For Conservative Movie Lovers: John Ford, John Wayne, and ‘They Were Expendable’ Part 6

The casting of Robert Montgomery (1904–1981) in They Were Expendable was uncommonly appropriate. The suave, handsome actor made his name in debonair romantic comedies throughout the 1930s, but like John Ford he didn’t wait until America was dragged into war before enlisting. In 1940, fired up by the life-and-death struggles raging in Europe, he abandoned his M-G-M contract, went to France, and volunteered as an ambulance driver. Only a few weeks went by before he had it shot out from under him — one film magazine of the era reported (or perhaps exaggerated) that he narrowly avoided capture with the help of a French priest, and escaped the country mere hours before it fell to the Germans.

Back in the states he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and over the next three years served in many capacities before finding his way to the Pacific theater, where he met John Bulkeley and became his executive officer. Montgomery commanded a PT boat in many battles, and eventually headed up to Normandy as an operations officer for a destroyer squadron. While preparing for D-Day, he remembered later, “I saw Bulkeley on his PT Boat and waved to him. There was another man on the bridge with him. I had no idea then it was Jack Ford.” (more…)

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Tags: Banana Wars, Bewitched (TV Show), blake edwards, Bosley Crowther, Bronze Star
Posted Nov 21st 2009 at 10:54 am in Classic Hollywood, Featured Story | 26542223 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lgrin/2009/11/21/for-conservative-movie-lovers-john-ford-john-wayne-and-they-were-expendable-part-6/For+Conservative+Movie+Lovers%3A+John+Ford%2C+John+Wayne%2C+and+%27They+Were+Expendable%27+Part+62009-11-21+18%3A54%3A15Leo+Grin

Part 1: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism

Super-heroes are uniquely American in origin and reflective of the “Greatest Generation” that created them. Their progenitors can be traced to ancient myths though their direct foundation springs from American legends like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Pulp literature fermented these heroes from the 1800s with Buffalo Bill, Nick Carter and on to Doc Savage. By the 1930s super-powered and costumed characters showed up in the newspaper comic strips including Popeye and the Phantom. 

The characters we now recognize as super-heroes crystallized with the debut of Superman in 1938. Representative of the American experience, Superman was the ultimate immigrant. Not merely from another country, the Man of Steel came from a whole different planet! With his success, publishers released a myriad of titles featuring crime-fighting patriotic adventurers who all fought for “truth, justice and the American way.” That included those who were born on an all-female island (the star-spangled Wonder Woman), from Atlantis (the Sub-Mariner), robots (the Human Torch) or even dead people (the Spectre and Kid Eternity)! Gaining super powers even reformed criminals as in Plastic Man’s case.  (more…)

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Tags: American Exceptionalism, batman, DC, Doc Savage, Fatalik
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 12:52 pm in Art, Culture, Featured Story | 25935461 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtodd/2009/11/10/part-1-the-super-heros-american-exceptionalism/Part+1%3A+The+Super-Hero%E2%80%99s+American+Exceptionalism2009-11-10+20%3A52%3A11Mort+Todd

Movies We Like: ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’ (1956)

So, when it came time for our little girl to watch her first grown-up movie, I was torn between Saving Private Ryan and a film I have loved since I was a kid, Godzilla, King of the Monsters.  Now, Private Ryan teaches important, practical lessons that every American should learn, like how to maneuver your infantry company across a beachhead under fire to wipe out a Nazi crew-served weapons bunker. On the other hand, Godzilla has a hideous dragon with radioactive breath.  Tough call, but we decided to save Private Ryan for when she’s six – better late than never.

–

What is the enduring fascination with a 55-year old flick that stars a fake Japanese reptile stomping Toyko into matchsticks?  The first thing is that Godzilla is a truly entertaining movie.  Actually, it’s two movies.  The version most Americans have seen on TV is the 1956 re-cut version of the 98-minute original Japanese movie, Gojira.  Some American producers decided it could make them a bundle, but it needed a bit of familiarization before the American audience would accept it.  They hired a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr to film some awkward footage as American reporter “Steve Martin,” cut out a lot of draggy filler, and shipped the slimmed down 80-minute final product to drive-ins all over the fruited plain. (more…)

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Tags: 40th Infantry Division, A Nightmare on Elm Street, A-Bomb, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Asahi
Posted Nov 8th 2009 at 6:24 am in Classic Hollywood, Featured Story, Film, Reviews | 25620250 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/11/08/movies-we-like-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-1956/Movies+We+Like%3A++%27Godzilla%2C+King+of+the+Monsters%27+%281956%292009-11-08+14%3A24%3A12Kurt+Schlichter

For Liberty Lovers ‘We The Living’ Arrives on DVD

An extraordinary film just came out on DVD which couldn’t be more timely.  It’s about a fiercely outspoken, beautiful woman trapped in a country rapidly descending into socialism, with the government steadily ratcheting up control over all aspects of life.

