You're a fool Conrad. Those of us who understood knew in 1941 that we could never win.

   The  Battle of the Bulge is a film based on the last major German battle of The Second World War. It stars the greatest war actor of all time Henry Fonda who had already starred in Immortal Sergeant, Mr. Roberts, The Longest Day and In Harms Way.It seems like he has starred in almost every war film. It also stars Dana Andrews, Robert Shaw, James MacArthur, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson. Ryan, Savalas and Bronson would reunite in 67 to do The Dirty Dozen. Shaw is always a good choice for a villain. He was good in From Russia with Love and Taking of Pehlam 123. Good war film.

Getting ourselves killed is not going to make any difference to anyone except us.

Yet again Aldrich directs another great war film. The film is called Too Late the Hero. In many ways it is similar to the Dirty Dozen. One like the Dirty Dozen it stars two cast members from the Flight of the Phoenix. The Dozen had Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy while Two Late has Ronald Frazer and Ian Bannen. It also has a mission that goes deep into enemy territory and will kill about 85% to 90% of those involved. The cast includes Micheal Caine, Cliff Robertson, Harry Andrews and Henry  Fonda. This is also one of my favorite Caine performances. Ken Takakura's role as Maj. Yamaguchi is also very good. Watch it.

Indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy it's will to win. Or even to survive.

A few days ago I watched In Harms Way. It stars John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith,George Kennedy, Good old Bruce Cabot and many other famous faces. I think it has to be my 5th favorite of the all star war films after Dirty Dozen, Great Escape, Longest Day and Bridge Two Far. Many of the stars listed above were only in the film for 10 or 15 minutes.  Meredith, Neal, Wayne and Douglas are the main cast members. Kirk plays basically the same role as he did in Gunfight at OK Corral a drunk who abuses women. With all these great stars, Otto Peminger as director Hugh S. Fowler who edited such classics as Planet of the Apes, Gentlemen prefer Blondes and Patton. George Tomasini who edited Vertigo,Rear Window, North by Northwest, the Birds,Psycho and many other Hicthcock films. Lyle R. Wheeler the production designer for Gone with the Wind and All about Eve. Loyal Griggs on Cinematography who is known for Shane, Ten Commandments and White Christmas, Sound editor Charles Grenzbach who did Platoon, The Godfather and Wall Street. Lawrence W. Butler who did special effects for Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny and To be or not to be. Saul Bass who made the titles to Goodfellas, North by Northwest and the Big Country. and of course Jerry Goldsmith. It also has a great sea battle.
 

Folks that throw dirt on you aren't always trying to hurt you, and folks that pull you out of a jam aren't always trying to help you. But the main point is when you're up to your nose in shit, keep your mouth shut.

A few days ago I watched the classic 1973 Spaghetti Western comedy film My Name is Nobody starring Terrence Hill and Henry Fonda. The film was directed by Tonino Valerii and also some of the scenes were directed by Sergio Leone. It had lots of Leone in it such as the shooting of the hat between Cleef and Eastwood. You can also tell he did the end shootout. The music by  Ennio Morricone has to  be one of my favorite of his scores. I had not seen this film in a while and really enjoyed it.

O Lord, without consulting with Thee, we have sent thy way some souls whose evil ways passeth all understanding. We ask Thee humbly to receive them... whether you want them or not! Amen.

Over my break I watched the film How the West was Won. It is like the Longest Day and Bridge to Far in terms of cast. The cast includes Walter Brennan, John Wayne, Karl Malden, James Stewart, George Peppard, Eli wallich, Debbie Renyolds, Carroll Baker, Greorgy Peck and Lee J Cobb to name a few. The film also has Lee Van Cleef in an uncredited role. The film is narrated by Spencer Tracy.   It revolves around one families journey to the west and the struggles they faced over the years.



The film was shot by different directors. The great John Ford shot the Civil war scene. Another great western director Henry Hathaway shot the  River, Plains and Outlaw scene. George Marshall shot the Railroad scene.The film was nominated 8 times at the Oscars in 1963 winning only 3. One for best writing for story and screenplay, best editing and best sound. The great score by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby was going to win for best original score but there was a mix up and the Oscar went to John Addison for Tom Jones. The mistake has never been fixed to this day. I have no complaints except that they killed off Karl Malden and Walter Brennan which was mean.  It was also a little slow at times. Overall it was good. 

Any man failing to report to duty will be promptly hanged. Amen.

Last night I watched the film "Drums along the Mohawk" from 1939 directed by the great John Ford and stars Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda and John Carradine. The film is set during the later years of the Revolutionary War. Fonda and Colbert play a newly married couple that go to up state New York to live on a farm he's built. But that all soon changes when Indian and British forces attack. This attack forces them to move closer to the local fort. Carradine plays the main villian who wares an eye patch on his right eye. The film was produced by 3 time Oscar winning producer Darryl F. Zanuck known for "The Grapes of Wrath" and "The Longest Day" both of which star Henry Fonda. It was slow at times,but overall it was a good film.