Show Time Continues
Aero-Views by Kevin R.C. "Hognose" O'Brien
The movie reviews continue… In case you missed it,
See Part One.
6. 12 O'Clock
High -- two Oscars -- Short years after the war,
one of the best war films was made. It isn't for the flying scenes,
unfortunately -- they all came from wartime gun camera or combat
camera reels -- but for the interplay of men's characters under
stress. Gregory Peck supported by an incredibly good cast. The
story is an old one -- new leader has to come and whip a
discombobulated unit into shape -- but it holds up well.
7. The Bridges
at Toko-Ri --one Oscar -- William Holden as a
reluctant reservist who is hauled out of the arms of Grace Kelly
(reluctant, who could blame him?) and shipped to USS Boat off
Korea, where he dices with North Korean anti-aircraft guns, and
death. Some of the helicopter stuff with Mickey Rooney as a
brawling helicopter pilot is a bit lame, but the jet flying is
intense and well done. The Navy provided massive support to the
film, and it shows. The book by James A. Michener is great, and
it's from the leading edge of Michener's career, where the
brilliant writer still wrote concisely.
8. The Battle
of Britain -- The mother of all air war movies,
this tells the story of the German assault on the island nation in
the summer of 1940. Every actor, it seems, in all England got into
this one. The movie's actions are quite accurate historically, but
so much happens that it is well to refresh one's memory with a book
on the battle first. The scenes of German infantrymen taking, and
then stacking, life vests that bookend the aerial action skillfully
bring home just how important this air battle was. The aerial
scenes not only are stirring and well shot, they are also
responsible for the survival of most of the CASA Buchón
"Messerschmitts" and all of the Heinkel 111s in the world today, as
well as a significant number of British types. When the movie began
filming in 1968, all these types were routinely being scrapped.
Some of the model scenes are painful to watch in these CGI days,
but hey, it was almost forty years ago.
9. The
Aviator -- If you missed this film, that's one thing,
but if you missed the publicity juggernaut, well... congratulations
on your release from prison. Martin Scorcese and Leonardo diCaprio
earned their pay on this one, and it's a sympathetic, spectacular
portrayal of one of the larger than life figures of aviation. And
Alan Alda, whose normal metrosexual personality makes my skin
crawl, shows that he has acting skills far beyond the chick-flick
ghetto I've mentally consigned him to. The flying, a perfect
combination of models, CGI and real aircraft, brings the airplanes
of the era to life, and there's enough flying to please a
fellow.
10. Strategic
Air Command -- Jimmy Stewart (again) is hauled
out of reserve status and the arms of June Allyson (didn't that
just happen to William Holden?) and sent to shape up a unit (oh,
man, deja vu all over again) to meet the demanding standards of the
eponymous organization. Curtis LeMay is said to have had a plaque
on his desk that said. "To Err is Human; to Forgive, Divine.
Neither of which is the policy of the SAC." Incredible
cinematography, of an era of aviation which is no more. Stewart is
great as a bomber-flying colonel -- which, as a reserve officer, he
really was. Alas, it's only available in a crummy VHS version. Boo,
hiss.
Honorable -- and Horrible -- Mentions
What did I leave out? Some movies that stink, like most of the
jingoistic hoo-ahh films of the eighties (Top Gun has its moments,
alone in that crowd). I don't care for period pieces which
anachronistically impose modern views on the characters: fie on the
dreadful Richthofen and Brown (pee-yew), and the ghastly Pearl
Harbor, which could have been improved by giving the director's
chair to legendary hack Ed Wood. And he's dead.
And there are some good films that just didn't fit... Tora,
Tora, Tora is one of those. And some films that I haven't seen
lately -- the movies based on Ernest K. Gann's novels are among
those. I also left out disaster films (Airport and its sequels) and
comedies (Airplane). I also left out Vietnam flicks Flight of the
Intruder (book's better) and Bat-21 (ditto). The Flight of the
Phoenix (the original one, not the atrocious recent remake), It's a
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, oh, there are a few. Considering how much
aviation has changed the world, not so many, really.