No, it’s not The Ann Coulter Story.

The movie is We The Living, based on the Ayn Rand novel of the same title.  Rand said that We The Living “is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write.”

Conservatives and libertarians have long lamented the scarcity of movies that depict the evils of communism.  Let’s see, there’s Doctor Zhivago, The Killing Fields, The Lives of Others, and… and, well, now there’s We The Living — a long-lost classic filmed in 1942, and now available on DVD for the first time ever.

WTL takes place soon after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia (which Rand experienced as a young woman).  The stunning Alida Valli plays Kira, a fiery college student who detests the communists ruining her country.  (Valli is perhaps best known to American audiences for her indelible performances in The Third Man and The Paradine Case.) (more…)

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Tags: Alida Valli, Ayn Rand, Bolsheviks, Censorship, classic movies
Posted Oct 30th 2009 at 4:03 pm in Film, Politics, Reviews | 25336234 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/10/30/we-the-living-for-liberty-lovers-and-for-our-time/For+Liberty+Lovers+%27We+The+Living%27+Arrives+on+DVD2009-10-30+23%3A03%3A20Andrew+Leigh

The G.I. Film Festival and Gary Sinise: Supporting Our Troops

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the GI Film Festival at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The Festival took place in one day and showed films that portray American enlisted men and women in a favorable light as opposed to the usual Hollywood fare. This festival was an offshoot of the main GI Film Festival which takes place in May every year in Washington D.C. The main event lasts seven days and includes showings of approximately 50 films. This was a one day shortened version in which the crème of the crop were exhibited. You can find out more details about the festival at: http://www.gifilmfestival.com. I also recommend that if you are so inclined, you make a donation to this worthy cause.

Among the screened films was a documentary entitled “About Face,” which was directed by Steve Karras. To me, the film is a masterpiece. It depicts a group of Jewish Refugees from both Germany and Austria that joined the American and British Armed Forces in WWII to fight against their native lands. The film was both moving and educational. In fact, I must state I was not even aware there was so many of these refugees. Apparently, they numbered approximately 10,000. And, because of their knowledge of the native languages of the enemy, many of them were placed in positions that put them directly into contact with the same Germans who were persecuting their family and relatives. (more…)

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Tags: armed forces, Bedford Virginia, D-Day, gary sinise, germany
Posted Oct 4th 2009 at 5:54 pm in Featured Story, Film, Military | 24059419 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fdemartini/2009/10/04/the-g-i-film-festival-and-gary-sinise-supporting-our-troops/The+G.I.+Film+Festival+and+Gary+Sinise%3A+Supporting+Our+Troops+2009-10-05+00%3A54%3A44Frank+DeMartini

‘The Wizard of Oz’: Seventy Years Later — Still Inspiring, Still Relevant

“That’s the best song ever written,” Judy Garland said of “Over the Rainbow” in an interview with Barbara Walters on March 6, 1967, almost three decades after she captured countless hearts as “Dorothy” in “The Wizard of Oz,” featuring that magical song. 

So, too, “The Wizard of Oz”—released 70 years ago today—is, perhaps, the best film ever made.  

Or, at least, the most quintessentially American—in terms of our struggles, hopes, aspirations, dreams, and, ultimately, unshakable confidence, that “somewhere over the rainbow… dreams… really do come true.”

MGM had purchased this highly popular and imaginative children’s book written by L. Frank Baum, and published in 1900, for $75,000, specifically for Judy.  During development, the silver shoes became ruby, thus undercutting Baum’s apparent allegory to “bimetallism”—currency backed by silver, replacing “the gold standard” and favoring rural farmers; in contrast to the worthless “greenbacks” some say Emerald City represents.  (more…)

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Tags: 70th Anniversary, Ahmadinejad, Holocaust, iran, judy garland
Posted Sep 29th 2009 at 2:40 pm in Classic Hollywood, Film, Politics | 23721827 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mckendall/2009/09/29/the-wizard-of-oz-seventy-years-later-still-inspiring-still-relevant/%27The+Wizard+of+Oz%27%3A+Seventy+Years+Later+--+Still+Inspiring%2C+Still+Relevant2009-09-29+21%3A40%3A22Mary+Claire+Kendall

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: ‘Hollywood on the Potomac’: Actors to Activists

So many big name stars, singers and sports legends have visited Washington over the years, the city is often referred to as “Hollywood on the Potomac.”  So, that’s the title of my new book (available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders) featuring over 200 photographs and stories that detail the fascination between Hollywood stars and Washington power-players — from Presidents Truman through Obama. 

