Saturday, March 16, 2024

Masters of the Air: Episode 9

 



            Well, it’s finally over. The series we waited for years to see. Did it finish strong? Let’s see.

It opens with a mission to Berlin on Feb. 3, 1945. It takes a while for us to know that the bomber that is being focused on is Rosenthal’s. Again the series has a problem with identifying the characters with their masks on. His bomber is crippled and Rosie bails out behind Russian lines and lands in a battle. This is the first of several developments that challenge credulity. The episode follows the template of the last few episodes. It jumps around following Rosenthal, Crosby, and Bucky and Buck. Spoiler alert, I can’t do this review without pointing out some of the ridiculous scenes.

            Let’s take each at a turn. Rosie is rescued by Russians and has a long road home. Along the way, the series manages to force a Holocaust scene to match “Band of Brothers”. But in BoB, it made sense that they would run into a labor camp. In Masters, Rosie is riding in a car with a Soviet general. They stop right in front of the camp and Rosie is kicked out of the car by an officer. This gives Rosie (who is Jewish, of course) the chance to walk into the camp and see all the corpses.  Box checked. Suddenly, Rosie is back and we only get his description of his travels. He tells this to Crosby who responds with another whine about war being hell. That’s right, the character with the desk job has PTSD and the character who has flown over 40 missions, been shot down twice, survived a battle, saw a concentration camp, and made several stops on the way back to England is seemingly unaffected!  The series has done a terrible job developing its characters.

            Crosby’s arc has him still moping. When the equipment room is left locked, he busts open the door to dole out some parachutes. He then goes to confront the man responsible and after the officer says what we all are thinking – dude, I haven’t seen you on any missions, Crosby proves he’s not a whiny milquestoast by shoving the guy’s face into his meal. Hey screenwriter, it’s too late for this. By the way, Crosby is going to be a daddy, but we don’t see Jean in the episode. Apparently, her spy escapades are no longer worthy of coverage.

            Buck and Bucky start the episode in Stalag III with the trio of Red Tails. They have spent all that time with no attempt to tunnel out. The Americans are nearing, so they are moved at night during a snow storm. It’s not horrific, just miserable. At one point, a P-51 strafes the column. At night. Bucky complains to the German officer about marching them at night as though it is more dangerous than moving in the daytime! Like strafing is less likely in daylight! This episode is the P-51 episode because later we get another lone Mustang strafing their new camp, but don’t worry, it only strafes the Germans.  USA! USA! USA!  Eventually, B & B decide to escape, but Bucky is caught. Buck has a run in with some Nazi Youths, so we get an action scene. B&B get reunited in a sappy way. The war is winding down and they go on one last mission together, holding hands the whole way. Just kidding. The series decided to cover this raid where they drop parcels to Dutch civilians. That’s right. The series that avoided showing bombing raids, leaves us with a milk run so we can see the lovely Dutch windmills! I don’t know if it was a CGI windmill. We finish with the 100th flying off into the sunset taking our expectations with them. You may notice I have said nothing about the Red Tails. They are simply there, with nothing to do.

            I always wonder why movies and series that are bad and will be compared to previous movies or films, choose to remind viewers of them.  In this case, we get a scene with a pirate mug ala “Twelve O’Clock High”. And there is a shot of a man bicycling and some cows in a field to remind of “Band of Brothers”. It was just sad to see that. What might have been. I have said from the start that the screenwriters made poor decisions. The series should have concentrated on B&B with Egan playing the Dick Winters leadership role. He was a great leader, but you don’t get that from the series.  The series did not develop a leader. It should have concentrated on one crew reaching the 25 mark with other crews going down. And then switched to Rosenthal for his second tour. And nothing else! I got to the point where I hated Crosby. His character arc was a waste of time. He came off as though the series had to balance all the heroes with a lame-ass. The sad thing is that I checked out a biography of him and he flew 32 missions and was lauded by Curtis LeMay as one of the best leaders in the 8th Air Force. Did anyone get that impression from the series?  The man’s memoir was a key source for the screenwriters and this is the way they treated him? Give me a break.

            Obviously, I was tremendously disappointed with the series. I would compare my mood to when I watched the “Catch-22” series. In that case, the problem was the screenwriters threw the book in the trash can and decided to go their own way. MOA went a different route. As far as I can tell at this point, it stuck to the characters’ actual stories, but with some enhancement. It’s flaw was the decision on what subplots to pursue and having too many subplots. But it’s biggest flaw was giving us some incredible combat scenes and then no more.  What a tease! Compare THAT to “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific”. Two series that made little use of CGI, but got the human elements right. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Maybe we should think of “Generation War” as the third in the trilogy and just forget about MOA.

