Reviews

I have to say that this film has a little spot of nostalgia for me as it was a favorite when I was a kid. On a winter afternoon in the days of three or four channels of TV per market, it made the grade and also led to playing army out in the snow. Many of these actors were on the tube at the time including Tina Louise, Burt Reynolds, and Earl Holliman and we all liked Howard Keels performance.

This is an average war film based on a real battle that seemed meant to showcase a lot of young talent rather than anything else. I think one would have seen this at the Bijou as the second feature. It is better than a lot of the imports that were beginning to saturate the market at the time.

The casting is good and the cast is competent. Howard Keel, Warner Anderson, and Carlton Young anchor this exciting young cast. Tina Louise is the femme fatal and gives you a peak at her pre "Ginger" acting on "Gilligan's Island!" because she is an authoritative bitch when she commands her fellow spy's! Good or bad, Earl Holliman and Burt Reynolds give performances not unlike what they given throughout their entire careers.

Everyone gave this the college try in no doubt thanks to Byron Haskin's workmanlike direction. The producer of the film also wrote it which might explain the "Battleground" and other war movie clichés but this makes the film an encyclopedia of clichés and you have to be a war movie nut to notice them. Marty Feldman reminds me of the kind of role that they would have had George Tobias do. I do not know the name of the guy playing the Frenchman but he is cool right down to his beret.

In staging the battle, the budget soon starts to strain but just a bit. It is ambitious to do any film about the Battle of the Bulge and the money people had to surrender to reality very early. Still, compared to the phony Tiger tanks in "Attack" the M 60's (?) used are more than OK and the action footage creates drama. It almost looks like they used the West German Army while it was out on maneuvers. You wonder what they could have done with a fraction of the budget for "Battle of the Bulge", the Cinerama fantasy war film with super NAZI Robert Shaw that would be released a few years later or the "Longest Day" which was released just before this.

PS: The German's are at their best "Combat" acting style! I like the atmosphere of this film. I have it on in the background as I enter this. It is winter outside here and we are in the middle of a snow storm. I wonder if someone like Tina Louise is lying out there somewhere?

Nah!

I really can't say how impressed I was with this film.

The question here is who was directing who?

This is a primary record of history as important as any other document on film I have ever scene.

Diem being assassinated and Kennedy also soon after makes one wonder if maybe the stars were against us anyhow.

I can remember the summer of 1963. All we were concerned about at the time was if we would beat the Russians to the moon.

It was the better part of the cold war.

Oh well.

History can be so much rubbish except to those who will repeat it's mistakes.

This documentary is a must for any serious student of the Third Reich. It is a primary research vehicle with the account of Hitler's Secratary, a person who was present in the Bunker and who took Hitlers dictation of his last will and testament is about as close as you can get without knowing Hitler yourself.

If you are a student of the war then you will recognize many of the stories Traudl Junge speaks of. It is too bad that many of the other survivors of the war were not interviewed in such depth. many of the Bunker survivors lived until recently and many of the NAZI's present at such conferences as Wansee lived well into the 1980's. All and everything they may have said about what they experiences is now lost to the ages.

She is the women who contributed to the first Hitler Bunker film with Oscar Werner (Hitler: The Last The Days!) and also the most recent and best "Downfall!"

Mortality and every day that passes now makes this "living history" harder and harder to come by. At least we heard from Speer, Leni Refienstal, and many of the surviving Generals. They say we will never forget. I do not think thats true. Soon this will be like studying Napoleon.

Good film for serious students of the war.

OK, so you may have read in the comments that Scott was a bit of a prick whose ego made decisions when good information might have said otherwise. A lot of this is true, compared to Amudsen's expedition (which used clothing and dog sled transportation methods he had learned from the Eskimo's only a few years before) Scott's party looks poorly prepared for the environment. All true but there was nothing basically wrong with the British plan and the very Europeon technology that was used.

Politics with Scott was a problem (concerned with honor and how things look to the public) but it should not have mattered. Even the mistake of taking the extra man to the pole could have been overcome except for one reason. It turned out that Scott was about to face a much colder Antartic than had yet been experienced. His plan would have worked any other year but that year the temps were lower and the storms more pronounced. Whatever margin of error he thought he had evaporated and disaster resulted.

For the historical purists out there, "The Last Place on Earth" gives a more factual account of what went wrong, how chances were wasted, and other 20/20 hind-site. Still, this also is biased as shown by the analysis of the rotten weather on the PBS special "Secrets of the Dead!"

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_southpole/index.html

No matter what your bias, Scott was dealing with really a new set of problems unlike the "Titanic" which was built during the time of Scott's expedition without enough lifeboats.

