highly respected by some critics and for that reason I had looked forward to seeing it for years.  It is not easy to find.  Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be a piece of crap.  It is boring and too long.  Most of the vignettes are pointless and some are ridiculous to boot.  In one of them, Craig (who up to this point has been the typically gruff, no nonsense sergeant) scopes out a house for a billet.  He meets the woman (Jeanne Moreau) who lives there.  He is a gentleman and she cooks him a meal.  Meanwhile the squad must be wondering where old sarge is.  He stays the night.  They snuggle chastely during a bombardment.  They do not go down to the safety of the basement, even though she is petrified!  This scene seems to go on forever.  It makes you wonder how bad the  scenes they cut were.  In spite of this, Craig is the only interesting character (and played by the best actor) and yet he disappears halfway through the film.

                        Besides the revelation that war is hell, you will learn little from this movie.  It is not a small unit movie, it is a small story movie.  There is hardly anything about soldier life, other than that they like women.  And some of them are assholes.  You know the cliché about no dog dies in a war movie, this movie is the exception.  You certainly won’t learn much about the war, although the newsreels provide some background.  In fact, the movie assumes you already know the basics of the war.  That way a short scene involving Jews escaping from an abandoned concentration camp speaks for itself, according to Foreman.

                        Peppard is on record as theorizing that the movie failed because it was ahead of its time in grittiness.  It was too early to tap into the late 60’s anti-war war movie vibe.  However, even if this movie had R-rated sex scenes (a nude scene showcasing Elke Sommers was nixed), it still would not be good.  And even if the soldier’s talked like real soldiers (the most common insult is “stupid idiot”, which is said an embarrassing nine times!), the dialogue would still be stilted.  It deserves some credit for turning its back on the gung-ho mentality of most war movies of that era, but the attempt to go in the other direction is a misfire.  If you want to watch a good, vignette-oriented war movie, watch “The Big Red One”.  The sarge sticks around to the end and by the finish you won’t be begging the movie to end.

GRADE =  F