A war picture made memorable chiefly through the casting as himself of Audie Murphy, America’s most-decorated soldier of World War 2, To Hell and Back, based on Murphy’s autobiography, delivers the goods. Though in part perhaps standard for the era — e.g., in the quirks of the assorted members of Murphy’s platoon — the film …
Bombs Over Burma (PRC, 1942)
A Chinese schoolteacher (Anna May Wong) becomes a secret agent for her country in the wake of a Japanese bombing of her village that resulted in one little student’s death. The meat of the movie that follows is largely a mystery: A group of travelers forced to take shelter at a monastery clearly contains a …
The Red Raiders (First National, 1927)
The Red Raiders is an exciting Ken Maynard cavalry actioner with good stunt work and impressive tricks performed by Tarzan. Maynard is a cavalry lieutenant out to stop a troublemaking young Indian leader, Lone Wolf (Chief Yowlachie), who is fomenting war, while also competing against his commanding officer (J. P. McGowan) for the affections of …
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Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Where Eagles Dare is a fine action movie, filled with twists and tense moments, based on a novel by a master of mystery-filled adventure fiction, Alistair MacLean. At the start, a small group of Allied agents led by a British major (Richard Burton) undertakes a mission to rescue an American general captured by the Germans. …
The Longest Day (Twentieth Century Fox, 1962)
Eighteen years after the largest seaborne assault in history, Twentieth Century Fox released a movie based on Cornelius Day’s bestseller recounting the events of D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944, with Day himself penning the screenplay (with some episodes by others). Multiple directors and an international cast collaborated to deliver what is probably the best …
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We Dive at Dawn (Gainsborough / Gaumont British, 1943)
Fine tale of British submariners during the Second World War, with John Mills as the vessel’s commander and a solid cast of crewmen, most notably Eric Portman as the hydrophone operator. The submarine Sea Tiger is sent to sink a new German battleship, but their quarry has escaped into the Baltic Sea, where they pursue, …
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Eagles over London (1969)
The Battle of Britain is the focus of this Italian movie, originally titled La battaglia d’Inghilterra. During the British evacuation from Dunkirk, a small group of German saboteurs infiltrates and comes to England along with rescued British (and French) forces. Their target: the radar installations that give advance warning of planes heading to England to …
Destroyer (Columbia, 1943)
Experience clashes with youth and learns a thing or two in 1943’s Destroyer. Edward G. Robinson stars as a retired sailor turned shipyard worker who returns to active duty to serve aboard the new John Paul Jones, built as a replacement for a heroic vessel on which he had sailed in the past. His “Old …
Gunga Din (RKO, 1939)
A rollicking film, full of friendly hijinks and malevolent enemies, Gunga Din leans heavily on the appeal of the three sergeants at the center of the action — played by Victor McLaglen, Cary Grant, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. — with their good-natured pranks and mutual loyalty and love, but the whole is given depth and …