Operation Mad Ball

One of Jack Lemmon's most famous roles came in 1955 as the quiet, mousey, anti-confrontational Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts starring alongside Henry Fonda and James Cagney. By the end of the movie, his character has transformed into his polar opposite; confident, sure of himself, and not worried about rustling some feathers.  This was explored some in the all-around bad and unnecessary sequel Ensign Pulver unfortunately.  So while in no way related to either 'Roberts' or 'Pulver,' 1957's Operation Mad Ball made me think of the character Pulver as he plays off a variation of that previous character.

As I'm discovering more and more with the comedies I see, I'm never quite sure how to review them. They're meant to be funny of course, but humor is one of the most subjective things about movies.  What's funny to me can fall flat with everyone else in the audience.  With an action movie, you can talk about the fight sequences or the car chase. With heavy dramatic movies, it's the performances and the actors.  What about comedies? Should I just list all the scenes and bits that made me laugh or chuckle?  Now that would be an invigorating read, wouldn't it?  Basically this is an apology to any readers. I like comedies. I like watching them. Reviewing them? Not so much.

It's September 1945 in France at an Allied hospital near Normandy. World War II has been over for several months now in the European theater, and boredom and tedium have set in for the soldiers. At this hospital is Private Hogan (Lemmon), a highly intelligent wheeler dealer who doesn't actually like work but can get just about anything done if he puts his mind to it. One of his fellow soldiers (Roger Smith) would like nothing more than to meet his girlfriend in a private setting, but only Hogan can arrange it. What starts off as a small romantic evening turns into an extravaganza, a gigantic party with seemingly everyone in camp involved. Can Hogan pull it off though? The company adjutant, gung-ho Captain Lock (Ernie Kovacs), already has Hogan on his radar, and he threatens to bring everything crashing down around the scrounging, wheeling and dealing private.

This war flick was aired recently on Turner Classic Movies as part of a one-night tribute to Ernie Kovacs, the ahead of his time comedian from the 1950s who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1962 at the age of 42.  I've seen him in a role here and there but didn't always come away impressed.  To be fair, I think this is the first movie of his I've seen where he plays a dominant role.  As a character you're not supposed to like, he hits this one out of the park.  His Capt. Lock is that guy you're supposed to hate.  He's not as bumbling as he could have been, but you know in the end Hogan will get the best of him. Kovacs shows a knack for subtle humor and more obvious humor in the form of physical comedy. Some of his facial expressions are priceless.  The best though is his final scene, a look of ultimate despair on his face as to what's happening.

As the story moves along, I was reminded of a MASH episode where Hawkeye needs a new pair of boots and starts to trade things so he can get a pair. One trade turns into another until there's a long line of trades waiting to happen, all of them contingent on the other. That's this movie. A scrounger, a wheeler-dealer, a crafty negotiator, Hogan plays his cards right and almost always gets what he wants. The story isn't the most pointed one around because it needs some detours to show the ridiculous amount of detail the enterprising private goes through to pull off the party. Lots going on overall, including a love interest, Nurse Lt. Bixby (Kathryn Grant), a clueless commanding officer (Arthur O'Connell), a worthy foe for Hogan in a quick-witted French widow, Madame LaFour (Jeanne Manet), and a great bit with a German P.O.W. (Kort Falkenberg) posing as a corpse that Lock thinks is still alive.

One of the all-time greats when it comes to acting -- drama, comedy, it doesn't matter -- Jack Lemmon is the show here.  His Private Hogan is the type of soldier who would be a great officer...if he wanted to or even applied himself. Instead, he's pleased with his low responsibility duties that allow him time for his "extracurricular activities."  Lemmon is a scene-stealer in the sense that even when he's low-key, you're drawn to him.  His crew of fellow low-ranking soldiers include Mickey Rooney, a pre-Bewitched Dick York, James Darren, Smith, an uncredited Paul Picerni, and L.Q. Jones among others.  Rooney is memorable especially as a high-strung Southerner, often rhyming all his speech with a 'Fiddle-dee-doo, fiddle-dee-daa' sing-song style of talking, and York too shines as Lock's secretary/assistant who works as a spy and inside source for Hogan's antics and plans.  Good performances at the top and strong supporting parts to back it all up.

