1/25/2024 0 Comments Aircraft carrier survival prologueThe Korean War is the setting for `The Bridges At Toko-Ri,' a story of individual sacrifice and the high cost of freedom, from director Mark Robson. But it is a great tribute to those jet pilots, the crews that supported them, and the families that loved them, trying out those new skills in a brand new kind of war. The Bridges at Toko-Ri is filled with a lot of Cold War nostrums and dated in that respect for today's audience. ![]() There weren't going to be too many promotions in his future. Quick to brawl, but a real friend when you need one, I love his philosophy that you can say anything to officers as long as you put a sir on the end of it. Rooney is an irreverent sort, on duty with a green scarf and green top hat, looking like one of the little craitures from Ireland. He plays a helicopter rescue pilot and we first meet him and his co-pilot Earl Holliman rescuing Holden from the deep blue sea. My favorite in this film however is Mickey Rooney. She has a very effective scene with her husband's commander Admiral Fredric March when she flies to Japan to be with Holden, taking along their two children. She's just married to someone different is all. Actually if you pay close attention, she's not terribly different from her role as housewife and mother in The Country Girl where she got her Oscar. Some critics have said Grace Kelly was wasted in this part, basically doing a role June Allyson perfected. Everyone, even the Russians, were all new at this in 1950 when the Korean War started. But the Korean War was the first fought with jet aircraft and pilots had to really learn and develop new skills to take off and land on an aircraft at supersonic speed. Maybe today's viewer can identify with a film like Top Gun where the skills are now a learned routine. The history went as far as the end of World War II and we were still flying propeller planes. ![]() ![]() A few years earlier Warner Brothers did a fine film called Task Force which depicted the history of naval aviation through the eyes of its protagonist, Gary Cooper. He flies carrier based jets bombing targets in the Korean War wondering like Ted Williams what he did in life to get called for two wars. Just as the Korean War interrupted one of the best baseball careers of the last century in real life, in this film William Holden is recalled from a thriving law practice in Denver, Colorado, not to mention from his lovely wife Grace Kelly and their two children. After serving in the Marines in World War II, Williams was called back to the Marines for the Korean War and for the better part of two years flew the jets that you see Bill Holden flying here in the Navy. The famous Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer, Ted Williams, must have had a grimly ironic appreciation of The Bridges at Toko-Ri when this film came out. Michener's novel, this ambitious action thriller is a cut above the usual war tragedy with impressive statements to make about war, death and politics. Grace Kelly flourished with her beauty the splendor of the picture. Fredric March as the Admiral is staunch and human, and William Holden perfect as the American soldier fighting man. Clarke's aerial photography in color of the Jet planes is simply spectacular. ![]() 'Where do we get such men,' affirms Rear Admiral George Tarran from the bridge of the aircraft carrier, and he was right! The film exposes a close observation of the men's minds, their attitudes, their families, the tragedy of war, and the fascinating danger of the Jet-Bombers take-off and landing. The film is a competent work and meritorious tribute to the heroism of the Jet-Bomber pilots (William Holden and Charles McGraw) and the extreme courage of the helicopter rescue service (Mickey Rooney and Earl Holliman). The mission is clear and straight: to destroy completely the vital Korean bridges at Toko-Ri in order to frustrate enemy actions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |