Thanks in advance:
Donna Reed explains (smoking hot!) to Deborah Kerr that "Pruitt" was killed on a runway as a bomber pilot. Is this what she was told by the Army (more specifically probably by Burt Lancaster)? Or is it something she made up to Deborah Kerr (this make sense if you think that she went "mad" after Pruitt's death)?
Did I miss something?
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"You have a great body. May I use It" - Harvey Keitel, Saturn 3
Donna Reed obviously made up the story she told Deborah Kerr about Montgomery Clift having been killed in action on Dec. 7th. She knew that he was AWOl from his company and that he had killed Sgt. Judson to avenge Maggio's death. She told Deborah Kerr this lie in order to save face, plain and simple.
sharexxx, there are threads: 'At the end' and 'Help with the ending?' that discuss this in detail. Not too far down on the board.
She wanted a "proper" life as she kept saying earlier. Thus, she basically told her what she wished had happened.
shareAnd yet there is just a wisp of something off center about her when she's telling the story, maybe the slightly unfocused eyes, that suggest (I'm not saying it's true) that she may have thought it really happened that way. Possibly the shock of losing the guy that she fell in love with (after trying hard not to) and had just nursed back to health, only to have him shot to death by his own side, and that coming right after the first invasion of U.S. territory by a foreign army.
shareWell...
I was with you up until you said the attack on Pearl Harbor was the first invasion of US territory by a foreign army. You're overlooking the War of 1812. British troops landed on the east coast, captured Washington DC, and burned it. They were on their way to do the same to Baltimore but couldn't get past Fort McHenry. That's the back story behind the Star Spangled Banner.
Also not well known nowadays is Mexican general Pancho Villa's incursion into New Mexico and Texas in 1916, when Americans were killed in an attack at Columbus NM.
She made up the story for others but also for herself to believe he was a hero and to give his death some greater meaning. Instead of receiving the Silver Star we see Prewitt's silver mouthpiece clutched in her hand.
shareHer character made up what she considered to be a better story .She specifically said that Pruitt was in the Air Force ,which she knew was definitely not the case.
Gordon P. Clarkson
Well, there wasn't a separate "Air Force" back then...the Army had what eventually became the Air Force in 1947. But yeah, she knew he was an enlisted man in the infantry, and not an aviation guy.
shareGood point about the Air Force bccct . I am British and only discovered that recently. Here the Royal Air Force had existed as a separate entity since World War One.
Interestingly the Japanese divided their Air Arm between the Army and the Navy. As there was an inter-service rivalry even more intense than in most nation's armed forces, that probably wasn't a great idea.
Gordon P. Clarkson
General Headquarters of the Army Air Forces was created in 1940 under the command of General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold. On 20 June 1941 the Army released a new version of Army Regulation (AR) 95-5 making the Army Air Force autonomous from and equal to the Army Ground Forces. If one was drafted into or enlisted into the Army Air Force they stayed in that service unless they were transferred by due process.
The Army Air Force had different requirements than the ground force branches of the Army, and correspondingly their enlistment requirements were more discriminating. Many soldiers who were drafted into or enlisted into the army were not acceptable to the Army Air Force. Civilians, as well as military members in the United States also routinely referred to the Army Air Force as simply the 'Air Force.'
In those senses described above, the Army Air Force was a separate component from the Army. However, it still reported to Army Chief of Staff, General Marshall and the Secretary of the Army had a lot of say over how the budget was split.
The Air Force traces its birthday to 18 September 1947 when the first Secretary of the Air Force (W. Stuart Symington) was sworn in.
*******Thank you, Wikipedia.*******************
Thank you for the Air Force history, Dannieboy. All true, and right about how the Army Air Force was generally called the Air Force, although I believe I've heard The Wild Blue Yonder song in a number of wartime movies and its concluding along the lines of (and I paraphrase) "...nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!", with the new lyrics, postwar, changed to "U.S. Air Force".
shareThe Donna Reed character knows this story is not true. Pruitt was at her house until AFTER the attack was completed. He didn't leave until the night of the 7th, under cover of dark.
shareDeborah Kerr's reaction to the story is also revealing. She recognizes the name because Burt Lancaster had been telling her about him, for example, that he had been AWOL, so she probably realizes that the story is BS.
shareThats what burt lancaster told here when he gave her the mouthpiece
shareDonna Reed, it's a liar and a complexed woman until the end.
sharesteviehallandale wrote: "Thats what burt lancaster told here when he gave her the mouthpiece"
First, this did not occur in the film, so I'm not sure how you know it happened. Knowing the Lancaster character, he very well could have written up the report to indicate Pruitt died a hero during the attack.
Second, even if she was given this story, she KNEW it was not true. Pruitt was at her house nursing his wounds when Pearl Harbor was attacked.