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Tag Archives: WWII

Honor or: De Oppresso Liber

11 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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Air Force, Armistice Day, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, National Guard, Navy, US Army Reserves, Veterans Day, WWI, WWII

Salutations™!!

Today is Armistice Day and Veterans Day. They are basically the same thing, however, they started a little differently.

According to Wikipedia: Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am,  for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning—the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.

I believe it was meant to honor the “war dead” from World War I.

National-Veterans-Day-Events-750x417

©militarybenefits.info

At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

Veterans Day is for honoring military veterans, that is, persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces (and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable). To be clear, November 11, or more specifically Veterans Day, is not for remembering the dead, although we can certainly honor them, as well. But, Memorial Day is for the memory of fallen soldiers. Veterans Day is for honoring all soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines (and don’t forget those in the National Guard, Coast Guard and Reserves), as long as they weren’t dishonorably discharged).

I have never wanted to be in the military but I respect them for what they do to make sure that we can protest, speak out, make a living, own property, come and go as we please, listen to the music we want to, and vote for those that we choose to represent us among many other things. I appreciate being able to live as I wish. I appreciate all that you do. As should we all!

Happy Veterans Day!
Scorp out!

—
“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” – Alexander Hamilton

 

 

Patton or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

28 Saturday May 2016

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review, Uncategorized

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a/perture Cinema, Academy Awards, AFI, Battle of El Guettar, Battle of Kasserine Pass, Francis Ford Coppola, George C. Scott, Hannibal, IMDb, Karl Malden, Netflix, Omar Bradley, Oscars, Patton, Rotten Tomatoes, The Godfather, The Less Desirables, WWII, Zama

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Patton (1970) starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young.

Per IMDb: “The World War II phase of the career of the controversial American general, George S. Patton.”

Francis Ford Coppola’s screenplay had gotten him fired because it was too “ahead of its time.” They thought the opening speech by George C. Scott’s Patton was unusual and they didn’t get it. Turns out it’s quite famous. Coppola won an Academy Award for Best 51LqvckTZ8L._SY355_Screenplay. That kept him employed on The Godfather. That opening speech, though, is an amalgamation of words spoken from several speeches that George Patton had delivered over a few years. It’s easily one of the most recognizable and most quoted scenes in cinematic history.

In 1943 North Africa, Patton takes over command of the ransacked American II Corps after the dismal outcome of the Battle of Kasserine Pass. He has his lackeys put on a three star pin, which General Omar N. Bradley (Malden) questions, saying that the Senate hasn’t approved his promotion, yet. He said, it’s all a matter of time. This scene, I think is important to show how seriously he takes his job and how hard-nosed he is. He lays down his laws about always being properly attired, with leggings, boots, ties and so forth. He tears down posters of women in the barracks stating that they are barracks, not a bordello. He enters the infirmary and tells the doctor to get any patients with self-inflicted wounds out of the infirmary as the “yellowbellies” have no business being in the same room, under the same care as the brave soldiers who got their injuries in battle.

Turns out that Patton was well read and understood a lot about history and believed that he had lived in another time (or times), talking about Roman battles and the defeat of Carthaginian commander, Hannibal in Zama, 202 BC. The film showed much struggle between his devout Christianity and his belief in reincarnation.

He leads the newly rejuvenated (and more disciplined) regimen to victory against the Axis in the Battle of El Guettar, this upon reading German General Rommel’s book on tank warfare. He’s disappointed that he didn’t defeat Rommel personally, but Rommel, also known as the Desert Fox, was in Berlin with a sinus infection. Patton is seen by many in the Allied ranks as being a loose cannon, some of which is echoed by American officers and officials as well. They abandon Patton’s plans for Sicily in favor of his British counterpart, Bernard Law Montgomery’s plan to have Patton flank him. Instead, Patton moves and takes Palermo, to the chagrin of Montgomery. When he receives a message from British General Sir Harold Alexander to not take Palermo, he asks if they want to give it back?

His iron fist and hard-nosed philosophies continue to make the troops uneasy.He even humiliates and slaps around a soldier who is suffering from shell-shock. For that he’s personally reprimanded by General Eisenhour; commanding him to apologize to the soldier and the medical staff who witnessed the act.

His insistence on beating Montgomery to Messina mounts to even more tension. As he does actually beat him there, Montgomery marches through the streets to find Patton there waiting on him, they exchange forced pleasantries. Montgomery marches with bagpipes playing “God Save the King!” and Patton soon has the band crank up “Stars and Stripes Forever” from the brass band to drown out the bagpipes.

