Films Suitable For Remembrance Sunday

[stuart.uk]

You may have a different title for this coming Sunday, but to us in the UK it's called Remembrance Day where we remember those that served and are still serving in the armed forces, but also not forgetting the contribution to those who stayed at home.

What sort of movie would be appropriate to watch on that day. Here's a list of mine.

All Quiet On The Western Front, both Lew Ayres and Richard Thomas versions

Paths Of Glory

The Dambusters, because of the end where 56 of the crew died, despite the success of the operation

In Which We Serve

The Cruel Sea

The Longest Day

Pork Chop Hill

Carve Her Name With Pride, a film about a famous female secret agent who ends upa martar. Virginia McKenna in her finest role

A Farwell To Arms, the Hudson/Jones version, as I'm not to sure if the Cooper/Hayes film carries the same anti war message

The Way To The Stars, a film about an airbase, used both by the RAF and the U.S Airforce on the outskirts of an English village. Rosamund John was outstanding as Michael Redgrave's wife and widow, as was John Mills.

Dunkirk, a film about the evacution of British troops of the beaches of Dunkirk with John Mills, Richard Attenbourgh (outstanding) and Bernard Lee.

My Boy Jack with Daniel Radcliffe in his first adult role as the son of Rudyard Kipling, an Officer who died in his first battle in WW1. Sex And The City star Kin Cantrell played his mother.

The Gentle Sex, Leslie Howards tribute to the fannys, or the ATS as they were formally known. Rosamund John, Lili Palmer and Joan Greenwood play 3 of the girls

Wings with Clara Bow and Gary Cooper

Hells Angels with Ben Lyon and Jean Harlow

[moira finnie]

I'd add the following to your great list, Stuart:

J'Accuse (1919)
The Big Parade (1925)
What Price Glory (1926)
Journey's End (1930)
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
The Eagle and the Hawk (1932)
The Dark Angel (1935)
La Grande Illusion (1937)
The Road Back (1937)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
The Fighting 69th (1940)
King and Country (1964)
Dr. Zhivago (1965)
The Blue Max (1966)
Gallipoli (1981)
The Return of the Soldier (1985)
Regeneration (1997)
A Very Long Engagement (2004)

[knitwit45]

AND The Captive Heart (1946) I can hear the groans now, I always mention this film, but it such a great study of man's character when held captive.

[stuart.uk]

Thanks, more great choices

[vallo]

stuartUK, Here in the “States” We celebrate Veterans Day on Nov.11 also Remembrance Day in Canada
Here is what TCM in showing on 11/11 Veterans day:


11 Tuesday
6:00 AM Beachhead (1954)
U.S. soldiers invade a Pacific Island during World War II to catch an informer. Cast: Tony Curtis, Frank Lovejoy, Mary Murphy. Dir: Stuart Heisler. C-90 mins, TV-PG
7:30 AM Destroyer (1943)
The crew of a torpedoed ship fights to take out an enemy sub. Cast: Edward Robinson, Glenn Ford, Marguerite Chapman. Dir: William A. Seiter. BW-99 mins, TV-G
9:15 AM Bridges At Toko-Ri, The (1954)
Two jet pilots forge a lasting friendship while fighting the Korean War. Cast: William Holden, Grace Kelly, Mickey Rooney. Dir: Mark Robson. C-103 mins, TV-PG, CC
11:00 AM Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Americans take a vital hill in Korea but have trouble holding it. Cast: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Woody Strode. Dir: Lewis Milestone. BW-98 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
12:45 PM Guns of Navarone, The (1961)
A team of Allied saboteurs fight their way behind enemy lines to destroy a pair of Nazi guns. Cast: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn. Dir: J. Lee-Thompson. C-157 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
3:30 PM Battleground (1949)
American soldiers in France fight to survive a Nazi siege just before the Battle of the Bulge. Cast: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-119 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
5:30 PM Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
General Jimmy Doolittle trains American troops for the first airborne attacks on Japan. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-138 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
8:00 PM Warner at War (2008)
Documentary highlighting Warner Bros. contribution to the war effort. BW-47 mins, , CC
9:00 PM This Is the Army (1943)
A song-and-dance man's son stages a big show starring World War II soldiers. Cast: George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Ronald Reagan. Dir: Michael Curtiz. C-125 mins, , CC
11:15 PM Hollywood Canteen (1944)
A serviceman and a starlet find love at the star-staffed serviceman's center. Cast: Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, Dane Clark. Dir: Delmer Daves. BW-124 mins, TV-G, CC
1:30 AM Stage Door Canteen (1943)
A USO girl defies the rules when she falls for a soldier visiting the star-studded Stage Door Canteen. Cast: Cheryl Walker, William Terry, Katharine Hepburn. Dir: Frank Borzage. BW-131 mins, TV-G
3:45 AM Thousands Cheer (1943)
An egotistical acrobat joins the Army and falls in love with his commander's daughter. Cast: Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Judy Garland. Dir: George Sidney. C-125 mins, TV-G, CC

Just an FYI

Bill

[Mr. Arkadin]

Here's an old list I did (2005?) that I drag out and post each year in honor of those who serve and risk their lives for our freedoms--past and present. Thanks to Gagman66 I have a ton of new (to me) silents I should add.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)



Based on Erich Maria's Remarque's classic WW1 novel, this movie follows the lives of German schoolboys as they join for a noble cause, only to find the slaughter of no mans land.

