A Bridge Too Far (1977)

When I was in my teens, I was a voracious reader, sometimes reading a book a day for a short time. I scoured my parents library for interesting book titles (discovering Agatha Christie and Ray Bradbury on their shelves) to read. I borrowed from family friends libraries. One of my mother's good friends had two books in her library that I recall borrowing and reading. One was Stephen King's magnum opus The Stand, a 1,000 page horror novel that I read over a weekend while sleeping over at a friend's house. The other book was a World War II non-fiction book called A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan. I remember I couldn't put it down. It was my first foray into World War II history (besides watching John Sturges' THE GREAT ESCAPE numerous times). The cover on the hardback was a burnt orange with black silhouettes of paratroopers parachuting from the skies. In the center of the book were black and white photographs of the real life soldiers and locations that Ryan wrote about. 

A Bridge Too Far is a detailed account of a failed Allied mission dreamed up by British Field General Bernard Montgomery called Operation Market Garden that hoped to end WWII by Christmas. Ryan was one of the first writers that I recall chronicling World War II battles that now has become a cottage industry with hundreds of World War II books filling book store shelves today including Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation. Ryan wrote one of the first accounts of D-Day in his 1959 book The Longest Day which was adapted into the epic WWII film THE LONGEST DAY (1962) starring an All-Star cast including John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, and Rod Steiger. Which brings me back to A Bridge Too Far. After having read the book, I was thrilled to discover that British actor Richard Attenborough (who plays a British POW leader in THE GREAT ESCAPE) was directing the film version of A BRIDGE TOO FAR in 1977 with an All-Star, Who's Who cast of the biggest British and American stars of the 1960s and 1970s. 

From Left to Right: Gene Hackman, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, and Dirk Borgarde

A genre that became popular and lucrative in the 1970s were blockbuster films with All-Star casts, mixing screen legends from the Golden Age with current box office stars and rising up and coming talent (today, every Wes Anderson film has an All-Star cast). George Seaton's AIRPORT (1970) reinvigorated the trend followed by Ronald Neame's THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972). THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE had Academy Award winner Gene Hackman (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) mixed with veterans Ernest Borgnine, Shelly Winters, Red Buttons, and newcomer Carol Lynley. John Guillermin's THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) may be the greatest All-Star film with mega stars Steve McQueen and Paul Newman together in a film for the first time along with William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, and O.J. Simpson. For A BRIDGE TOO FAR, producer Joseph E. Levine snagged one of the biggest stars of the 70s with Robert Redford (THE WAY WE WERE) and followed up with more heavy hitters including Ryan O'Neal (WHAT'S UP, DOC?), Sean Connery (THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING), Michael Caine (GET CARTER), Gene Hackman (THE CONVERSATION), James Caan (THE GODFATHER), Edward Fox (DAY OF THE JACKAL), Elliott Gould (THE LONG GOODBYE), Dirk Borgarde (THE NIGHT PORTER), Liv  Ullmann (CRIES AND WHISPERS) and Shakespeare legend Laurence Olivier (HAMLET). 

With a screenplay by Academy Award winning screenwriter William Goldman (ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN) based on the non-fiction book A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan and directed by Richard Attenborough (GANDHI), A BRIDGE TOO FAR begins in September 1944 with the Germans on the run after D-Day, retreating back to Germany through the Netherlands. Hoping to end World War II by Christmas, Field Marshal Montgomery convinces Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower to greenlight Operation Market Garden, a mission to drop 35,000 men 300 miles behind enemy lines from England into the Netherlands, seize several key bridges, and secure them until Allied ground forces can hook up with the paratroopers. Overseeing Market Garden is Lieutenant General Frederick "Boy" Browning (Dirk Borgarde). Browning unveils Market Garden to Scotsman Major General Roy Urquhart (Sean Connery), American Brigadier General James Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) and Major General Maxwell Taylor (Paul Maxwell), and Polish Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski (Gene Hackman).  Taylor's 101st Airborne will secure the bridge in Eindhoven; Gavin's 82nd Airborne will take Nijmegen Bridge; and Urquhart followed by Sosabowski a day later are responsible for the bridge in Arnhem. Reconnaissance photos and information from the Dutch underground indicate that there may be two battle tested German Panzer divisions led by Lieutenant General Bittrich (Maximillian Schell) lingering in the Netherlands than originally suspected.  Browning dismisses the photos from his Intelligence Officer Major Fuller (Frank Grimes) as just a few tanks.