As to the film, it is a beauty. This is a memorial made of film the way a statue is made of stone. The cinematography, the music, the "stiff upper lip" acting all work to make the film worth a watch. Much like some of DW Giffiths work showing events from American history, there are re-enactments of certain events that closely follow diary diary entries (as well as the reciting of the diary entries themselves) and copy photographs from the trip that give this film the authenticity it needs.

Scott and his men were hero's. It is more than a film as much as it says Scott existed and, at the time, got his country interested in Polar exploration rather than sitting in an arm chair devouring the profits of exploiting the wealth of the industrial age and the very fat British Empire. As to the mans flaws, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

This film is just perfect. Why it is not available on video is a mystery. It is a great caper film.

I do not know much about the Algerian/French nonsense but the implementation of the bank robbery is done very well.

The politics mean nothing. The crime is the thing.

Planning the operation, getting the help, and then getting away are all you really need for a good caper film.

Yeah, they get caught later but spending the cash is where they catch everyone.

Damn good film.

We need this available once again!

Writing and acting! Acting and writing! Like another great little "Custer" film "Bugles in the Afternoon!" starring Ray Milland (and LBH's Sheb Wooley playing Custer!), the acting and dialog in this Cavalry classic is top notch. Everything just clicks making this film look as good as any classic Western with a much bigger budget.

The soundtrack is interesting. The "On the Little Big Horn! 1876!" sung by a chorus rings out loud and clear in the opening credits and sets the mood for the story. Must have been a thrill to the Saturday matinée kid cowboy crowd. It certainly adds to "larger than life" mood of this film.

The writers, by setting up this film with the well known history of the Custer defeat (or is it the Native American victory) at the Little Big Horn as a backdrop, helps make your imagination do what the well spent but inexpensive budget doesn't! (It is almost like a radio play in that way.) With the descriptions of sighting of thousands of Souix by the patrols in this film, you feel the intensity and importance of the mission. Also the suspense created by knowing there are a lot of Indians out there and the "Heart of Darkness" atmosphere as the troop advances further and further into Indian territory gives the ambushes that happen the right kind of life and death dynamic.

The story line is not that improbable. Gen. Crook, who had met in the Battle of the Rosebud just some of the Souix that would engage Custer a week or so later, did think of continuing with what was left of his command or some troopers to Custer and Terry to inform them of what happened. It didn't happen however. Still, the mission of trying to deliver a message at all costs to Custer gives this film the needed dynamic it requires.

Major or soon to be major actors give performances here that both their earlier and later "high budget" careers only enhance. The leads Lloyd Bridges (High Noon!, Sea Hunt, Hot Shots) and John Ireland (Red River, Spartacus, A Walk in the Sun) and supporting actors like the memorable King Donavan (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), the good spirited Wally Cassell (Sands of Iwo Jima), Jim Davis (Dallas!), newcomer Hugh O'Brien (TV's Wyatt Earp), Mr. beautiful baritone Reed Hadley, known for his narrations of Hollywood films (Guadalcanal Diary) and those Atomic Bomb documentaries by the US government plus all the rest of this ensemble do an outstanding job.

Bridges and Ireland are perfect as the hard nosed commander and the sympathetic Lt. always in conflict with each other. The film moves along without any real slow spots. It has good cinematography.

It has good production values and the good writing that make it seem like a bigger film than it really is. It has that "film noir" mood that never would have worked as well in color either. It is really a western that stimulates your imagination!

Many Kudos for this classic!

Allen Ladd and Ernest Bourgine did outstanding work in this horse opera. The plot, the acting, the sets, all work well. This is one of Ladds better films, Bourgnine always adds to a film, Katy Jerado of "High Noon" fame is just great, and the rest of the cast work well. It is just a little gem of a film.

The one distraction is a no longer so often heard stock soundtrack of less than "A" feature quality. Maybe they were newer when the film was released, and maybe they have been given a rest so newer viewers will not recognize them, but I have heard these sound cuts far too often in many a 1960's western, TV show, horror film, documentary, and what not. I wonder how much better it would have been with a Dimitri Tiomkin, a Lionel Neuman, a Bernard Herrmann, or John Williams soundtrack. If they ever restore this, and it is worth restoring, I would have a new soundtrack done for it.

Still, this is a good film, a great western, and worth a watch. It is out of print right now but you can catch it on cable or get a used VHS print on E bay. Superior horse opera!

Howdy Rex!