Here’s an excerpt: (more…)

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Tags: "Hollywood on the Potomac", Bing Crosby, Bob Dylan, Bono, Brigitte Nielsen
Posted Aug 27th 2009 at 1:14 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 21247813 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmeath/2009/08/27/hollywood-on-the-potomac/EXCLUSIVE+EXCERPT%3A+%27Hollywood+on+the+Potomac%27%3A+Actors+to+Activists2009-08-27+20%3A14%3A57Jason+Killian+Meath

Nothing Inglorious About Pro-American ‘Basterds’

Remember the children’s magazine, Highlights? Its motto is “fun with a purpose.” The motto for Quentin Tarantino’s latest flick, “Inglourious Basterds,” should be “violent with a purpose.”

It’s 1944 in Nazi-occupied France. Joseph Goebbels’ (Sylvester Groth) latest film triumph starring Germany’s latest hero, Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), is set to premiere for the top brass of the Third Reich – including the big cheese himself, Adolf Hitler – and their guests. Funnily enough, the premiere is to be held in a cinema owned by Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a Jewish refugee with her own obvious reasons for hating the Nazis. Naturally, she plans her revenge for the fateful night.

Meanwhile the Basterds, a crack group of Jewish-American soldiers under the leadership of Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), is undercover in France and “in the business of killing Nazis, and business is booming.” Those Nazis who manage to escape death are given meaningful souvenirs of their time with the Basterds. The paths of these two groups cross in a way that only Tarantino, master of gory coincidence, could imagine.

A good ol’ boy and Jews brutally mowing down Nazis. What’s not to like? It’s probably one of the few times you’ll see a redneck positively portrayed in Hollywood. (more…)

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Tags: Adolph Hitler, brad pitt, Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds, Melanie Laurent
Posted Aug 25th 2009 at 3:40 pm in Reviews | 20981866 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/08/25/nothing-inglorious-about-inglourious-basterds/Nothing+Inglorious+About+Pro-American+%27Basterds%272009-08-25+22%3A40%3A52Pam+Meister

My Weekly Date with a Liberal – ‘American Heart’

In my mind, I have received thousands upon thousands of emails from folks wondering why “My Weekly Date with a Liberal” is anything but weekly. This is certainly a legitimate question which deserves a legitimate answer. But who has the time to answer thousands of emails that were never actually written? So for this chapter, I’ve decided that I will address this issue right here, right now, by explaining the process which occurs between these dates, and more importantly, to relay a recent encounter I had with a liberal woman, girl, child, who unnerved me enough such that my response could very well put my anonymity in jeopardy. This will all make sense by the end of this installment which I am entitling “American Heart.”

I understood when I took on this project that I could easily suffer severe trauma, mentally, emotionally, spiritually…and sexually, although depending on your proclivities, the latter could be considered a bonus. Be that as it may, I am writing to let you all know, that the trauma I anticipated did in fact materialize in a way that has profoundly affected me: I have developed a strong affinity for night blooming jasmine, I cry all the time, and I apologize incessantly for things for which I am not responsible.  Now I can tell you with no uncertainty, extensive knowledge of Cestrum Nocturnum accompanied by inexplicable outbursts of tears is no way to procure a date. My mojo has deteriorated, as if I didn’t pinch its foliage and cut back after flowering to maintain compact growth. What’s happening to me? (more…)

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Tags: "American Heart", DCS, Decompression Sickness, God, My Weekly Date with a Liberal
Posted Jun 10th 2009 at 5:01 am in Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 1561543 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jdavid/2009/06/10/my-weekly-date-with-a-liberal-%e2%80%93-american-heart/My+Weekly+Date+with+a+Liberal+%E2%80%93+%27American+Heart%272009-06-10+12%3A01%3A06Jon+David

Into the Gathering Storm

If you’re a history buff and you’ve got HBO, then have I got a movie for you: Into the Storm. (And if you’re cable-less, add it to your NetFlix queue.) Yes, it’s made-for-HBO, but it’s from the John Adams/Band of Brothers wing, not the Recount/Angels in America department.