GRADE =  D

OVERALL = D

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

100 Best War Movies: 70. A Walk in the Sun (1945)

 

“A Walk in the Sun” is a faithful rendering of the novel by Harry Brown. He enlisted in 1941 and served as a writer for Yank magazine. The movie was released in 1945 and is in black and white. It is set in 1943 during the invasion of Salerno in the Italian campaign in WWII. Production began after actor Burgess Meredith (who served as the narrator in the film) urged that the book be made into a movie. The director was Lewis Milestone of “All Quiet” fame. The U.S. Army cooperated in production by providing weapons, including American weapons masquerading as Germans. The Army also vetted the script suggesting two minor changes. The movie was greeted positively by audiences and critics. It was rereleased in 1951 as “Salerno Beachhead”.

            In an unorthodox use of credits, we are introduced to the main characters by face and name. The narrator tells us a little about each in a folksy way.  They are members of the Texas Division.  They are from all over the United States, however.  The platoon includes an Italian-American, a factory worker, a minister's son, a farmer, a Southerner, and, of course, a guy from Brooklyn. Then to make things more intriguing, the ballad begins and will reappear periodically throughout the film. The men are on a landing craft heading for Salerno.  We get our first taste of what’s to come as the men engage in typical soldier conversations. The big incident is the mortal wounding of their lieutenant as he incautiously looks over the side of the craft. The men take this setback in stride indicating both the enlisted/officer divide and the hardened attitude of combat veterans.

The platoon lands on a quiet stretch of beach and digs in. The audience craving for action and violence is introduced to the reality of battles – there are large stretches of boredom and individual soldiers (and even small units) are usually clueless about what is going on elsewhere on the battlefield. Anyone expecting the talking to end at this stage of the movie is quickly disabused of that hope. However, the conversations are fascinating and feel like they come out of the mouths of G.I.s, not a Hollywood screenwriter trying to imagine what soldiers would talk about. We get a lot of 1940s slang so for those of you are not old enough here is a glossary of just a few of the terms:

loving = stands in for the "f word" (this is a 1945 war movie, remember)

take a powder = relax

hit the dirt = get down (used mostly when strafing is possible)

sure as little apples = very sure

hoist tail = get up

shake it = move quickly

take ten = take a break

doughfoot = soldier (variation of doughboy)

in the pink = healthy

you kill me = you’re being ridiculous

what’s eating you? = what’s bothering you?

And the term that was used at least ten times – “butt”. This refers to a cigarette as in “butt me” if you want one. This being a 1940s war movie, be careful of second hand smoke because these actors smoke every chance they get. The unit even has a pet phrase – “nobody dies”. This serves as a hoped for self-fulfilling prophecy. Audience, do not fear – it is not an accurate prediction of the upcoming events. By the way, the phrase eerily foreshadows “Hamburger Hill” and its “It don’t mean nothing”.

     The plot is simple. The unit is sent on a mission to destroy a bridge and take a farm house.  They are not told why. The rest of the movie is a series of action scenes interspersed with bouts of conversations. The soldiers talk about home, their futures (one keeps predicting that they will be in the Army all the way through the “Battle of Tibet”), food (one dreams of eating an apple), etc. Thankfully, no one pulls out a picture of his future wife, thus avoiding certain death. The men have developed an admirable small unit comradeship which allows them to constantly joke and provoke. My favorite exchange is when one of the privates asks Sgt. Tyne (Dana Andrews) if he can smoke. Tyne’s one word response is “Burn”.

Along the way, they have to deal with their leader succumbing to combat fatigue, what we call PTSD today. There is no explanation to why he cracks. Probably from too much combat in the past and being thrust into a leadership role. The platoon is sympathetic, but takes it in stride. Everyone has a breaking point. They ambush a German armored car in a scene that may hold the record for most grenades thrown. They eventually arrive at the farm house and the movie concludes with them taking it, not without losses. However, although the movie is truthful in depicting deaths as being random, it is not a “who will survive?” movie. They are not on a suicide mission.

ACTING:                      B

ACTION:                      C   7/10 (quantity)

ACCURACY:               A  (it follows the book very closely)

PLOT:                           A-

REALISM:                   A

CINEMATOGRAPHY:     B

SCORE:                        B 

BEST SCENE:  ambushing the armored car

BEST QUOTE:  Windy:  Dear Frances, we just blew a bridge and took a farmhouse. It was so easy... so terribly easy.

CRITIQUE.  “A Walk in the Sun” is an odd little movie. It is definitely old school, but it has some features that you don’t see in most of the black and white WWII movies. This is immediately clear with the opening that has the character identifications and the ballad. Granted, the song is very corny, but it is different. This is a very talkative movie, but thankfully the dialogue is entertaining. Few war movies are truer to the sense of humor of American GIs. The comedy team of Friedman (George Tyne) and Rivera (Richard Conte) have the following typical exchange. Friedman: “When I run out of butts, you’ll be in a fine mess.” Rivera: “I’ll find a new friend.” The dialogue is not all joking around. The men can get deep at times.. Several lines are brilliant. Tyne: “It’s a funny thing how many people you meet in the army that cross your path for a few seconds and you never see ‘em again.”

 It also realistically portrays the “hurry up and wait” nature of combat. Most war movies spend way too much time on the fighting and way too little on the waiting. And yet, I do not think most viewers would find it boring. That may be because the platoon is continually moving forward, with some breaks. The two big action scenes are well-staged. It is very good at portraying the “fog of war”. They know their mission, but have no idea what is happening elsewhere in the beachhead. “You never get to see nothing. You’re fighting by ear.”

         The acting is good throughout the ensemble. No one hams it up. Even Huntz Hall (of Bowery Boys fame) is impressive. He gets to argue that a human is more complex than a leaf. (That sounds silly, but is actually deep.) Dana Andrews as Tyne is the reluctant, but dutiful leader. He is not heroic and makes mistakes. He wears the mantle of command uncomfortably, but ably. The movie is excellent in depicting the attitude of GIs in WWII. Let’s get this over with. Each step is one step closer to the end and going home.

              The movie is not based on any actual incident. The invasion of Salerno did start out as a “walk in the sun” as depicted in the movie. I have already commented on the accuracy of the soldier talk and behavior. The tactics also ring true. The seeming lack of emotions in dealing with fallen comrades is probably exaggerated to match the mood of the film, but battle-hardened men could conceivably be callous at this point.

“A Walk in the Sun” is a must-see movie for WWII movie buffs. It is one of the best movies made about the war during the war. It avoids the patriotism and propaganda of most of those movies. It is one of the best small unit movies. You don’t get the usual bombastic action scenes that Hollywood loves, but you do get to know the men and you get a look at a typical mission. Not every mission was taking a bridge or landing on a beach under fire. Sometimes it was just walking down a road to take a farmhouse and losing good men in the process.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

MASTERS OF THE AIR: Episode 8

 

 

            I feel I have to reemphasize that I looked forward to this series for years and got Apple TV in order to watch it. I wanted to love it, although I was aware it would likely not live up to Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The series started off well with episode 3 being possibly the best depiction of bomber combat ever. Since then the series has unsuccessfully attempted to juggle several subplots which have either been ill-developed or uninteresting. Some of the subplots have been dropped for no reason. Episode 5 was another good one because the show took to the air again, but it turns out that was just a tease. Episodes 6 and 7 were huge disappointments and episode 8 has continued that trend.

 

            Band of Brothers followed a company of soldiers from boot camp to the end of the war. We got to know the characters and the series had a nice flow to it as it alternated character development with combat. It was also a great study in command as Dick Winters anchored the series. It focused on the effect of war on a group of comrades. Its theme was comradeship. The Pacific took the approach of following three Marines from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. It also alternated from character development to combat. And the combat was some of the best ever shown. The theme was the dehumanization of war. It is hard to understand why the screenwriters for Masters decided to abandon the formula that made those other miniseries great. The series should have combined the templates from the other two. Focus on Buck and Bucky for the leadership perspective and several crews to show how difficult getting to 25 missions was. The show was supposed to be an homage to those airmen. Instead, we have gotten several threads that have been jammed together, none of which have jelled.

 

            Episode 8 was a fiasco. We finally got the appearance of the Red Tails, but it was painfully obvious the unit was thrown in to diversify the audience. This is an insult to African-Americans and an unforced error since there have been two movies about the unit already. Taking time away from the bomber boys for a taste of the Red Tails was a bad mistake, especially since the episode was another shamefully short one. It is infuriating that the episodes are running at less than 45 minutes. (This episode was 42 ½ minutes!) Are they leaving the best parts of the short scenes on the cutting room floor? It seems like it. Oddly, the screenwriter makes a point of having Benjamin Davis, Jr. mention that they have lost some of the bombers they were escorting. This is an attempt to refute the myth that they never lost a bomber. But why go out of the way to point this out? All of this is to get three of them shot down and sent to Buck and Bucky’s prisoner of war camp. This is how the series justifies including the Red Tails. There is no attempt to tie the unit to the 100th. We get a cringey scene where a German interrogator points out to the trio that America is racist. Check that box off.

 

            Besides the Red Tails, the other two threads that we get in brief scenes involve Buck/Bucky in camp and Crosby/Sandra. The camp scenes are boring. Buck and Bucky have a brief bout of dysfunction, but that is soon dropped. The characters are not trying to escape. For God knows what reason, the series continues to focus on sad sack Crosby. We are supposed to care about a REMF. In a laughable development, poor Cros has not been getting enough sleep, so he is given a full month off.  That’s right, instead of us following crews that are on suicidal missions, we get a guy who needs a month off from his stressful desk job! As far as his romance with Sandra, it turns out she is a secret agent, but she does nothing that is interesting. As far as leadership, the unit is now on its fourth commanding officer and we know nothing about any of them.

 

             I know it might seem that I am being unfairly harsh in my reviews. Some will argue that the series is meant for the general public, not for war movie fanatics. That may be true, but I find it hard to believe that a casual viewer is finding the series interesting and well-plotted. And it is very hard to believe that after the third episode, viewers were wishing for less combat missions and more underdeveloped subplots. One more to go.  I predict a whimper, not a bang.

 

GRADE  =  F