A pair of related movies this time, about the War in the Pacific, the first being "Battle of the Coral Sea"(1959) starring Cliff Robertson, which we viewed last night. The title is somewhat misleading, as the story actually follows a submarine crew that is tasked with reconaisssance before the battle. Robertson plays "Lt. Commander Jeff Conway," a fearless skipper unafraid to bend orders. This mission, however, being of paramount importance, must be followed to a "T". Conway is even told to scuttle his sub at the cost of the crew's lives if threatened with Japanese capture. One of his sailors has developed a makeshift periscope camera, using the sub's bellows cam. Sailing to New Guinea, they get a shipload of close-up photos of the Japanese naval force in the area, and are astonished at it's size. Conway radios in to HQ: "It looks like they're intending to take Australia." Then, in departing the sub runs into a minefield, detonating what Conway calls a "control mine", which doesn't explode but alerts the Japanese to their position. They're attacked with depth charges, then by Japanese scuba divers, who inform them to surrender or die. Knowing his orders, to destroy the sub if captured, Conway - through deception - does so, but not before he is taken with his officers to a Japanese-held island, a prison camp, and the movie becomes a prisoner of war story.
At the camp, he and his men are, at first, treated like gentlemen by the Japanese Navy Commander, who, unlike his predecessor, doesn't believe in "medieval methods" to extract information from prisoners. "You see, Captain Conway", he says in fluent English, "I was educated in America. Went to college West Coast at Stanford. I appreciate American ways." Maybe so, but he still has his methods, psychological though they be. He puts the junior officers to work at hard labor, turning a water wheel with their feet, for hours at a time until one develops pneumonia. He spares Captain Conway, offering him sips of sake, because he needs the details of the American mission, which Conway won't give. Interesting are the scenes between the two men, and confidential, in which the Japanese captain expresses his distaste for the war. Conway won't give an inch, however. An Aussie captain at the camp has it pretty easy (no slave labor) because he has already spilled his beans. "I had little choice," he tells Conway. "The previous commandant here was a monster."
But "Commander Mori" (Teru Shimada of Encino) is a gentleman, as far as that goes in war. He's been exposed to American culture, but has no sympathies when it comes down to it. Conway knows this, knows he and his men are gonna die if they don't risk an escape, and it better be quick. Commander Mori is being replaced by his superiors because his psychological (i.e. slightly more humane) methods don't work. The Generals want the torturer back. In between the Japanese and the Americans (and Aussies) is a middlewoman, a South African named "Karen Phillips" (Gia Scala). She acts as an interpreter for the Japanese. "This island has been owned by my family for 200 years", she tells Conway. "I am neutral." He doesn't see it that way, and the Aussie prisoners hate her. However, she will play a crucial role in the attempted escape, which takes place later.
A good cast is on hand. in addition to Cliff Robertson, a top actor who used reserve, (and looks smart here with a Clark Gable mustache), we've got a young Tom Laughlin, of "Billy Jack" fame. He plays the sub's Ensign, suitibly clean-cut and loyal. "Billy Jack", of course, made him a zillion dollars. He didn't do much work after that. There's also the great LQ Jones as a Yeoman, and especially Teru Shimada, the enemy who disparages war but goes along with its horrors. He won't sacrifice himself because he knows he's toast anyway, under his fascist leaders.
The last ten minutes show, in pure stock footage, the actual battle of the Coral Sea, the second biggest naval battle in history after Midway, and man, it's hell on high water. World War 2 was gruesome and industrial. War now is slightly technologically cleaned up (just as brutal but more efficient), but WW2 was the heavy metal war. Huge ships, dive bomber prop planes, and artillery, artillery, artillery, blowing up everything in sight. Bullets by the millions. Mayhem, smoke, head-on plane crashes and instant death and explosions. Two Huge Thumbs Up for this one, with a very high recommendation. The last five minutes is a chasedown through the Catalina hills (or maybe the Channel Islands) to see if Captain Conway and his last few survivors (including the brave Aussies) can outrun the last half-dozen Japanese guards, to get to their rendezvous boat on time. We've seen some tremendous war films over the years; this is one of them, and we've got another one coming up next, also in the Pacific but different in style. The picture is very good. ////
Our Saturday movie, watched in the afternoon due to the Messer Chups show that evening, was "Jungle Patrol"(1948), the story of a small, 8-man squadron stationed on an island off the coast of New Guinea, tasked with keeping the Japanese navy away from Australia. In this respect, the movie's location is almost identical to the one in "Coral Sea", above. But the theme is entirely different. As the narrator informs us, this is a story about men, not war, but that's a broad definition so let's narrow it down. The first ten minutes are banter filled. Yes, battle hardened soldiers in any military branch use gallows humor to cope, but it's doubtful that many had the crack comic timing and the speaking speed of screwball comedians, so that's a screenwriters trick meant to play to an audience of the time, 1948. The banter delays the plot (and does go on a tad long), until the squad's cook brings out a scoreboard he made to inspire the crew: listing the number of Jap fighters and bombers shot down (59, 54) versus the number of American losses : zero.
The sign is well-intentioned but the pilots and their Captain don't like it because they're superstitious. "No one can be that good forever," says "Lt. Mace Willard" (Arthur Franz). It's like when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter; no one on the team is supposed to mention it. Soon, to break the tension, a USO act shows up, in the form of a lovey singer named "Jean Gillis" (the stunning Kristine Miller). Her dancers are supposed to arrive later but never materialise due to flight problems. The middle of the movie is a romance between Miss Gillis and - first - everyone in the company, because all the pilots are so glad to have female company. They treat Jean like royalty, each one savoring a few minutes of her attention. Then she falls in love with the squad leader, "Major Skipper Wright" (Ross Ford). He's the only one without a girl back home. Jean, too, has no one, her husband having been killed at Dunkirk.
The squadron is isolated on the island, and the film removes them from the world. The war is their All, and their radio set their only connection to life outside. There are no combat scenes, only descriptions of air combat via the radio. Several IMDB commentators mentioned that the film was made at the end of the age of radio. for radio audiences.
And radio in wartime was the only communication available between a squad leader on the ground and his loyal, dedicated and highly trained pilots. The structure of the film, in which aerial combat is only heard in the communications hut, and not seen, emphasizes the tension and extreme dread the comm crew experiences during periods of radio silence, when they don't know who's alive and who's dead. Ultimately, when the Japs make their move to attack Australia, every available pilot is needed, including Lt. Mace and Major Wright. Poor Jean Gillis has only just found love again, after losing her husband in combat. Will she have to go through it all again? Will the Major make it back alive, and will Mace? Can the squad maintain it's perfect record of zero losses? "Nobody's that good forever," Mace reminds us.
Two Huge Thumbs Up for "Jungle Patrol". The saddest "war widow" notification in cinematic history is in "Summer of 42", when Jennifer O' Neil gets the "regret to inform" letter, then Gary Grimes shows up and that's how he loses his virginity. But it's a gut-wrencher. I saw that movie on TV when I was about 16 and I never forgot the dance scene. "Jungle Patrol" has an element of that heartbreak, but it's more about the tension in the comm hut, when any minute could come the sound of machine guns over the radio, followed by silence. The picture is razor sharp. ////
And that's all for tonight. I hope your week is off to a good start. My blogging music is "Look At Yourself" by Uriah Heep and "Minstrel in the Gallery" by Jethro Tull. My late night is "Tristan und Isolde" by Wagner, conducted by Von Karajan. I'm reading an ultra-scary book about Skinwalker Ranch called "Skinwalker Ranch: No Trespassing" by Ryan Skinner. I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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