Oh JFK! If it was not for JFK's fathers' very deep pockets do you really think this film semi biography would ever have been made, yet alone released widely? Add in top notch stars such as Cliff Robertson who plays Lt. JG John F. Kennedy, responsible for PT109, Robert Culp who plays Ensign George 'Barney' Ross, James Gregory as Commander C.R. Ritchie, and for good measure add in Robert Blake as Gunner's Mate Charles 'Bucky' Harris, and Norman Fell as Machinist Edmund Drewitch and you have an all star cast ready to set sail and fight those nasty Japanese in deep waters.
The problem I had with this film was that the period war film was released 20 years after the incident but only mere months before the next primary U.S. elections were to take place in 1964 and the then U.S. President John F. Kennedy intended to run for re-election. No coincidence here? But my disdain runs further. After watching the film PT 109 we the audience would be left to believe that the entire PT 109 crew were willing to surrender time and time again to the Japanese rather than swim 3 miles to a remote island and wait for their eventual rescue. Oh yes, everyone appeared to want to give up except the great JFK who led the way swimming the entire 3 miles in the ocean AND also towing another injured seaman on his own bad back, even carrying him out of the water and to dry land before getting immediately back into the water to assist the rest of his crew before a Japanese boat would otherwise have captured them all. Such a war hero that JFK!
That same night JFK swam out back into the middle of the ocean by himself in anticipation of spotting a U.S Naval rescue ship that did not materialize, at least not that first night. This movie would have been more appropriately titled "JFK a one man war hero". I will admit that JFK had some good qualities as the U.S. President as well as some bad qualities, one of which he was a known womanizer who demanded sex from many vulnerable woman, including Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe.
The 1963 film PT 109 may have put JFK in a light that shone bright as a U.S. naval hero, but the 4 million dollars spent on this film was all for naught, as on November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, for reasons to this day still unknown.
I am not a big fan of glory pictures that are released to shine a positive light by very wealthy people who have a specific agenda. In this case PT 109 was released to promote JFK as a tough naval war hero just in time for the next U.S. election for which he was running for re-election as the U.S. President backed by the very wealthy Boston based Kennedy family. I gave the film a 5 out of 10 rating.
The problem I had with this film was that the period war film was released 20 years after the incident but only mere months before the next primary U.S. elections were to take place in 1964 and the then U.S. President John F. Kennedy intended to run for re-election. No coincidence here? But my disdain runs further. After watching the film PT 109 we the audience would be left to believe that the entire PT 109 crew were willing to surrender time and time again to the Japanese rather than swim 3 miles to a remote island and wait for their eventual rescue. Oh yes, everyone appeared to want to give up except the great JFK who led the way swimming the entire 3 miles in the ocean AND also towing another injured seaman on his own bad back, even carrying him out of the water and to dry land before getting immediately back into the water to assist the rest of his crew before a Japanese boat would otherwise have captured them all. Such a war hero that JFK!
That same night JFK swam out back into the middle of the ocean by himself in anticipation of spotting a U.S Naval rescue ship that did not materialize, at least not that first night. This movie would have been more appropriately titled "JFK a one man war hero". I will admit that JFK had some good qualities as the U.S. President as well as some bad qualities, one of which he was a known womanizer who demanded sex from many vulnerable woman, including Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe.
The 1963 film PT 109 may have put JFK in a light that shone bright as a U.S. naval hero, but the 4 million dollars spent on this film was all for naught, as on November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, for reasons to this day still unknown.
I am not a big fan of glory pictures that are released to shine a positive light by very wealthy people who have a specific agenda. In this case PT 109 was released to promote JFK as a tough naval war hero just in time for the next U.S. election for which he was running for re-election as the U.S. President backed by the very wealthy Boston based Kennedy family. I gave the film a 5 out of 10 rating.