How 'bout a Ron Foster war movie? In "Operation Bottleneck"(1961), he's Lieutenant Rulan H. Voss, leading a squad of paratroopers into Burma in World War 2. Their mission : to blow up a transport road the Japanese want to use to invade India. Foster's hobbled right from the start after landing on a rock and twisting his ankle, so after the others bury their chutes, he sends his sergeant and the radioman to meet up with their contact, a Burmese woman living in an underground cave. She's down there with an English diplomat (a holdout from colonial times), who's turned the cave into a facsimile of his former office, right down to his portrait of Churchill. The two work for the Burmese resistance, but are on their own out here in the jungle. The Japanese have overrun the countryside, so when the Americans arrive they are very relieved.
Back at the landing spot, Lt. Foster is hiding in a bomb crater, nursing his swollen ankle as he waits for the contacts to return. Meanwhile, he's sent his three remaining troopers out to recon the area. While they're away, a Japanese patrol finds Foster and takes him back to their Colonel's house, a requisitioned mansion in a clearing. There, the Colonel keeps several Burmese girls as comfort women, to "entertain" his fellow officers. They while away their evenings drinking sake and playing cards, but with Foster in hand, they have a strategic opportunity.
The Colonel wants to make him talk, to reveal the details of his mission, but before torturing him (which he assures Foster he'll do), he offers him the carrot instead : a night with one of his girls. Foster accepts, but instead of using her for sex, he spends the night priming the girl for information.
Of course they fall in love (it's in Ron Foster's contract), and she hates the Japanese as much as he does. He vows to get her out of there, but how's that gonna happen, right? I'll tell ya how : back in the jungle, his macho demolition expert, "Cpl. 'Merc' Davenport" (Norman Alden), has an idea. "Let's raid the joint and blow it up", he says to his fellow troopers. His swagger is inversely proportional to his intelligence, however, and when the squad tries his plan, everyone but Merc gets slaughtered. Foster is freed, so there's that much, but the rest of the troop is dead and their radio is destroyed.
Now we're down to just Foster and Merc, whom Foster orders to wait in the jungle while he goes back to the underground cave. The English diplomat has a radio he can use to contact headquarters. When he returns, Merc is romancing all four of the comfort women that were liberated in the explosion of the Colonel's house. Foster gets royally pissed at Merc for not taking the situation seriously.
We're about to have one of those de rigueur "insubordination showdowns" - required in all Pacific theater WW2 movies - in which a surly non-com challenges his superior officer. Such challenges always begin with "snide retorts" to the officer's orders, uttered by the non-com in official "yes sir" speak, but in a sarcastic tone of voice with a set jaw. Eventually a punchout ensues, won every time by the officer, which leaves the non-com even more surly and resentful than he was before, but generally following orders for the rest of the movie. The screenwriter usually closes this arc by having the non-com risk his life at some point to save the officer. In doing so, he gains the officer's respect and gratitude, and the insubordination issue is resolved.
A version of this happens between Lt. Foster and Merc the demolition expert, and it begins when Foster catches Merc with the Burmese girls, but it also involves the ending of the film which I found quite shocking. I wasn't prepared for it and I'm not gonna reveal it, so let's get back to the story.
With four of the six troopers dead, the mission is in jeopardy. "Ari", the Burmese girl Foster has fallen in love with, suggests that she and the other girls be used as replacement soldiers. "You can train us", she offers. The idea seems preposterous and Foster initially rejects it, but soon realises he has no other choice. The Japanese are massing for their invasion of India.
He does train the women, in marksmanship and guerrilla warfare. Merc trains one in demolition. They're all set to blow up the road, and then comes that hard boiled ending I warned you about, a jolt of realistic action that makes up for what had been a somewhat lackluster picture, as far as combat is concerned. It was really the story of interracial love (Miiko Taka plays "Ari", you might have seen her in "Sayonara" w/ Marlon Brando) and while that wasn't unusual for a Pacific theater WW2 movie (i.e American man, Asian woman), it's made more topical by the cultural obstructions she faces (shaming, face saving, etc.)