Overseeing the ground assault are Lieutenant General Horrocks (Edward Fox). Horrocks addresses the British XXX (30) Corp at his headquarters on the Dutch/Belgian border which will be led by Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur (Michael Caine) and Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Frost (Anthony Hopkins) with the 1st Airborne. Horrocks and Vandeleur will be managing the roads and supply lines in the Netherlands. Before the operation begins, there are concerns about radios working, finding landing zones for the troops close enough to the bridges, and if the mission has enough transport aircraft. The American and English troops board their planes and the first wave of paratroopers drop into the Netherlands. Brig. Gen. Gavin lands hard and tweaks his back. Lt. Col. Frost connects with his men and they head for Arnhem. Lt. Gen. Bittrich watches the paratroopers landing all over the countryside. He orders Major General Ludwig (Hardy Kruger) to take his men to Nijmegen and hold the bridge. Bittrich will deal with the Allies in Arnhem. Maj. Gen. Urquhart receives the first bit of bad news upon landing. The jeeps to take him to Arnhem haven't arrived and the radios to communicate with Browning back at Dutch headquarters are not working.

Lt. Col. Vandeleur and his XXX Corp quickly run into German tanks. A firefight ensues. Vandeleur prevails for the moment. The road becomes clogged with burning vehicles. Lt. Gen. Bittrich requests to German Field Marshal Walter Model (Walter Kohut) to blow up the bridges at Arnhem and Nijmegen. Model denies his request. At the Son River, American Colonel Bobby Stout (Elliott Gould) with the 101st Airborne are halted when that bridge is blown up by the Germans.  Colonel Vandeleur and his men are cheered like liberators by the Dutch people passing through Eindhoven. Col. Stout finds Vandeleur and asks for their "Bailey Bridges", portable truss bridges to build so Vandeleur can cross the Son. Vandeleur agrees. Lt. Col. Frost and his men reach the Arnhem bridge. They confiscate some homes near the bridge with good vantage points. Maj. Gen. Urquhart sneaks into a town to try and connect with other Allied troops. He's forced to hide in an attic when a German patrol shows up. Polish Maj. Gen. Sosabowski and his troops are delayed by fog in England. American Staff Sergeant Eddie Dohun (James Caan) with the 101st Airborne locates his superior Captain Glass (Nicholas Campbell) lying dead in the field. Dohun had promised Glass he'd not be killed. Dohun carries Glass to his jeep and races through German lines to an American medical tent where he orders a U.S. Army Surgeon (Arthur  Hill) by gunpoint to inspect Glass. The surgeon is surprised to discover Glass is not dead. He removes a bullet from Glass's skull and saves him.

Col. Stout and the 101st work all night to build the temporary Bailey Bridge. Lt. Col. Vandeleur and his XXX tanks finally move forward across the Son River. They're only 36 hours behind schedule. Lt. Col. Frost and his men are pinned down at the Arnhem bridge by Lt. Gen. Bittrich and his Panzers. The Germans ask Frost to surrender. The Brits politely decline. Maj. Gen. Urquhart manages to escape back to the Dutch Allied headquarters where he learns his troops are short on supplies, ammunition and Maj. Gen. Sosabowski still hasn't arrived with his Polish paratroopers. Maj. Gen. Ludwig watches Nijmegen Bridge, ready to blow it if the Allies try to go across. Brig. Gen. Gavin asks Lt. Gen. Horrocks for boats and tank support for his 82nd Airborne. Horrocks grants Gavin's request.  Gavin assigns Major Julian Cook (Robert Redford) and his regiment to cross the Waal River under supporting fire and take Nijmegen Bridge from the Germans. It's a suicide mission in broad daylight that Cook and his men accomplish with many casualties. Ludwig orders the bridge blown. The explosives fail to detonate. Allied tanks roar into Nijmegen. In Arnhem, Dr. Spaander (Laurence Olivier) asks family friend Kate Ter Horst (Liv Ullmann) if the Brits can use her house for a temporary hospital. She agrees. Spaander arranges with Bittrich a brief truce to evacuate casualties before the fighting resumes. With most of his men wounded or dead, Frost surrenders to Bittrich. Sosabowski finally parachutes into the Netherlands, right into German gunfire waiting at the landing zones. Horrocks orders all troops to pull back. Urquhart and his men sneak across a river at night back to the Dutch Allied headquarters. The next day, Lt. Gen. Browning reflects to Urquhart that he always thought the operation tried to go "a bridge too far." Even though 90 percent of Operation Market Garden was considered a success, more men were killed in Operation Market Garden than the D-Day invasion. The Allies did not enter Germany...yet.