His rogue attitude gets him relieved of his command but it is told that he is in England that he is there to prepare the troops for battle in Europe. He’s being used as a decoy; left out of the actual D-Day invasion. He’s not happy about it. In France, he meets with Montgomery and the Brit brags that he’s going to face Rommel. Patton is nonplussed. But, he’s been given back a command, and he’s given some leeway to move how he sees fit. There’s stops and starts but he helps take control of several key locales and marches toward Germany. The Allies win and Patton is relieved of his duties once again after comparing the Democrats and Republicans to Nazis. The film ends with Patton walking his bull terrier named Willie through a field and a voice over from George C. Scott.

This film was released the year I was born, 1970, and I had never seen it, but knew it was a big deal. George C. Scott does a fantastic job portraying Patton, at least in the film version. I know very little about the man overall and can’t say if it’s an accurate portrayal or not. War films have never interested me as far as the war aspects go, it’s usually the human element within that I’m more interested in. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that many of the most famous or classic films have been war films. Many are masked by the stories within but this one, while about the man Patton, it was very much about war and its bloody and deadly toll and one man’s determination to win at all costs.

The film was ranked #89 on the 1996 version of the AFI Top 100 Films of All Time but failed to make the updated list in 2007, the list in which I’ve seen all 100. It was, still, of course, left on the 400 nominees for that 2007 list. I have completed the 1996 list and 17 left on the 400 nominees for the 2007 list. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95% Fresh with an Audience Score of 94%. IMDb has it at 8.0 stars out of 10. Both are phenomenal ratings.

This film won George C. Scott the Academy Award for Best Actor, which he famously refused to accept, citing he wasn’t a fan of the voting system or the idea of an acting competition. The film won six additional Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Art Direction and the aforementioned Best Original Screenplay for Coppola. It was nominated for three more: Best Music – Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.

This is available on Netflix, but it is only available via DVD. If you’re a subscriber with the disc service, then you can get it there. I have it on Blu Ray and watched it that way. I thought it was a really good film and I’m going to rate it 4.5 stars. George C. Scott is what makes this film. Have you seen it? What do you think?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost, and will never lose a war… because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.” – George Patton (as portrayed by George C. Scott)

The Great Escape or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

07 Saturday May 2016

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review

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a/perture Cinema, Donald Pleasence, DVD.com, IMDb, James Garner, Netflix, Richard Attenborough, Rotten Tomatoes, Steve McQueen, The Great Escape, The Less Desirables, WWII

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Great Escape (1963), starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Donald Pleasence and Richard Attenborough.

Per IMDb: “Allied P.O.W.s plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.”

Based on a true story of the escape attempt of mostly British World War II POWs from a Great_escapeNazi prison camp. I don’t know if it’s Hollywood or if it was the real thing but a couple of films I’ve seen on German prison camps have shown them to be almost like a country club. I get the feeling they weren’t meant for the POWs to “sit and ride out the war comfortably” they way they portray them in the films.

The prisoners in this particular prison are mostly the ones that had gained reputations as escape artists or at least escape attempters. So, when they get put in this brand new camp, it is under “strict” scrutiny and measures are taken to ensure that they can’t escape. Well, that means nothing but a challenge to these guys, especially ones that have tried over 15 escapes. So, they take that challenge, some of them trying to get out the first day.

They start digging tunnels using drains and other irregular fixtures. They spend time getting rid of extra dirt by using mechanisms in their pants to distribute dirt onto the grounds to not draw suspicion. They plan to dig three different tunnels and move around 200 men out of the camp. They name the tunnels “Tom,” “Dick” and “Harry.” Throughout the film, they dig and work. The time comes for them to attempt escape. Around 76 or so escaped, but not all survived. But who?

I don’t know if this was supposed to be a comedy or not but it had a lot of comedic moments. And, while there was an all-star cast, it was truly an ensemble piece, to me. Any of the players could have been the main character but there was so much going on and in different veins that no one person, at least to me, could be called the lead. I guess Steve McQueen’s character, American Virgil Hilts (there’s no evidence any Americans were actually in the camp) or Richard Attenborough’s Roger Bartlett could have been but I didn’t feel they were front and center enough.

It was a long film, coming in at just under three hours. The first 2’15” were about digging the tunnels and almost getting caught, over and over. The last almost-hour was the escape and its aftermath. There was plenty going on so while it did feel like it was a long film, it wasn’t dragging, at least not after the first 30 minutes or so. Good score throughout, too. This film was one of the 400 nominees for the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list in 2007.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 93% Fresh with an Audience Score of 95%. IMDb has it rated at 8.3 stars out of 10. This isn’t available on Netflix streaming but is available as part of DVD.com. I own the film on DVD and watched my copy. I think it was a good film. Historically significant, albeit inaccurate, it is worth a watch but it’s a commitment. I recommend it, especially, if you’re a fan of WWII flicks. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars. Have you seen it? What do you think? I’d love to hear.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I haven’t seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over.” – Hilts

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