What else to say, what else to say? I liked this easygoing post-World War II comedy. It is filmed in black and white -- always a bonus in my mind -- and never tries to be anything other than fun and entertaining.  It succeeds. At 105 minutes, it's that perfect length for a comedy of its ilk.  Good movie, great cast, and a fun movie overall.

Operation Mad Ball <---trailer (1957): ***/****

All the Young Men

In the last few days, I've written a handful of movies about the Korean War, dubbed the Forgotten War in the years since.  Along with the actual war, the movies set in the Korean War have been forgotten for the most part.  Some for good reason like the B-movies I've reviewed.  Others unjustly so as WWII and Vietnam movies are more well remembered.  Korea had its fair share though, like The Steel Helmet, Pork Chop Hill, The Bridges at Toko-Ri and several others I'm probably forgetting.  One I'd seen parts of and finally caught up include 1960's All the Young Men.

This war movie comes from one of our favorite genre's here at Just Hit Play; the unit picture.  Instead of focusing on an epic battle or behind the scenes action at HQ, the unit picture focuses on one specific group, anywhere from a squad or patrol to a regiment or brigade.  When handled well, they work so well because story-wise there is going to be a large cast full of multi-dimensional characters in some precarious position, usually forced to work together to get out alive.  More than most unit pictures, 'Young Men' reminded me a lot of 1934's The Lost Patrol.  But more than just a unit picture, an added dimension has been added, racism among soldiers.

After a successful landing in Korea, an advanced Marine recon platoon is sent out on patrol to take control of a Korean farmhouse controlling a key pass.  The pass needs to be held until reinforcements can arrive because a battalion of Marines has been cut off, and the pass provides their only way to safety and rescue.  But on the march, the patrol is ambushed with heavy casualties.  Dying of his wounds, the lieutenant commanding the platoon must pass command to one of two men.  First, there's Kincaid (Alan Ladd), a former sergeant busted for behavior with years of combat experience, and two, Sgt. Towler (Sidney Poitier), a new transfer who's never led men in combat. Towler is picked so he must lead the survivors to the pass and hope to hold out so the Marine battalion can get through safely.

The Korean War was the first conflict where the army units were integrated so here is one of the first examples of a movie showing black and white soldiers fighting alongside each other.  Kincaid objects to Towler's in-field promotion because of his lack of experience, not his skin color, while others like Paul Richards' Bracken is a bigoted Southerner who wants nothing to do with Towler.  Poitier must have been used to doing racially charged roles by 1960, but he does a great job as the sergeant with the target on his back.  As the man in charge, he's tasked with deciding what's best for his men and what's best for the war effort.  Not his best performance, but one definitely worth recommending.

It might come across as cliched or stereotypical, but the way director Hall Bartlett handles the soldiers and their interactions seem to ring true to me. The life of a soldier are these lightning quick moments of fear and terror broken up by long stretches of boredom with nothing to do.  Bartlett directed, produced and wrote this war flick that isn't heavy on action, instead letting the soldiers breathe a little, have conversations, let us find out who they are, what they think about, what they're afraid of.  The combat sequences are somewhat repetitive and reminded me of scenes from 1949's Battleground -- also filmed on an indoor set -- with their claustrophobic feel of being surrounded, being closed in by an unseen enemy.

Telling the story of this small group of soldiers, we see all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of different walks of life as Bartlett assembles quite a unique group for his Marine squad.  A very old-looking Ladd is rather wooden here as Kincaid, the soldier the others trust most.  He comes to life during his intense confrontations with Poitier, but other than those scenes it is not his strongest role.  Filling out the rest of the group is former teen idol James Darren as Cotton, Glenn Corbett as Wade, the medic (same name as Saving Private Ryan's medic), comedian Mort Sahl as Cpl. Crane (given a chance to even do some of his act), and Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson as Pvt. Torgil.  Filling out the ranks there's also a wounded soldier (Dick Davalos), a Navajo Indian, the youngster, and the tired vet.

Besides the ahead of its time decision about integrated units, 'Young Men' also pushes the envelope with its handling of violence whether it be blood squibs or just what and how things are shown, including a hand attached to a bloody rifle, no body in sight.  It's not particularly gory or graphic, but it is noticeable.  Filmed in black and white with a mix of indoor sets and outdoor (Glacier National Park in Montana), this is a solid Korean War movie that is well worth looking up.

