Basically I enjoyed the movie and would recommend watching, but there were some major flaws that prevent me from calling it a great movie. In my opinion the basic plot was novel and appealing, but there are some glaring problems with the movie. The first problem was the substitution of a well written dialog, with the monotonous voice over by Sam; Frank Sinatra's character was used as a narration throughout the entire movie. Despite some decent lines from the character, Monique, Natalie Wood's French accent made me cringe each time she spoke. The story line of the two soldiers seeking the affections of a woman that turns out to be biracial was intriguing. A story explaining the reality of interracial love was novel for those days. The movie courageously lets Monique use the "n" word when she exclaims, "I guess 'nigger' is one of the first words you learn in America, isn't it?" Then Sam's character realistically illuminates American racism through his initial reaction to learning the girl he loves is part Negro. Unfortunately, the overall story lacked unity, the plot was forced and the sequence of events seemed unnatural. For example, the way Monique suddenly turns all of her attention to Britt during the first date with Sam after he had made her so happy with his return and acceptance her blackness was not realistic. It made the supposedly sensible good girl, Monique turn fickle and the otherwise dominating lieutenant, Sam turn passive as he set back and let the charming handsome Britt, Tony Curtis, take over his date.
Although the film was classified under the war movie genre, the parallel plot involving Allied military operations was disconnected and irrelevant to the primary romantic drama. In fact the battle scene with the Germans seemed created just for an opportunity for Sam to extract vengeance on Britt lying about his intentions with Monique. After Sam's long narration on his intent to kill Britt, I felt frustrated and disappointed when he fails to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to carry out his vengeance with the dead Germans gun. Although, it may have been quite natural that he could have decided not sully his own character by resorting to murder, I don't think he would have forgiven Britt's transgression just because Britt admits his own lack of character. Despite these flaws, the unique story and the three starring actors make this movie worth watching.
***I won't revise my original post, but I will make an addendum now that I have knowledge that the screenplay was based on novel by Joe David Brown. The book was written in stream of consciousness, which explains the heavy narration and limited dialog. The movie script has significant deviations from the books plot which explains its disjointed flow and unnatural character evolutions. I'd like to find a documented reason for the change from the books ending.
Although the film was classified under the war movie genre, the parallel plot involving Allied military operations was disconnected and irrelevant to the primary romantic drama. In fact the battle scene with the Germans seemed created just for an opportunity for Sam to extract vengeance on Britt lying about his intentions with Monique. After Sam's long narration on his intent to kill Britt, I felt frustrated and disappointed when he fails to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to carry out his vengeance with the dead Germans gun. Although, it may have been quite natural that he could have decided not sully his own character by resorting to murder, I don't think he would have forgiven Britt's transgression just because Britt admits his own lack of character. Despite these flaws, the unique story and the three starring actors make this movie worth watching.
***I won't revise my original post, but I will make an addendum now that I have knowledge that the screenplay was based on novel by Joe David Brown. The book was written in stream of consciousness, which explains the heavy narration and limited dialog. The movie script has significant deviations from the books plot which explains its disjointed flow and unnatural character evolutions. I'd like to find a documented reason for the change from the books ending.