Rex Trailer's "Boomtown" was a Cowboy children's television show broadcast from 1956 to 1976 mostly on the local NBC affiliate Channel 4 (now CBS). Attended by children from the Boston area, this show was full of games, stories, animals on "Critter Corner," local music like the "Bunker Hillbillys!", cartoons, and a cast of characters played by local talent. This show ran so long that the original child audience from the 50's could have their children go to it in the 70's!

Each program started in the Bunkhouse where Rex and his trusty Mexican companion Pablo (played by Dick Kilbride who tragically passed away from illness in 1968) would discuss what would be on the show that day thus keeping the kiddies watching at home interested through out the morning. Then Rex would ride his horse "Goldrush" into the studio with it's audience of kids.

Starting right after the test pattern, the National Anthem, and a "Big Picture" Armed Forces short, this show ruled Saturday AM for up to fours hours per episode (depending on sponsors and the time of year), kids could be waiting a long time to see what they had heard about in the Bunkhouse. There was also a Sunday edition as well. Other characters that appeared were Cactus Pete and Sgt. Billy. Sgt. Billy replaced Kilbride and was with the show until the end and still works with Rex on occasion.

Most of the shows were live, took place out doors in the summer(weather permitting) in a western town set behind the TV studio. It featured the usual western fair spiced with references to modern goings on. At the time I was watching the show JFK was President and their was a lot of references to the space race. Rex was and is a flying cowboy and worked that into the show as well. Rex still is an avid aviator.

There was also the usual western cowboy gun play until the assassination of JFK. After that Rex discontinued wearing his six guns and toned down that part of the show.

It's most noted episode was when a live Tiger appearing on the show went out of control pinning it's owner to the floor. As the trainer pleaded to "Get him off! Get him off!", Rex had to coax the tiger away in front of a studio of children who thought it was all part of the act. It has been said by Rex that the smell of the horse in the studio and a tiger do not mix. No one was hurt but a normal "Critter Corner" this was not.

Rex sponsored travel trips to Universal Studios and Disneyland where planes would be chartered for several hundred fans. Rex made more than 1,000 episodes, spanning three decades. He ran a Television training school and taught at Emerson College.

Rex currently still appears at parades and other events in the Boston area and currently has a web page where he hawks merchandise about his show. Rex was originally a singing cowboy and his old LP albums are still available via E bay.

I love films like this and they can never really be too long. However, Langs performance as Stonewall Jackson is so good that had the film been trimmed around Lang's performance, what you could have had here was a biopic extraordinary!

Love the battles, the reprise of Chamberlein by Daniels, and the faithful if somewhat painful loyalty to several books I have read about Jackson, especially the XMAS dinner. This film comes so close but because the book is about the Civil War in general, you get lost in it all.

Chacellorsville was done extremely well. So was Fredircks berg. Two films should have been made out of this. Chamberlien and Jackson both deserve it! I would have liked to know more about Jackson's early life (which was tough)and think that, with a little more good writing, the makings of a bio pic classic were at hand.

How do I put this. Here we have a film where Abe Lincoln sends John F. Kennedy to meet Alfie and then attack a Japanese base with a squad of English character actors. All I have to ask is where the heck was Sean Connery and Marlon Brando.

As a war movie it is all right but those funky scenes of British troops watching the poor suckers who had to go out on this and other patrols run through a gauntlet of enemy fire to get in and out of the base are just too much. Are the troops bored? Not as much as you will be. I wonder what they did when they found some dog crap somewhere?

Then you have the "war is hell" attitude of the squad, the endless suspense of waiting for someone to do some acting before they get killed by the Japs, and then trying to figure out who installed the Public Address system in the jungle. Attention K Mart shoppers!

The only other thing I remember about the making of this film is that PT 109 Robertson got stuck working in the hot and miserable Phillipines on this rather standard war flick the night he won the Oscar for "Charley!" How often do you win an Oscar and get to be on national TV and then party all night? Although I think that film "Charley" sucks, apparently he missed the highlight night of his career over a movie that resembles an episode of "Combat!"

Note: Later in his career Cliff uncovers an embezzlement by his boss (Begalman or something) and never gets a good part again until the movie "Spiderman!" if you call that a good part! Please note that Michael Caine never gets a good part again but it didn't make a difference cause all those films sucked no matter who was in them and the people who went to see them didn't have any taste anyhow. Henry Fonda would save the uniform from this film and use it and his acting talent in the movie "Midway" later in the decade.

I can recommend this for a viewing but I wish you to know I bought it a video store that was going out of business for a buck. It is worth a watch but it will drive you crazy! Oh the horror! The horror! Opps, thats another film made in the Philipines!

