If you want to see a good Bogart WWII war movie try this one. I think it is well worth the time and is anything but dull. What would we have done for war movie actors if John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart had been assigned to fighting the war for real instead of on screen?
sharePlus you get to see a black man portrayed with dignity, class and heroism and even a brave Frenchman.
shareThis movie is on right now on 'amc' and it's one of my fave movies from the period ca. 1943. Is this available on DVD??? Bogie's interrogating the Nazi right now and just said "Wipe that smile off yer puss or I'll knock your teeth thru the top of yer head!" Great Line!"
Love & Peace T'
Yeah..a really great picture made during the war. Another favorite of mine is "49th Parallel" which has a lot of stars in it. The plot is...what would happen if a Nazi U-Boat nosed around Canada in Hudson's Bay.
Made in 1940 by Michael Powell. Very cool movie.
I love 49th Parallel.
Overall, Sahara is a very good movie for one that was produced in wartime. (When the need for a positive message eclipsed other considerations like realism or conflicted characters). It was indeed one of the rare films of the era where a black character was treated with real dignity and regarded as an equal by all the others.
As for Bogart and John Wayne not actually joining the armed forces during the war: Bogart was too old by the time the U.S. entered the war. He was already 42 and had served in the U.S. Navy in World War I. (He'd been a helmsman on a troopship). As for John Wayne....It was a real irony that the ultimate gung-ho patriot never ventured beyond a Hollywood backlot when it came to fighting in World War II. Actors older than him had left more successful film careers for actual military service (Clark Gable was six years older than Wayne, but joined the Army Air Force and flew as a gunner. Henry Fonda was two years older -and had a wife and three children as well- but joined the U.S. Navy as an enlisted man).
I read how author William Manchester (a Marine Corps veteran who had won the Purple Heart) said that he and other Marines had no respect for John Wayne. They felt he was a joke who liked to act like a tough guy while making Hollywood war movies instead of actually serving.
You forgot about Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart won the Medal of Honor as a group commander of B-24's in Europe. He was promoted to general by President Reagan in the early 1980's. Jimmy Stewart had kept active in the Airforce Reserves after WWII. I wonder if he didn't do his on piloting in "Startegic Air Command".
Ted Williams flew as a fighter pilot in the Marines (WWII and Korea) which could have added more rewards for his baseball career.
Actually, Jimmy Stewart was not awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1959, twenty-two years before Reagan took office. My husband had the pleasure of flying with then Colonel Stewart when he flew into Offut AFB near Omaha, NE for the premier of Strategic Air Command in 1955.
(begin Wikipedia excerpt - with verifiable citations)
In 1944, he twice received the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He also received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. In July 1944, after flying 20 combat missions, Stewart was made Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force. Before the war ended, he was promoted to Colonel, one of only a few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.
Stewart continued to play an active role in the United States Air Force Reserve after the war, achieving the rank of Brigadier General on July 23, 1959.[8] http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/stewart_j.htm
A few corrections about James Stewart's military career are in order.
First off, Jimmy did NOT win the Congressional Medal of Honor. He did however receive the Air Medal [with 3 Oak leaf clusters], the Distinguished Flying Cross [with 2 Oak leaf clusters], the Croix de Guerre and 7 battle stars.
After WW2, he served in the Air Force Reserve, before retiring as a Brigadier General in 1959.
Now, in 1985, Jimmy was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan. Big diff' between that and the CMH though.
What is not know about John Wayne is that he tried to enlist. He was over the age limit for the draft, but was rejected due to a knee injury from playing football at USC. That injury caused that distinctive walk he had. He could have joined John Ford's Movie unit, but he wanted to fight. As with many aspects of his life, he never got the credit he deserved.
shareSome other Bogie pictures he made during the war include....
"To Have and Have Not"
"Casablanca"
"Action In The North Atlantic"
"Across The Pacific"
and
"Passage To Marseille"
Somebody had to fight the Nazis in the movies. Bogart and Wayne could do it as well as anyone, and they helped keep morale up on the home front and with the troops.
shareThe only thing about John Wayne fighting the war in movies was that he made himself out to be the superpatriot...but it apparently wasn't enough to be more important than his movie career.
America's entry into World War II resulted in a deluge of support for the war effort from all sectors of society, and Hollywood was no exception. Established stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (USN, Silver Star), Henry Fonda (USN, Bronze Star), and Clark Gable (USAAC) as well as emerging actors such as Eddie Albert (USN, Bronze Star) and Tyrone Power (USMC) rushed to sign up for military service. Most notably, James Stewart (USAAC, Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Croix de Guerre) had already enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, surmounting great obstacles in order to do so.
As the majority of male leads left Hollywood to serve overseas, John Wayne saw his just-beginning stardom at risk. Despite enormous pressure from his inner circle of friends, he put off enlisting. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status, classified as 3-A (family deferment). Wayne's secretary recalled making inquiries of military officials on behalf of his interest in enlisting, "but he never really followed up on them."[18] He repeatedly wrote to John Ford, asking to be placed in Ford's military unit, but continually postponed it until "after he finished one more film." (Courtest of Wikipedia.org)
John Wayne was not a really big star until after the war -- he was still getting second-billing to Robert Montgomery in They Were Expendable in 1945. Yes, he'd done quite well in Stagecoach, and in lots of movies during the war, but he wasn't a star until afterward.
I do not know whether he had a medical condition that might have prevented him from serving. His age and an A-3 deferment probably meant he wasn't likely to be drafted, so perhaps he never had a military physical. Lots of men his age and even younger did not serve... someone had to hold down the home front.
Like it or not, in war most of the fighting is done by teenagers and those in their twenties. I joined the Navy and went through aircrew training when I was 30. I made it, but I was one of the oldest in each training group I was in, and those older than me had it really rough. I probably could not have made it through Marine or Army infantry training -- there were jobs I could have done in those services but not in the frontline fighting positions.
And back in WWII, what the military wanted and needed were men who could carry a rifle.
Dear TorontaJediMaster:
Evidently Canadians are as bigoted and biased toward American Patriots as is Wikipedia. Everything and everyone is good but those blasted Patriotic Americans?
When America's involvement in World War II began, John Wayne tried to enlist but was rejected due to a combination of an old football injury,(he had a problem with one of his knees) his age (he was 34), and his married, and father of four status. Mr. Wayne was so dejected that he even flew directly to Washington to ask to be allowed to join the Navy - but alas was turned down.
I know that cowards like yourself find it despicable that there are true American Patriots.
JohnRupertg
Not all Canadians are bigoted towards you Americans just because one guy is. Sure, Canadians like to poke fun at the US, as do Americans to Canada
Americans and Canadians both fought bravely in WWII and for that I thank them.
------Michael Westen is a spy !-----