What makes A BRIDGE TOO FAR unique among war films is that it's about a military failure.  The good guys (the Allies) don't win. As screenwriter William Goldman says in one of the DVDs special features, A BRIDGE TOO FAR shows that "war sucks." Unlike most World War II films like THE LONGEST DAY or Robert Aldrich's THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the mission or in this case Operation Market Garden fails. Real life characters like Lt. Col. Frost (Anthony Hopkins) and his 1st Airborne fail to take Arnhem Bridge and ultimately, either die or are taken as prisoners of war (like Frost). Maj. Gen. Urquhart (Sean Connery) never connects with Frost, his troops hampered by lack of ammunition and radios that won't work.  Urquhart spends a quarter of the film hiding in a house attic from the Germans, useless in the grand scheme of the mission.  Even when a plan does work like Brig. Gen. Gavin's (Ryan O'Neal) sending Maj. Julian Cook (Robert Redford) and his Regiment in broad daylight across a river to take Nijmegen Bridge, dodging bullets and mortars, the result of their heroism is a bureaucratic British officer telling Cook he has orders not to move forward. A BRIDGE TOO FAR is an anti-war film with good intentions turning into a quagmire of futility. 

A BRIDGE TOO FAR spotlights both Allied and German leaders making crucial mistakes before and during the battle.  Although he's not a character in the film (shown at the beginning in actual black and white newsreel footage), British Field Marshal Montgomery deserves the blame for conceiving a rushed, ill-prepared plan in Operation Market Garden.  Montgomery and American General George Patton both had huge egos and wanted to be the first to reach Berlin. Montgomery somehow prevailed in convincing Eisenhower of his plan. In the film, Lt. Gen. Browning (Dirk Borgarde) controversially is shown to be the scapegoat, dismissing intelligence from Dutch Resistance and photographs from a British Spitfire that there were more German troops and Panzer divisions around the landing zones than Browning was communicating to his commanders. When the Germans begin to see paratroopers falling from the skies, they assume it's Patton in charge.  Patton's the better general. They can't comprehend Eisenhower put his trust and faith in Montgomery. Oh, but Eisenhower did. German command makes mistakes too.  A German soldier comes across the full plans for Operation Market Garden inside a crashed American glider. The plans are given to Field Marshal Model (Walter Kohut) who immediately declares they're fake much to Lt. Gen. Bittrich's (Maximillian Schell) surprise. Operation Market Garden may have been a total disaster had Model realized what he had in his hands.

Besides focusing on just big battles and war strategy in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, director Attenborough and screenwriter Goldman (from Ryan's book) also highlight personal stories of heroism during the fighting such as James Caan's Staff Sgt. Dohun driving his presumed dead captain from the battlefield through shifting enemy lines to an American hospital tent where Dohun forces a U.S. military surgeon (Arthur Hill) at gunpoint to inspect his superior. The surgeon discovers the captain is still alive and removes a bullet from his skull, saving him.  Movie critics cried it was made up. It's a true story from Ryan's book. A BRIDGE TOO FAR shows the plight of innocent Dutch civilians caught up in the battle. Liv Ullmann's Kate Ter Horst sacrifices her home to the British as a makeshift hospital.  The house is torn apart by German shelling. Dr. Spaander (Laurence Olivier), a local Arnhem physician becomes a emergency room doctor, trying to save British soldiers. Spaander even negotiates a brief truce with German Lt. Gen. Bittrich to evacuate British wounded from Arnhem Bridge. In one of the film's most poignant scenes, a Dutch teenager (Eric Van't Wout) who has helped his Dutch Underground father (Siem Vroom) monitor the German retreat and count the number of German troops is killed in town by German gunfire. The father picks up his son's body and lays him on top of other dead Dutch civilians as human obstacles to block oncoming German tanks. War is hell!

For most of the big stars in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, it's a chance to play real people who were unable to win a real battle like in a John Wayne or Audie Murphy movie. Sean Connery's Maj. Urquhart is against type for the actor. Except for one moment where he shoots a passing German through a kitchen window, Connery is anything but James Bond, stuck hiding in a Dutch family's attic from the Germans when his reconnaissance mission goes awry. When Urquhart escapes and makes it back to camp, he learns his team is lacking supplies, ammunition, jeeps, and radios that can't communicate with Lt. Col. Frost who's pinned down on Arnhem Bridge. Urquhart is a heroic figure yet impotent to make a difference due to circumstances beyond his control. Connery has the distinction of the only actor in A BRIDGE TOO FAR to also appear 15 years earlier in the film adaption of Cornelius Ryan's THE LONGEST DAY in 1962, one of Connery's first feature films. Connery played Private Flanagan in that film. At least Connery was promoted to a Major General for A BRIDGE TOO FAR. 