As one man says "...we sleep and eat with death. We're done for because you can't live that way and keep anything inside you".


The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)



The touching story of three veterans return from WW2, one of the men Homer Parrish, is played by a real veteran (Harold Russell--the only man to win two Academy awards for the same part) with no hands who sits at the piano with Jazz legend Hoagy Carmichael and plays "chopsticks" as a poigant tribute to the resolve of our American spirit and its cost.

Gregg Tolland's subtle deep focus shots allowed for more expression and reaction from the actors. A complex and moving story that swept the Oscars in '46.


King Rat (1965)



James Clavell's autobigraphical novel about life in a Japanese POW camp is toned down a bit for the screen here, but loses none of it's intensity.

Much of the credit goes to George Segal and Tom Courtney as Corporal "King" who lives a privileged life at the camp, and Lt. Grey who is determined to destroy him.


Grave of the Fireflies (1988)



An amazing anime film about 2 Japanese children who must fend for themselves when their parents and home are taken from them. A complex take on the victors and the victims--not for children!!


Open City (1945)



Roberto Rosselini's film about the Italian resistance movement was actually made while the country was still under occupation.

The whole film has a gritty newsreel look about it that definitely influenced Schindler's List (1993). The sight of Anna Magnani being mowed down by SS machine gun fire is one of the great shots of cinema.


Shoah (1985)



This 4 DVD documentary of the holocaust would take up your whole weekend!

Done over a 10 year period, interviews were conducted with camp survivors, German camp guards, commandants, and people in the towns nearby who knew of what was going on, but were powerless to stop it or sided with the Nazi's.

No corpses or other unsightly shots are seen. Just people telling their story (or nightmare) in front of the camera.


The Grand Illusion (1937)



Jean Renoir's classic film about the illusion of class and honor in WW1, is not just a great war movie, but one of the greatest films ever made. Many works such as Casablanca (1942) and The Great Escape (1963) have copied whole sequences from this film.


Cross of Iron (1976)



Orson Welles once called Cross of Iron "The greatest antiwar film ever made". High praise indeed.

Set in 1943, the Germans are losing the war on the Russian front. A new power hungry commander arrives to take charge of the retreating German army. His opposition is Sgt. Stiener (an Oscar worthy performance by James Coburn) who is more concerned about the lives of his men than winning medals.


Other great films you might investigate:

The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)

Murphy's War (1971)

Pride of the Marines (1945)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Lifeboat (1943)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Schindler's list (1993)

Three Comrades (1938)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Killing Fields (1984)

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Glory (1989)

The Big Parade (1925)

Shame (1968)

Mother Night (1996)

The Mortal Storm (1940)

Das Boot (1982)

Edge of Darkness (1943)

Downfall (2004)

The Life and Death of Col. Blimp (1943)

Blind Spot (2002)

Barbed Wire (1927)

The 49th Parallel (1941)

The Last Flight (1931)

The Steel Helmet (1950)

Air Force (1943)

The Lost Patrol (1934)

A Man Escaped (1957)

Dishonored (1931)

Fires on the Plain (1951)

The Hill (1965)

Hotel Berlin (1945)

Ran (1985)

Night and Fog (1955)

Army of Shadows (1969)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1924)

Paisan (1946)

Germania Anna Zero (1947)

October (1927)

Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Uncertain Glory (1944)

Battleground (1949)

Bullet in the Head (1991)

Wooden Crosses (1930)

Napoleon (1927)

The Big Red One (1980)

The Ninth Day (2004)

Wings (1927)

The Train (1965)

The Small Back Room (1949)

Twelve O' Clock High (1949)

A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1959)

Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

The Seventh Cross (1947)

[mrsl]

Although I personally feel the best movie to learn the most about WWII is The Longest Day - I don't know about other women, but I think it is a fantastic movie, whether or not about war.

Then I Would add:

** Stalag 17**
** The Great Escape**
** The Dirty Dozen**

. . . all exciting and keep you glued to your seat!

Anne

[Mr. Arkadin]

A great one I saw recently was Powell's The Small Back Room (1948). Incredible film. I'd heard about it for a long time, but after getting to see it I could understand why he thinks it's his best work.

I also have to thank Moira for turning me on to Uncertain Glory (1944). Another wonderful movie with great performances.

[stuart.uk]

I ended up watching a film called The Land Girls with Catherine MaCormack (Braveheart) Rachel Weis (The Constant Gardner) and Anna Friel (Brookside) as three young woman post to a remote village farm to do their bit.

Also watched a great doc about pacifist writer Vera Mary Brittain, who later on became mother of Boroness Shirley Williams, who IMHO next to Margaret Thatcher was the most successful British female polititian of the 80s. Vera in WW1 served as a nurse overseas. It told of how she welcomed news of the war breaking out, but that over the four yrs of battle, she lost the man she was going to marry, who at that time was the great love of her life. Then she became friendly with two other soldiers, thinking she might marry one of them, but both were killed. Then to add to her suffering she lost her brother.