Last night's movie was a War Department documentary called "Tunisian Victory"(1944). It popped up as a Youtube recommendation and I selected it because Dad went through Tunisia in the aftermath of the North African campaign, and I wanted to know more about what happened. Dad only ever talked about the war in anecdotes, and when he mentioned North Africa, he would say "they chased Rommel out of there" - "they" being the Allied forces of England, the US and France. As a kid I had no desire to question him further. If he were alive now, I'd be grilling him day & night about his war experience. He wasn't in combat, but he certainly saw some rough stuff. There was no way he (or anyone else) could not have. At any rate, this documentary uses stock footage and dramatic re-creations filmed in the Arizona desert to replicate Operation Acrobat and Operation Torch. Acrobat was the first attempt to rout Rommel by invading Tripoli. It failed, which led to Torch, a more complicated plan that was launched in November 1942. This time the Allies were successful. Their three-way strategy locked Rommel and the German army in a "pincer" movement (described in the movie as a "cylinder"), which eventually led to the surrender of a quarter million German troops, the largest surrender in modern warfare.
Operation Torch ended in May 1943, and with Rommel and the Germans out of North Africa, the way was cleared for Allied troops to enter that theater en masse. The Signal Corps, of which Dad was a part (Staff Sgt. in a radar battalion), went over in November 1943. They landed in Casablanca, Morocco, went through Algeria and then up through Tunisia to Tunis, where they departed for Sicily. This would not have been possible before Operation Torch, as the Germans and Italians held the entire region prior to that time. The Signal Corps of the USAAF (Army Air Force, as the Air Force was known until 1947) were there to set up radar and communications support for the planned invasion of Normandy, though they couldn't have known it at the time. Boy, I'd have a million questions for Dad if he were still around.
I'm reading the first volume of a four part series called "The Strategic Air Offensive Over Germany, 1939-1945", commissioned by the British war department in the 1950s. It's an academic book and might not be of interest to the general public, but I've wanted to know more about what the combined forces of the RAF and USAAF accomplished during the war, and how it was accomplished. My interest has been growing for some time, and I was led to this book by a footnote in another book, about Dresden, that I read at the beginning of the year. Though the bombing of that city was horrific in the extreme, and would be considered a war crime today, it was also true that Hitler and the Nazis had the deadliest, most efficient military force in history - they were Evil Incarnate, really - and they had to be stopped or the world would likely have come to an end. It goes without saying that all bombing is horrible, and a lot of bombing involves civilian casualties, but World War Two was a special case, and I've wanted to know, in addition to it's entire history, how the war was turned around. Hence I'm reading books such as the four part "Air Offensive" and watching documentaries like "Tunisian Victory". It's well-produced (in part by John Huston), and very informative. Give it a view if you're interested. /////
The previous night I saw an English spy movie called "Secret Mission"(1942). Hugh Williams and Roland Culver star as a pair of British army officers sent to occupied France on an undercover assignment, to determine the strength of German positions prior to a bombing raid. Also on their team is Michael Wilding (future husband of Elizabeth Taylor), playing a sort of Eric Idle-ish role as the agent with the unenviable job of romancing a matronly village bar owner. And that's the thing about this movie, it starts out as a straightforward espionage flick but then morphs into the driest of comedies, so dry that it actually plays as a war movie, but with a dash of "Hogan's Heroes", or in the case of Brit television, a show called " 'allo, 'allo", which apparently was influenced by this film.
Chames Mason even co-stars as a French resistance fighter working with the Brits. He billets them at the home of his sister, a dedicated member of the Underground. It's fun to hear Mason do a French accent, though his part is small in comparison with the stars. The Nazis are portrayed, per usual, as caricatures - humorless, inquisitive administrators who bark orders at subordinates while saluting "Heil Hitler"! every thirty seconds. The satire includes a tank, equipped with a searchlight, that patrols the village neighborhoods looking for collaborators. The overture from Wagner's "Tannhauser" continually blares from it's loudspeakers to proclaim German superiority. This, again, is played with a straight face but meant as a put-on, and as an aside, I wonder if Coppola saw this movie and was influenced to blast Wagner from the helicopter in "Apocalypse Now"....
You'll kind of wonder what's going on, stylistically, as the movie sets up, which takes about 20 minutes of it's 95 minute running time. But pay no attention to it's middling IMDB score (5.5). Once you get into the humor, dry to the extreme, you'll have a very good time. The plot is also involving and there are serious moments as well. Two Solid Thumbs Up for "Secret Mission". I'm gonna look for more films in the same vein. /////
Finally, i'm reading another book called "The Ancient Giants Who Ruled America" by Richard Dewhurst. It's a mindblower! We've talked about this subject before, but did you know that many burial sites were excavated in the Midwest in the 19th century that revealed skeletons of over 7 feet in length, with some as long as 9 feet? Yes indeed, there were once Giants upon the Earth, and among the peoples of Moundbuilder culture they were revered. Google the image of "giant skeleton at serpent mound". It's humongous and not photoshopped. The Smithsonian Institution has covered up the evidence for this race of Giants, but Dewhurst presents extensive evidence and the newspaper accounts at the time the excavations took place number in the hundreds. Mounds and burial sites were found in many states and reveal the true prehistory of our country, which goes back at least 14,000 years. Imagine a civilization of Nine Footers walking around. Holy Smokes!
Well, that's all for the moment. Last night I ordered from a specialty website, a dvd of a hard-to-find silent film classic that will be screened in our Epic Series, likely next month when I am off work. I won't reveal the title, but I'll give you a couple hints : It was directed by a notorious German-American whom we've enjoyed as an actor. He has a unique look and a great name. Again, think "classic Silent film".......
Have a great evening! Tons of love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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