It’s a sequel of sorts to The Gathering Storm, known informally around my home as the Greatest Churchill Movie Ever Made. And in answer to the first question on your mind right now, no, the new HBO/BBC co-production is not quite as good as Gathering Storm. (But then, we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that nothing ever will be.)

Partly it’s Albert Finney’s fault. They say nobody’s perfect, but they haven’t seen Finney play Winston Churchill. (He most deservedly won both an Emmy and a BAFTA.) You’ve heard the phrase “tears of joy”? A largely alien experience to me, a pretty stoic, manly guy. Alien to me no more, my friends, once I watched Gathering Storm for the first time.

I regret to report that Brendan Gleeson, who essays the role in the sequel, gives it a yeoman’s try, but can’t quite measure up. There are simply more and richer layers to Finney’s performance, perhaps due to nothing no less unfair than a longer and more experienced life, even (dare I say it, oh what the hell) more talent. Janet McTeer, who plays wife Clemmie in the new movie, fares better, nearly matching Vanessa Redgrave’s marvelous performance in Gathering Storm. (Why, they even look alike.) (more…)

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Tags: Albert Finney, brendan gleeson, Churchill, Film, hbo
Posted Jun 4th 2009 at 8:14 am in Military, Reviews | 150698One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/aleigh/2009/06/04/into-the-gathering-storm/Into+the+Gathering+Storm2009-06-04+15%3A14%3A07Andrew+Leigh

An Alternative to War

Disclaimer: What you are about to read is fiction. It is a story about peace. Peace at any cost.

THE WORLD TODAY: A News Summary

May 2009

BONN (EU News) – The current CSPEU administration has decided to increase productivity by lowering the age that children are required to enter the workforce from nine to eight years of age. The EU Vice Minister for the Interior states the lowering of the work age is due to an increased shortage of youthful workers. “It’s a reflection of the ongoing fighting between our peaceful union and the obstinate Russians.”

Citizens and subjects in the 18-25 age bracket have seldom been seen in recent years. The Vice Minister commented on this by stating, “This temporary downturn in our youthful population is insignificant compared to the tremendous loss of life on the Russian side. Though our rockets delivering Vemork V weapons obliterated St. Petersburg and most of Moscow years ago, the Russians, though scattered and ill equipped, still choose to resist to this very day. It staggers the mind why they wish to continue their own misery. ” (more…)

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Tags: "China", air force, allies, America, armed forces
Posted May 28th 2009 at 4:33 pm in Politics | 1436262 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smann/2009/05/28/an-alternative-to-war/An+Alternative+to+War2009-05-28+23%3A33%3A41Schizoid+Mann

Jon Stewart Courageously Defends His Bottom Flank

It takes a big man to admit he screwed up and take a principled stand. It takes a phony liberal elitist to apologize for the sake of protecting his television ratings.

Jon Stewart makes Arlen Specter look principled.

Like Pee Wee Herman, Jon Stewart launched his intercontinental ballistic missile, and he could not put the missile back on the launching pad. In his case, the only thing that seeped out was stupidity.

Jon Stewart, for those who are not “trendy,” “hip,” or “cool” (brie-cheese-eating-elitist-snobs according to the Tygrrrr Express dictionary), has a nightly political television show where he presents the news with all the accuracy and fairness of the Jayson Blair Times. (more…)

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Tags: "Crank Yankers", Al Queda, Arlen Specter, Bill Clinton, Cliff May
Posted May 7th 2009 at 8:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 1272622 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/egolub/2009/05/07/jon-stewart-courageously-defending-his-bottom-flank/Jon+Stewart+Courageously+Defends+His+Bottom+Flank2009-05-07+15%3A03%3A36Eric+Golub

Savage’s Badge of Honor

The British government’s decision to ban Michael Savage from entering the UK based on his political viewpoint and opposition to the global domination of Islamic shariah law puts Savage in the same company as Winston Churchill, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the same company as Neville Chamberlain.  Savage, the recipient of the Talkers Magazine 2007 Freedom of Speech Award (Al Franken is a former winner), is an ardent advocate for liberty and freedom and the leading opponent of global Islamofascism.

