MovieChat Forums > Desperate Journey (1942) Discussion > Old war movie is ridiculous!

Old war movie is ridiculous!

posted 12 years ago by jsrrtzjr10
12 replies | jump to latest

A Nazi officer allowing an Allied prisoner of war to sit down at his desk? Mountains and hill in Netherlands? And asking a fatally wounded man to jump [Alan Hale] from one building to another? A gasoline truck and an airplane appearing when the car ran out of gas? [didn't stop in a Hamburg gasoline station and said, "fill it up"! HA HA] Sorry this movie is preposterous and ridiculous! Kind of like to see Nancy Coleman as an anti Nazi German helping the Allies, AND LAUGH SEEING BONZO'S PAL RONALD REAGAN IN NAZI UNIFORM. Oh boy! And good acting from Raymond Massey ["Things to Come"] playing a Nazi officer. The rest? Forget it!

[–] dutchusc 10 years ago

I agree, but remember this is purely a war time propaganda film. I thought it was ridiculous that the couple who takes them in (even though they turn out to be Nazis) were saying how good it is that thousands of American bombers are entering the war. The bombers which destroyed Germany hundreds of times over and just happened to kill my mother's family IN HUNGARY.

[–] ksf-2 9 years ago

so many (young) stars.

did they make a film in the 30s and 40s WITHOUT using alan hale?

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

ksf-2 says > so many (young) stars.

I loved seeing them all!

did they make a film in the 30s and 40s WITHOUT using alan hale?

That's funny; he was in a lot of movies. I love the way his presence in the movie was handled. It may have already been in the script and that's the reason he was cast in the role but, either way, it was dealt with appropriately.

When I first noticed him in a movie I thought he was his son (from Gilligan's Island) then I realized it couldn't be him because of the date the movie was made. From then on I've noticed and enjoyed him in a lot of movies; including the one I happen to be watching right now, the adventures of Mark Twain.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] rtw416 9 years ago

This had to be a film made with whatever actor was left and not in the war yet...it should say Comedy/Drama...billed as a comedy I can almost swallow Massey as the German buffoon trying to cover his blundering staff.

[–] xerses13 9 years ago

rtw416; You pretty much hit it on the head or as my Brother described it 'the Rover Boys at War with Germany'. The plot is strictly from Comic Books or Pulp Novels like 'Air Wonder Story's'. It is a fun watch. When We saw it as Children though it did have a negative effect. We had seen Alan Hale in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, DODGE CITY and THE SEAHAWK and loved him as Errol Flynn's sidekick. Seeing him get killed 2/3rds through the film was a real downer. We thought he was invincible.

[–] franzkabuki 9 years ago

Certainly a very silly number. The only thing that makes it work (that is, distracts from the many laughable occurrances and hammy acting), is Walsh's direction and the the brisk pace he keeps up throughout.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] hobnob53 9 years ago

Of course this movie is completely absurd. It's like a Saturday-morning serial compressed into one fast-moving chapter of perilous, fantastic, ridiculous situations.

But remember this was 1942, the US had just been pushed into the war, we were suffering defeats on every front, and at that point Hollywood was intent on making movies that gave their audiences an outlet for their visceral feelings of frustration and impotence to change the course of the war. A year or so later the studios were making much more realistic films about the conflict. But in 1942 most Hollywood war films were similar in tone if not strictly in substance to Desperate Journey. It was what was needed at that moment.

Its very preposterousness is what makes this movie so much fun. And no one else but Raoul Walsh could have kept up that pace!

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

Those of you bashing this movie have to remember it is a movie. If you're looking for something more authentic, watch a documentary. The point of the movie was not to be factual but to entertain and I think it did just that.

The topic, war, is not a joking matter but this movie was being shown to the people left at home, worrying about loved ones on the front and probably to the guys serving in the war themselves.

What's so wrong about making the enemy look like buffoons and making the allies look like they're working well together toward a common goal, getting out of impossible scrapes, and having a few lighthearted moments along the way?

They didn't try to whitewash the fact that lives were lost; both military and civilian. What the movie offered, I believe, was hope. Watching now, we know the outcome of that horrible war but at the time all everyone could do was hope that the Nazis were defeated and we all would come out of intact and still hopeful for the future.

Try watching the movie again sometime and experience it for what it is; and not judge it for what it is not. You may enjoy it.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] joe_538 8 years ago

Don't like early World War II movies that aren't 100% realistic? Avoid The Invisible Agent.

[–] chrissso 7 years ago

I like at least 80% realistic but DJ felt about 40%.

As for Invisible Agent ... that 6.1 rating is enough to keep me away. I try to draw a line at 6.6.

[–] johnnm58 (545) 5 years ago

We'll see how it is it just started so I'll see if I like it.