There
seem to be a never ending series of WW II documentaries, which is good
because I watch them all. If you haven't watched World War II: The
Last Heroes—do.
The setup is a bunch of very old (natch) Brit, Canadian, and US vets
remembering what stuff was like in the last year of WWII (ETO).
The
archive footage is blended with reenactments that are persuasively
real. In fact, I think the first D-Day episode
rivals the Saving Private Ryan
invasion sequence for pure pulse beating drama. Five Stars, and
God bless these men.
ASIDE I watched on Netflix,
but you can cobble
it together, or test it, here. By the by—and
we've discussed this before—but
it's impossible to watch WWII film without thinking about how
AP, or CBS, et.al., would report a lot of it today. As
a United Press correspondent, Cronkite covered the landings in
North
Africa and Sicily, the Allied invasion of Normandy and the subsequent
battles across France and Germany. Reporting was controlled back
then, but left to his own devices would he have declared the War lost,
on June 7, 1944. and had endless interviews with bitter widows, and
parents? Of course the answer is no. This was was very much about
saving Stalin from Hitler—to
some (he said with very little hyperbole).
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I love to watch war movies and documentaries. There's one I'd like to chase down.
ReplyDeleteIt's about the French at Dienbienphu. I believe an American reporter is in it, talking to French officers during the siege. Once thing that I remember is that the French had a powdered wine, that they mixed with water. The officer said it wasn't very good, but it's better than nothing.
There is a 1992 film on Dienbienphu, but I saw this in the 1960s or 1970s. I think it was done in the late 1950s. I had thought Jeff Chandler was the American reporter, but didn't see it in his movie list. He died in 1961. It must have been someone else.
Does anyone else remember that film? Anyone recall who the American was, or at least the name of the film?
I remember the movie but not the name.
ReplyDeleteFrom wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteThe short film Victory at Dien Bien Phu (1964) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Hope it is the one,
jim
Jim, thanks, but that's a Vietnamese made documentary. It also isn't A Yank in Vietnam, with Marshall Thompson.
ReplyDeleteWell then, how about this from imdb.
ReplyDeleteLost Command (1966)
In 1954 during the final days of French military involvement in Indochina French Army Colonel Pierre-Noel Raspeguy is leading his paratroopers in the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu. A weakened French garrison faces a major assault by Communist Viet Minh troops. Colonel Raspeguy's frantic calls for reinforcements only brings a token force of a planeload of paratroopers and ammunition. When their position is overrun by the enemy Raspeguy and his men are taken prisoners. After the peace treaty they are released and they return to France where Colonel Raspeguy receives the command of a new airborne regiment bound for Algeria. The French are trying to prevent Algeria from obtaining full independence from France. The French Army is engaged in counter insurgency operations in both urban and rural environments against the Algerian guerrilla led by the Algerian National Liberation Front. This is Colonel Raspeguy's last chance to prove his command abilities and to save his military career.
jim
Lost Command has some similarities, but I can only say it's possible. One reason I'd like to find out about the film is because of the scene where the comment on powdered wine is made. I mentioned that in conversations about instant wine, and the consensus is that you can't make a product with alcohol in powdered form. I believe that isn't true, and there are some new powdered alcohol products for travelers, campers, and people going to dry areas, such as Saudi Arabia.
ReplyDeleteComplete episodes are are Hulu.
ReplyDeleteRY/
Butch
Powdered alcohol is very doable and a real product. But it is also very recent (in the last 10 years). Back in the sixties it might have made it into a science fiction movie, but probably not a war movie.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2875675/Powdered-alcohol-Not-fast-lawmakers-say.html
jim
It was the early 1950s, actually, and it was the French. I wouldn't put it past them. Of course, the Real King of France may know for sure!
ReplyDelete