During the 1930s, Neville Chamberlain pursued a policy of appeasement that brought Europe to its knees before Adolf Hitler.  Even as Hitler planned his domination of the globe, the British Broadcasting Company banned Winston Churchill, Hitler’s leading political opponent, from the radio.  Even after the beginning of World War II, the BBC censored Churchill, considering him too inflammatory in his description of the Germans. (more…)

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Tags: Adolf Hitler, Al Franken, appeasement, BBC, British government
Posted May 5th 2009 at 5:06 pm in Media Criticism, News, Politics | 127642No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2009/05/05/savages-badge-of-honor/Savage%27s+Badge+of+Honor2009-05-06+00%3A06%3A26Ben+Shapiro

‘In Harm’s Way’: Imperfect Greatness on the High Seas

The United States Navy is in the news and on my mind lately. The events off the coast of Somalia are surely one very good reason for this. Heroism and service. Ordinary people under extraordinary circumstances. Another not nearly so dramatic, but nonetheless exciting reason, for me at least, involves the very recent honor I’ve had of contributing my prose to a citation to confer on Mr. George Herbert Walker Bush the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa.  His own history, his willingness to serve, to sacrifice and risk everything for a cause, for others, is something we should never underestimate. It’s something we, as Americans have always been good at.

It’s also something our movies used to portray well. We don’t get to see too many of these kinds of movies anymore. Nope, they don’t make them like they used to. That can be said of both the men and women of Bush 41’s generation, as well as the films of that era. But sometimes, in more recent times, we’re graced with shining examples of tarnished excellence, of battered beauty in our citizens and in our favorite art, the movies.    (more…)

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Tags: Blade Runner, Burgess Meredith, CG, Dana Andrews, fx
Posted Apr 16th 2009 at 5:33 pm in Military, Politics, Reviews | 105722No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smann/2009/04/16/imperfect-greatness-on-the-high-seas-of-history/%27In+Harm%27s+Way%27%3A+Imperfect+Greatness+on+the+High+Seas2009-04-17+00%3A33%3A32Schizoid+Mann

Hollywood Diplomacy All Around

If you think this is another hit piece on Team Oscar’s abortive soiree to Islamist Iran, I only wish it were just that bad. It’s actually worse. Much worse. It seems the rest of the civilized world, particularly America under the Obamamessiah, are adopting exactly the same failed principles of diplomacy as Team Oscar in Iran.

In short, the world in general, and the Obama Administration in particular, are overlooking every horrific crime known to man, in order to establish ‘peaceful’ relations with fascist totalitarian regimes that not only actively seek our violent demise, but swear it loudly and publicly to the rafters every day.

I would call it Neville Chamberlain diplomacy, but that would be too generous. Even Sir Neville had seen enough of Hitler and Nazi Germany, after Hitler abrogated the Munich Agreement by invading the rest of Czechoslovakia, to know that the policy of appeasement with Hitler had been an abject failure. It seems today that the civilized world can’t get slapped in the face hard enough by Iran, Sudan and North Korea to realize it’s long past due to slap back. Hard. (more…)

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Tags: ballistic missile, Bashir, bush, Chamberlain, Churchill
Posted Apr 11th 2009 at 5:03 pm in Celebrity News, Media Criticism, Politics | 1016264 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/04/11/hollywood-diplomacy-all-around/Hollywood+Diplomacy+All+Around2009-04-12+00%3A03%3A17John+T.+Simpson

The Hollywood Awards Show Not Shown on TV

This week’s Washington Times column:

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. | After spending two weeks on something akin to a fact-finding mission in depressed New York and depleted Washington, D.C., I found no answers to our nation’s mounting ills. I discovered that there is much to be angry about and unlimited reasons for deep concern. But on the evening after my return, the stars aligned on the outskirts of Los Angeles at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and for a brief moment I felt safe again in America.

On Saturday, my wife and I were privileged to attend the second annual “Celebration of Freedom Gala.” We joined more than 1,000 others who, like us, were electrified to honor 43 of the 98 living Medal of Honor recipients. We also gave our thanks to former first lady Nancy Reagan, war hero and actor Charles Durning, and Gen. David H. Petraeus. (more…)

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Tags: "Dog Day Afternoon", "Freedom Never Cries", "The Sting", Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment, Bronze Star
Posted Mar 8th 2009 at 4:53 pm in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Military | 7554256 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/03/08/the-hollywood-awards-show-not-shown-on-tv/The+Hollywood+Awards+Show+Not+Shown+on+TV2009-03-09+00%3A53%3A46Andrew+Breitbart