Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505310008
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Long
From Audie Murphy's Union deserter in ``The Red Badge of Courage'' to Lew Ayres' stirring scenes in ``All Quiet on the Western Front'' to the confusion etched onto the face of a young Charlie Sheen in ``Platoon,'' Hollywood has made it clear that war is not a pretty picture. Following is a selection of movies that dramatically capture conflict and war's emotional fallout (the film's video label is in parentheses).
THE CIVIL WAR
-``Friendly Persuasion'' (CBS/Fox): William Wyler directed this exquisite, charming 1956 adaptation of Jessamyn West's novel about a Quaker family trying to maintain their normal lives and religious convictions at the onset of the Civil War. Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire star; Anthony Perkins plays their son who takes up arms against the South.
-``The Red Badge of Courage'' (MGM/UA): Director John Huston's acclaimed 1951 version of Stephen Crane's landmark novel about a young Yankee soldier who flees while under fire. Audie Murphy, one of World War II's greatest heroes, stars.
WORLD WAR I
- ``All Quiet on the Western Front'' (MCA/Universal): Lewis Milestone directed this haunting Oscar-winning 1930 adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's anti-war novel about German youth going off to war, featuring Lew Ayres. The final scene is a knockout.
- ``The Big Parade'' (MGM/UA) : Seventy years after its release, King Vidor's epic still packs a punch. Magnificently staged battle sequences highlight this compelling drama that made John Gilbert, who plays the heroic soldier, a star.
- ``Sergeant York'' (MGM/UA): This popular 1941 biopic earned Gary Cooper his first Oscar for his endearing performance as a pacifist who became a hero. Howard Hawks directed.
-``Wings'' (Paramount): First Oscar winner for best picture. Incredible combat-flying sequences almost make up for the insipid plot of director William Wellman's 1927 drama about two Army Air Corps buddies - Richard Arlen and Charles (Buddy) Rogers - in love with the same woman (Clara Bow). Gary Cooper has a small but pivotal scene.
WORLD WAR II
- ``A Guy Named Joe'' (MGM/UA): Corny but enjoyable 1943 fantasy about a dead pilot (Spencer Tracy) whose spirit returns to Earth to help the romance between his old girlfriend (Irene Dunne) and a young serviceman (Van Johnson). Skip Steven Spielberg's turgid 1989 remake, ``Always.''
- ``The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (Columbia/TriStar): David Lean directed this 1957 best picture Oscar winner - an exceptionally well-crafted version of Pierre Boulle's novel about a group of British POWs forced to build a bridge for the Japanese. Alec Guinness received an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of the by-the-book British commander; William Holden is the American soldier sent on a mission to destroy the bridge.
- ``From Here to Eternity'' (Columbia/TriStar): The same year ``Stalag 17'' was released, critics and audiences praised the classy Oscar-winning best picture based on James Jones' vivid novel about Army life in Honolulu just before Pearl Harbor was bombed. Masterfully directed by Fred Zinnemann. Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra star. Both Reed and Sinatra won supporting Oscars.
- ``Mr. Roberts'' (Warner Home Video): Funny, poignant 1955 adaptation of the hit Broadway play about an earnest officer (Henry Fonda) stationed on a cargo ship who is desperate to see action. Jack Lemmon received a supporting Oscar as the enterprising Ensign Pulver. James Cagney and William Powell, in his last film, are equally splendid.
- ``Patton'' (Fox Video): George C. Scott won but refused his best actor Oscar for his multilayered portrayal of the eccentric, hot-tempered U.S. Gen. George Patton. Franklin Schaffner directed this Oscar-winning 1970 biopic. Intelligent, moving and powerful.
- ``Stalag 17'' (Paramount) : Billy Wilder directed this classic 1953 comedy-drama set in a German POW camp. William Holden won a richly deserved Oscar as a cynical, pessimistic American sergeant who is suspected of being a traitor. Peter Graves, Robert Strauss and Don Taylor co-star.
KOREAN WAR
- ``The Bridges at Toko-Ri'' (Paramount): Superior adaptation of James Michener's bestseller about a successful attorney (William Holden) called back into service to fly jets for the Navy. Grace Kelly, Fredric March and Mickey Rooney also star; Mark Robson directed.
- ``MASH'' (Fox Video): Robert Altman directed this irreverent 1970 critical and box-office smash about some wild and wacky doctors and nurses stationed in Korea. Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall and Tom Skerritt star in this Oscar-winning black comedy penned by Ring Lardner Jr. The film became the basis for the long-running CBS series.
VIETNAM WAR
- ``Apocalypse Now'' (Paramount): Francis Ford Coppola's brilliant, maddening, fascinating and frustrating 1979 epic based on Joseph Conrad's ``Heart of Darkness.'' Martin Sheen stars as a special agent who is sent upriver in Vietnam to find a renegade officer (Marlon Brando) and terminate him. Harrison Ford, Sam Bottoms, Frederic Forrest and Laurence Fishburne also star.
- ``Platoon'' (Vestron Video): Oliver Stone wrote and directed this 1986 Oscar-winning best picture, which is an astonishing brutal look at platoon life in Vietnam. Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger star. Stone followed up ``Platoon'' with 1989's ``Born on the Fourth of July'' and 1993's ``Heaven and Earth,'' as part of a Vietnam war trilogy.
by CNB