As mentioned, if you're looking for a typical war picture with lots of combat, look elsewhere. But if you don't mind a romantic drama set in the context of a war movie, then "Operation Bottleneck" is a good one. Edward L. Cahn once again directs; Ron Foster shines as the stalwart LT. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. ////
The previous night's movie involved another stolen car racket, so we're doing these things in bunches. It's unintentional, mind you, but I mean all of a sudden we had a spate of parole scam movies, now we've seen two that involve car thieves and chop shops. "Hot Cars" (1956), uses an interesting character as a pivot - that mythical creature known as "an honest used car salesman". Is there such a person, or is he as elusive as the unicorn? Well anyhow "Nick Dunn" (John Bromfield) is so honest that he's about to be fired from his job at Big John's in Culver City. He tells customers the truth about the cars on the lot, and it's costing him some sure-fire sales. His boss isn't happy ("You're supposed to talk 'em up"!), and as the movie opens, Nick's just been played for a sucker by a hot blonde (Joi Lansing), who asks to see a gull wing Mer-cheddees Bench. Nick winds up buying her drinks at a fancy beach restaurant, only to get the brushoff. Back at the lot, Big John hits the ceiling.
"A dame like that? Are you kidding! She was bored and used you to have some fun. Next she'll pick up some realtor or travel agent. Anything to get some freebies". Nick ends up getting fired and this is doubly bad because he's got a wife and sick child at home. How's he gonna pay for the kid's doctor visits?
"Arthur Markel", that's how. Markel (Ralph Clanton) runs a dealership that spans four states (California to New Mexico). "I know about your reputation for honesty", he tells Nick. "I believe in giving my customers a square deal, it's why I'm so successful. You're exactly the type of man I'm looking for. Would you be interested in a job at our Lawndale lot"?
Nick is grateful for the offer and accepts. Soon, though, he notices practices that seem sketchy. For instance, the driver of an auto carrier arrives late every night, right after closing. He has Nick help him offload and park the vehicles, but when Nick starts to register them, the driver gives him the ixnay. "No, no, you don't need to do that. It's all been taken care of". Whenever he makes a sale he finds that someone has cooked the books. One car needs some work done. Nick takes it to the approved garage (pronounced ga-RODGE this time, as we're in an American movie), and discovers it's a chop shop. Finally he confronts Mr. Merkel, who politely admits the truth. "Yes Nick, we sell stolen cars. But who are we hurting? The insurance company pays the victim. We re-sell at affordable prices, so the average family man can buy a car, or even someone who's down on his luck like yourself". Merkel is the polar opposite to Peter Sellers, who'd have blown his freakin' stack by now. Nick listens and his mind is changed by Merkel's calm, reasoned argument. He can't afford to lose another job, so he hangs on, justifying his participation in the racket. Now his son's doctor bills are paid and his life settles down, but then a State Investigator arrives.
He wants to buy a car for his wife, or so he says. Nick tries to sell him one, but one of Merkel's henchmen is suspicious. "What if he's here to snoop us out"?
The investigator is then bumped off, and guess who gets framed for homicide? You guessed it : good old honest Nick. He swears he's got an alibi. He tells the cops he was with another woman when the murder occurred. "It's gonna hurt my wife to find out, but it's not what it looks like". Who was the other woman? Why, Joi Lansing of course, the blonde babe who played him at the beginning. It turns out she's working for Merkel, too. "She can vouch for me", Nick says. "Go ask her"! But when the detectives knock on her door, whattaya think Joi says? "Nick who? I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name".
It's a hell of a frame-up; Nick's screwed eight ways to Sunday. The cops think he did it even though they know Merkel's a crook, so he's gonna have to find the truth on his own, to save not just his neck but his marriage. The climax takes place at Pacific Ocean Park on the Santa Monica pier. Nick and the real culprit get into a punchout on the roller coaster.
"Hot Cars" zips along with a late-'50s zing, of chrome grilles and big tail fins, beachcomber restaurants and khaki clothing. Boat shoes, too! (Or "deck shoes" if you prefer. Me, I always called 'em Boat Shoes). The story's about average, but it moves, and you get a whole bunch of super cool location shots in Culver City and Santa Monica. Because of that aspect, I'm gonna give it Two Big Thumbs Up. Both of tonight's movies have razor sharp prints, so you've got you a nice double feechum. ////
That's all for now. Hope you had a great weekend. Tons and tons of love, as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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