May 28, 2004
MEMORIAL DAY MOVIES
If you're at a loss for plans this Memorial Day weekend, one could do
worse than take in some timeless movies on
href="http://www.amctv.com">AMC's Memorial Day Weekend Marathon.
Some of them look skippable, like Navy Seals (with Charlie
Sheen), but most of them are quality films. Here are my suggestions of
ones you'll want to catch if you have some spare time--and others you
should make time for.
Saturday
The Fighting
Seabees - 7:45 a.m. John Wayne stars in this WWII movie about
a construction unit in the Pacific.
The Bridges at
Toko-Ri - 12:15 p.m. William Holden is a Reserve aviator
bitter that he is called back to fly missions over Korea, leaving his
wife and children stateside. Understandably bitter since his wife is
Grace Kelly.
Sahara -
2:30 p.m. Humphrey Bogart and his embattled squad of men hold off a
German column at an oasis in North Africa. A must-see for Bogart
fans.
In Harm's
Way - 4:30 p.m. I haven't seen this movie about the gear-up
for WWII in the Pacific, but it stars John Wayne and Kirk Douglas and
was directed by Otto Preminger.
Sunday
All Quiet on the
Western Front - 6:00 a.m. This WWI classic starring Lew Ayres
as a German grunt in the trenches plumbs the insanity and horror of
modern warfare. The poignant final scene sticks with you.
Twelve O'Clock
High - 8:45 a.m. Gregory Peck plays a no-nonsense WWII bomber
captain who eventually breaks under the pressure of getting his men
home alive after successfully dropping bombs "right in the pickle
barrel."
Patton -
8:00 p.m. George C. Scott gives the performance of his career as the
hard-driving WWII general with the ivory-handled revolvers. "Only a
pimp would carry a pearl-handled revolver."
Stalag 17
- 11:30 p.m. William Holden is back, but this time he's a P.O.W.
wheeler-dealer in a German prison camp suspected of being an informer.
Billy Wilder directs.
Monday
The Young
Lions - 8:00 a.m. Wake up early or set your VCRs/Tivos for
this epic WWII film showing both sides of the war in Europe. Marlon
Brando plays a disaffected Nazi officer in France. Dean Martin and
Montgomery Clift are unlikely friends in basic training and then into
combat. Lee Van Cleef of Sergio Leone fame has a minor character.
Superb.
Halls of
Montezuma - 11:30 a.m. Karl Malden, Jack Palance, Robert
Wagner, Jack Webb, and Richard Widmark are just some of the Marines
slogging through the South Pacific to knock out a Japanese rocket base.
Brutal stuff.
The Longest
Day - 8:00 p.m. Too many names to list in the cast of real-
life combat movie-maker Daryl F. Zanuck's sweeping version of the D-Day
invasion.
The Enemy
Below - 11:30 p.m. Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens sweat it out
(literally) as captains of a destroyer and a u-boat, respectively, in
this WWII drama that leaves hope for a common humanity even among men
trying to kill each other.
There are a lot of repeat airings of all of these films and more
during the weekend so check out AMC's
href="http://www.amctv.com/guide?CID=28-4-2004-M--N-EST">full
schedule for the month [scroll down to bottom] to see all times and
listings. Also, Sam Fuller's
href="http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0080437/">The Big Red One
is recently out on DVD and it's fantastic. Lee Marvin as a grizzled
vet. Luke Skywalker goes from coward to righteous killer.
And see if your local video store carries
href="http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0059518/">None But the
Brave, featuring a war-weary Frank Sinatra. Two groups of
soldiers--one American, one Japanese--are stranded on a Pacific island.
They form an uneasy truce in order to survive, but both know that when
the time comes, they will be forced to fight each other to the death.
Posted by Lexiphane at May 28, 2004 3:42 PM
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