★ 6 / 10
Gregory Peck dons the uniform of the four/five
CinemaSerf
Gregory Peck dons the uniform of the four/five star American General who rose to prominence in the far east theatre of operations during World War Two. We…
Gregory Peck dons the uniform of the four/five star American General who rose to prominence in the far east theatre of operations during World War Two. We start with the Japanese over-running the Philippines and seeing him strategically withdraw to the relative safety of Australia. There he finds that there is little appetite in Washington to take the fight to the enemy, indeed there’s considerable uncertainty as to whether they can even defend Australia itself. Fortunately, his relationship with President Roosevelt (Dan O’Herlihy) sees his plan to invade Luzon approved and back he goes to press home the allies’ increasing advantage and, with the help of the atomic bomb, take the surrender. With Truman (Ed Flanders) now in the White House and troubles brewing in Korea between them and the Soviet-backed red Chinese, there are yet more eggshells for this officer to tread carefully upon as battle lines are being drawn both on that peninsula and back in a Washington anxious not to be drawn into anymore foreign wars. Meantime, his press officers are ensuring that he stays front and centre of the public agenda and there are even talks of him running for political office himself. This is all a rather dry chronology with Peck doing fine, but never really imbuing his character with much of the charisma that MacArthur himself undoubtedly had. Nor do we really get much of an insight into the geopolitics of the time, or of the scale of the fighting - which is largely left to a few archive inserts from warships. I suppose there are parallels to be drawn with George C. Scott’s depiction of “Patton” (1970) but this comes off very much the more lacklustre as it tells it’s story episodically.
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★ 7 / 10
Enjoyable biopic about the rebel General focusing Philippines reconquest and Korean Conflict
ma-cortes
Nice biographic film about controversial as well as flamboyant General masterfully played by Gregory Peck and who was Chief of Staff of the United States Army…
Nice biographic film about controversial as well as flamboyant General masterfully played by Gregory Peck and who was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s to 1940s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II , having received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign .Agreeable biopic about the famed general concerning the latter years of his long military career , it starts with his assumption of command of the Philippine army and subsequent retreat ; going on through Inchon landing , China invasion on Korea crossing over parallel 39 and his sacking by President Harry Truman . This is a pretty good film with plenty of emotion , drama , biographic elements , historical events and Peck is spellbinding in the title role . The flick describes efficiently his particular character , complexity and the controversy that surrounded him . Very fine acting by the great Gregory Peck as military chief , he even bears remarkable resemblance to Douglas MacArthur , he had some of his hair shaved off since the real General was quite bald . Peck' outstanding acting arranges to bring alive this historical role , who strode a fine line between demigod and expert battlefield commander . Originally made for TV , it has a long runtime , at 144 minutes , being cut for cinema release . The picture gets magnificent interpretations from prestigious secondaries playing Generals and historical roles such as Kenneth Tobey (Adm. William 'Bull' Halsey) , Gen. George C. Marshall (Ward Costello) , Addison Powell (Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz) , Dick O'Neill (Col. Courtney Whitney) , and Presidents as Dan O'Herlihy (Franklin D Roosevel) , Ed Flanders (Harry Truman) , and John Fujioka (Emperor Hirohito) . This is an engaging warlike drama made at the better for its historic resonance and will appeal to Gregory Peck fans.Well produced by Frank McCarthy who also financed other warfare movies such as ¨Decision before dawn¨, ¨Single-Handed¨, ¨Fireball Forward¨ and ¨Patton¨ . This solid motion picture was professionally directed by Joseph Sargent , though it holds a certain television style . Sargent is an expert on biography and specialist on historical narrations , as he proved in 'Mandela and Clerk' , 'Abraham , 'McArthur' , 'When the lions roared' which reunited to Stalin , Churchill and again Roosevelt , 'Day one' with Oppenheimer and General General Groves and 'Warm Springs' about Franklin D Roosevelt ; these films don't pack the punch that he achieved in his best movie resulting to be 'Taking of Pelham one , two , three' .And adding more biographical elements about this military hero : MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air forces on 8 December 1941, and the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. MacArthur's forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family and his staff left nearby Corregidor Island in PT boats and escaped to Australia, where MacArthur became Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. And General Douglas MacArthur pronounces his famous line : "I will return" . For his defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, he fulfilled a promise to return to the Philippines. He officially accepted Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945, aboard the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, and oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As the effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw sweeping economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War until he was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951. He later became Chairman of the Board of Remington Rand.
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Mac was right, it would have been best to nuke the Chinese Commies.