Our third “magnificent seven” (part 1, part 2) of films about the World War II will present tapes of Western screen masters dedicated to some dramatic pages of those years. With all the abundance of references in American and European contemporary cinema to this topic, we suggest recalling the films of the 1950s – 1970s, but they have not lost their artistic power and magic of influencing the audience to this day.
From Here To Eternity (1953)
directed by Fred Zinneman
This film adaptation of the James Jones bestseller of the same name was nominated for 13 Oscar categories at once and became the main triumph of the 1954 ceremony (the best are the film, director, screenwriter, cinematographer and several acting Oscars, including the second for the legendary actor and singer Frank Sinatra). The action of the tape takes place on the (infamous) famous American naval base Pearl Harbor on the eve and in the first days after the attack on it by the Japanese Air Force in December 1941. Following the outline of one of the main novels of American literature of the XX century, created by an eyewitness of the tragic events that involved America in World War II, the everyday life of the military camp and its inhabitants, those who will soon face fierce battles with the enemy in the Pacific and European theaters of military operations, is recreated on the screen. The tremendous success with the audience and the delight of film critics was largely ensured by the excellent acting of such screen stars as Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Ernest Borgnine, etc.
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
directed by David Lin
David Lin can undoubtedly be called one of the main masters of epic blockbusters of the last century. And “The Bridge On The River Kwai”, based on the novel of the same name by Pierre Boule, is on the shortlist of the greatest films of both American and British cinema of the 20th century. The action of the tape takes viewers to 1943, to a Japanese prisoner of war camp, lost in the jungles of Thailand. The prisoners there under the command of Colonel Nicholson (the role that brought the Oscar to Alec Guinness) must build a railway bridge on the border with Burma, across the same river Kwai. A special, tense and, at the same time, gentlemanly relationship develops between the Guinness character and the camp commander, Colonel Saito (played by Sesshu Hayakawa– the first Japanese to become a Hollywood star at the dawn of cinema). The film won seven Academy Awards (including Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematographer and Best Composer).
The Young Lions (1958)
directed by Edward Dmytryk
Although Irwin Shaw, the author of the novel of the same name (as well as the previously mentioned “From Here To Eternity”, repeatedly republished in Russian), believed that this adaptation could not fully transfer to the screen the complexity of the topics covered in his text, the film enjoyed great audience success. And this, in addition to the talents of the director of the tape and the operator, is largely the merit of the acting ensemble, which included such screen stars as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Maximilian Schell, etc. The plot outline of the almost three–hour epic film drama was made up of the fate of three young people – two Americans and a German, drawn by the power of fate into the tragic events of the Second World War.
The Guns Of Navarone (1961)
directed by Jay Lee Thompson
The literary basis of the film was the novel of the same name by the famous master of the action genre Alistair Maclean. The action of the tape takes place in 1943, when a group of British commandos is tasked with destroying the large-caliber guns of the German garrison on one of the islands of the Aegean Sea. The task is almost impossible, because the citadel of the island of Navarone is impregnable. And yet … the film features such popular actors of those years as David Niven (himself a former colonel of the British special forces during the war), Gregory Peck, Anthony Queen, Richard Harris, Irene Papas, etc.
The Adventures of Werner Holt (1965)
directed by Joachim Kunert
Dieter Noll‘s novel about a 17-year-old German teenager thrown into the mouth of the war in the last months of the existence of the Third Reich was read by Soviet boys of the 1960s – 1970s. And in 1966, a wonderful film adaptation of this book was released on Soviet screens (a year after its creation at the DEFA studio). The young hero of the tape discovers the cruel truth for himself, what kind of inhuman regime he stood up for, fooled by massive propaganda, including within the walls of the school. The film leaves a strong impression with many scenes, masterfully transferring to the screen the terrible experience of the hero’s epiphany (largely experienced by the creator of the novel himself).
Army of Shadows (1969)
directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
The film by one of the most significant masters of the French screen of the second half of the 20th century, who created unattainable examples of the noir genre (crime dramas), refers to the tragic episodes of the activities of the French Resistance. In semi-occupied, semi-collaborationist France, there were few who took the path of the underground struggle against fascism. It was these people (under the leadership of General de Gaulle) who defended the honor of a great country. Many of them paid for it with their lives. This film, which has only recently gained well-deserved recognition as one of the masterpieces of world cinema, is dedicated to them. In the film based on the novel by Joseph Kessel, such stars of the French screen and stage as Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggianni, Paul Merisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel are engaged.
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
directed by Richard Attenborough
Based on the historical bestseller of the mid-1970s, the tape tells about one of the most tragic episodes of the actions of the Allied armies on the western front of World War II. An ill-conceived operation to break through the German defenses in the Netherlands in September 1944, with all the heroism of British soldiers and officers, ended in a complete fiasco. The Arnhem Bridge was “too far away.” Such outstanding actors as Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman and others starred in the three-hour dramatic film procession.