I just bought this thing for a dollar at a video store that was going belly up (as a lot of them are doing now.) This was made in 1989 over 17 years ago now and I had never seen it. It is a good film and I am glad I bought it. It filled in a lazy summer afternoon.

This is a good old fashioned romantic south seas adventure film in the tradition of things like " His Majesty O'Keefe", "South Sea Women", the boring "Lord Jim" and even "Mutiny on the Bounty" in a way. It also resembles "Dances with Wolves" too. This film is a bit violent but any war movie would be.

The days of signing on a tramp steamer and seeing the south seas are as long gone as the Phonograph and 78 rpm record. The jet age, travel agencies, and space age communication have destroyed whatever romance traveling there might have had.

Films with plots like this now happen in outer space, not the south seas. It is a little too violent so I give it a 9. This is a genre that I think can no longer sustain an audience.

Farewell to the King!

This is a good documentary and I now own a copy. This was a time when being President was like being King! As to the Camelot legend, it has gone south with the times.*

This is a documentary that catches a moment but that moment is mostly gloss meant for overseas consumption. Because of the Peace Corp. and other American aid, JFK's photo was found in hamlets in Africa back then. You certainly do not see it now.

What did we get from his administration: An arms race, a bigger arms race, and a still bigger arms race. Missiles of October? We came to the brink? Some say his death led us into Vietnam. Would there have been a "Great Society" UNLESS he was killed? History will decide who gets the credit.

The sad truth is this man lived, gave us hope, was stupidly killed, turned out to be no saint, and whose death was the opening act on a decade of American style misery.

At least we landed on the moon. We could have done so much more.

What can I say? I mean this show was on 7:00 PM Sundays for most of it's run and was followed by Efram Zimbelist Jr. in "The FBI!" Why do I remember this? Because school was Monday and these would be the last shows I could watch before facing a week of shear terror! I guess anything was good if it was on at that time.

It's only competition was Lassie or Disney both of which had no monsters. I would see this show in re runs much later and wonder why I would ever waste my time with it. I flubbed my homework so I could watch this? Now all I think of is the thousands of dollars of income I have lost because I didn't spend more time studying!

Richard Basehart and David Hedison were busy in the first couple of years but after that it was Chief Sharkey, Kowalski, and Paterson and that stupid mini sub in the missle room. This was bad. Also I wonder who the contractor was for the Seaview's electrical system cause every week of the show(and seemingly without fail) the circuitry room would blow up!

My favorite episode as "Jonah and the Wahle" which was when the diving bell containing Captain Crane gets swallowed by a whale like it was bait. Improbable as it was this episode introduced the shows first season in color (the 2nd year I believe)and a redesigned Seaview with a "Flying" Sub. Considering Richard Basehart's best film is "Moby Dick!" you had to wonder who wrote this episode.

I guess they added the flying sub so they could get the action off the sub and into the air! Darn thing crashed every week! How did it get it's certification?

My least favorite episode (I was too young) was the "Phantom" who was the ghost of a World War one U Boat out looking for his lost love. The "Phantom" was in two episodes so I guess someone liked it. As an adult I think these episodes have some class.

The best year of the show drama wise was the first (in black and white)which is why I gave it a seven. Most of the last (4th) year was so silly I really didn't mind if I missed it. The show was a success because it lasted four years in those days was unusual. They just ran out of ideas and, since it was 1968, a generation had really grown up.

The show was unintentionally funny. The cheapest monster was the "flame creature" which was the flame from a blow torch held out in front of the camera. After Captain Crane had rescued some crewmen who were overcome from the heat, he picked up the always handy intercom microphone to alert the control room. All I could think of him saying was "Send down two glasses of ice tea and QUICK!"

And then there was Chip, the exec. How did he survive the boredom. He was in every episode and all he said was "Hello Admiral" or "OK Lee!" And then there was that incredibly bad sonar system and the stupid computer. Boom, sparks aplenty, the Seaview rocks back and forth! "You OK Chip?" At least Dowdell (who played Chip) made a good living in soap operas later on.

Then there were the monster costumes. Irwin Allen had several shows on at once including "Lost in Space" and the "Time Tunnel". The same monster costume would cycle through all the shows. Sometime they would paint it a new color but once it was on "Lost in Space," three weeks later you would see it on "Voyage!" And then there was the clown monster! Hey Bozo, put that ray gun down!

I think that the very talented actors in the show like Richard Basehart (Moby Dick), David Hedison (Felix Lieter in James Bond,) and the aforementioned Chip Dowdell must have thought the same thing I do after looking back on this show which is:

Oh it hurts to even think of the wasted time I spent with this show!