True Story ?


I like this film very much but I never see it on cable. Is it based on a true story? Was there a novel this is based on? It had a heartwarming story about the hatred for the Japanese-Americans living in the US during WW II. Hunter died too young; he was a good actor.

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Guy Gabaldon was a real person in WWll. Look on Wiki and some other places. He had an incredible story and life.

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Ya it is a true story. They really did a disservice to his legacy by having an Anglo play the true life 5ft 5in Chicano Gabaldon.

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Not surprising. Remember it was 1960 and America was not likely ready for a Mexican lead character that was also the hero. It's better today but there still aren't a lot of positive Mexican characters in the movies.

I'm sure another factor would be the availability of Mexican actors in 1960 to play the part. Here's a link to a list of Mexican actors aged 25-35 in 1960 - http://www.imdb.com/search/name?birth_date=1925-01-01,1935-01-01&b irth_place=mexico&gender=male&view=simple. Who would you have cast?

I wonder, do you also go to the message board for The Greek Tycoon (1978) and point out that Anthony Quinn was a Mexican playing a Greek?

Besides, Guy being of Mexican descent is not the key element of the story. It's that he was a non-Japanese raised by a Japanese family and went to war against the Japanese. If he was Mexican, Caucasian, Black or Martian the story can be told the same way. OK, maybe not Martian.

What I find more interesting about this movie is that there are ANY positive Japanese characters in it. After all, this is only 15 years after the end of WWII and only 19 years after the attack on Pearl Harbour. Especially considering that 10 years after 9/11 I don't see America any less painting every Muslim with the al-Qaeda brush.

Having said all that, I would like to see this story retold more accurately today but only if they get someone like Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers) who can do the story justice.

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WOW CLINT COULD NAIL THIS!!!!!

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