All the Young Men (1960): ***/****

The Guns of Navarone

Author Alistair MacLean was a master of thrillers, suspense and adventure in his long career. Of all his books though, two have become classics unto themselves thanks to the movies that resulted from their stories, 1969's Where Eagles Dare and 1961's The Guns of Navarone. Both movies share similarities, but when comparing them 'Navarone' is the better movie and has helped serve as a blueprint for adventure movies ever since.

In both MacLean novels, the setting is WWII with an almost suicidal men on a mission story. Everything points against an expert team getting the job done, but somehow they pull through in the end. No real spoilers there. In Navarone, it's 1943 and the war is still up for grabs. In the Mediterranean on the Greek island of Kheros, 2,000 British soldiers are trapped with no way of escaping. Allied Intelligence learns the Germans are planning an assault on the island with only a week to prepare. The Allies plan to rescue the men on Kheros, but there's a problem. The only way to get ships through is a channel near the island of Navarone where two huge radar-controlled guns will sink anything in range.

With time running out, Commodore Jensen (James Robertson Justice in a great cameo appearance) assembles a crack team of operators to get to the German-held island of Navarone and destroy the guns. First up, Captain Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck), a guerilla fighter in Crete who's survived 18 months behind enemy lines and who has a special talent that will come into play. Joining Mallory is his partner in Crete, Andrea Stavros (Anthony Quinn), a Greek officer extremely capable with his hands, a knife or a sniper rifle who also has an ax to grind with Mallory. The duo will lead the team of British commandos that include Maj. Roy Franklin (Anthony Quayle), Cpl. Miller (David Niven), the explosives expert, Pvt. Butcher Brown (Stanley Baker), a specialist with machines and knives, and Pvt. Spyro Pappadimos (James Darren), a young soldier adept at killing.

The commando team must sail to Navarone and get onto the island by scaling a 400-ft cliff. They will receive help from 2 Greek resistance fighters, Maria (Irene Papas) and Anna (Gia Scala), but even with that help, they must deal with horrific weather conditions, German patrols getting ever closer, and the mounting evidence that a traitor is among the group.

In the trailer (link later), Peck somewhat arrogantly states that this may be the most exciting adventure movie you will ever see. I'd normally have an issue with someone telling me that, but I find it hard to disagree with the statement. At a somewhat leisurely 156 minutes, the movie flies by with director J. Lee Thompson letting the tension and momentum build as the team tries to overcome the odds to blow up the guns and save the men on Kheros. The movie puts together a series of great set pieces, including the team arriving at Navarone in a heavy storm and then having to scale a supposedly unguarded 400-ft cliff. Thompson doesn't rush these scenes and lets them develop.

For an adventure movie, there isn't a ton of action. It's more of a build-up with anticipation of what could happen if something goes wrong. You're constantly on edge that at any moment the Germans could close in and capture the team. So with an average amount of action, it's the actors who benefit the most. Peck is an ideal choice for the unlikely leader who must step into a command position, and Niven would seemingly be out of place in a WWII adventure movie, but he's perfect. Early on, Niven's Miller is a mood-lightener with his almost constant one-liners. It's as the movie progresses, that Niven becomes the conscience, debating about the futility of what they're doing. Great parts for both actors.


And while Peck and Niven are very good lead, Anthony Quinn makes this movie special. His Andrea Stavros is a man of few words who lets his actions speak for themselves. He lost his wife and children early in the war and seeks revenge on the Germans and also Peck's Mallory who he holds responsible. One of the coolest scenes has Stavros holding off a German patrol with only a sniper rifle on a mountainside. He later meets the team, arriving at the predestined location before them, greeting Mallory and Miller with a calm 'Good evening, gentlemen' while he smokes a pipe. In a long line of great characters, this is one of Quinn's best.

Watching this movie every year or so, it never gets old. Aided by one of Dimitri Tiomkin's best scores and a great script from producer Carl Foreman, it truly is one of the best action/adventure movies ever. Also look for a young Richard Harris early as an exhausted 'bloody' pilot. Exciting from beginning to end with a chaotic final act, The Guns of Navarone is one of the best men-on-a-mission movies you'll ever watch. If you haven't seen it, the DVD is a cheap one and worth a blind buy. If you don't want to buy it, check out Youtube where you can see it part-by-part.

The Guns of Navarone <-----trailer (1961): ****/****