The one actor who does have a heroic set piece in A BRIDGE TOO FAR is Robert Redford who plays Maj. Julian Cook of the 82nd Airborne. Cook and his regiment manage to pull off a perilous mission, rowing pontoon boats across the strong Waal River in broad daylight and heavy gunfire, overtaking the Germans defending Nijmegen Bridge so the British XXX Corps tanks can cross. It is Redford's John Wayne instant but it's temporary. A stuffy British officer tells Cook that he has orders for the tanks to wait and not proceed further down the road. Cook's men risked their lives (and many died) only to be told to wait (and eventually retreat). Producer Levin and director Attenborough went after Steve McQueen originally for the role of Cook. Attenborough and McQueen were friends having worked on THE GREAT ESCAPE and Robert Wise's THE SAND PEBBLES (1966) together. But McQueen balked at A BRIDGE TOO FAR. Redford was paid two million dollars for three weeks of work which was unheard of in 1977. His presence in A BRIDGE TOO FAR makes this war film that much better. 

In CRAZYFILMGUY'S humble opinion, A BRIDGE TOO FAR has some of the best acting ever in a war film. Besides Connery and Redford, a few other excellent performances to point out include Anthony Hopkins as Lt. Col. Johnny Frost (who was alive when the film was made and served as an advisor on the film). Hopkins gives a nuanced, subtle performance as Frost who desperately wants to complete his mission only to see it come up short, surrounded by comrades either wounded or dying. Hopkins internalizes Frost's emotions. Like almost everyone's performance in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, there's no screaming or histrionics. Watching Frost's dust covered face as he accepts chocolate from the German Bittrich before surrendering is heart wrenching. Director Attenborough and screenwriter Goldman must have noticed Hopkins excellent acting as they cast Hopkins in their next film together MAGIC (1978) with Ann Margaret about a ventriloquist and his creepy, life-like dummy. 

I knew Dirk Bogarde was recognized as one of Britain's best actors like Richard Burton or James Mason but had only seen one of his early films years ago. As Lt. Gen. Browning in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, Bogarde is the unofficial villain of the film (besides the German S.S. Army). Like Hopkins, Connery, Hackman, O'Neal, and Michael Caine, Borgarde's performance as Browning is quiet, understated, and often tinged with irony or sarcasm. Browning rationalizes the obstacles and shortcomings of Operation Market Garden, choosing to ignore the hard truths. Browning even tries to quietly have his Intelligence Officer Fuller, who has cast doubts about Market Garden, placed on R&R by a military psychiatrist (Gerald Sim). Browning puts his trust in men like Urquhart, Gavin, and Horrocks to complete the mission. As competent leaders as they were, they can't get Market Garden over the finish line. Bogarde started out in the 1950s appearing in British crime films like Basil Dearden's THE BLUE LAMP (1950) before becoming an art house sensation in the 1960s in films like Joseph Losey's THE SERVANT (1963), John Schlesinger's DARLING (1965) with Julie Christie, and Luchino Visconti's THE DAMNED (1969).

Some big stars were willing to take smaller roles in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, knowing they had a few juicy scenes to act in this ensemble epic but they weren't required to carry the movie. One example is James Caan (THIEF) as Staff Sergeant Dohun who risked his life and the possibility of going to military prison when he forces a U.S. Army surgeon by gunpoint to look at his presumed dead friend who turns out to still be alive. Caan plays the part with a calmness not always associated with the actor. Caan's scenes with the great character actor Arthur Hill as the surgeon are some of the film's best. The great Laurence Olivier only has three or four scenes as Dr. Spaander in A BRIDGE TOO FAR. His character (along with Liv Ullmann) represent the bravery and humanity of the Dutch people stuck in a bloody war zone. Olivier had just appeared as a Nazi forced out of hiding in John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN (1976) and was fighting cancer at the time of A BRIDGE TOO FAR. He was told he didn't have much time left.  Miraculously, Olivier rebounded from his health scare and lived 12 more years with fine roles as modern day Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman in Franklin J. Schaffner's THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978) with Gregory Peck as Dr. Josef Mengele and as Dr. Van Helsing in John Badham's DRACULA (1979).

At first glance, Richard Attenborough would not jump out as the director to make a David Lean epic like A BRIDGE TOO FAR. Attenborough had only directed a couple of film prior including a World War I musical comedy OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR (1969) starring a host of British actors including Dirk Borgarde, Maggie Smith, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, and Laurence Olivier. Attenborough had appeared in John Sturges THE GREAT ESCAPE which has similar characteristics to A BRIDGE TOO FAR with multiple characters and a sprawling story that must have stuck with him. With A BRIDGE TOO FAR, Attenborough proved to be adept handling large crowd scenes, big battles, and juggling numerous characters, and storylines. It didn't hurt that Attenborough had an excellent producer in Joseph E. Levine who let him do his directing and top talent in all production aspects including Director of Photography Geoffrey Unsworth (2001: A SPACE ODYSEEY), Film Editor Anthony Gibbs (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), and Production Designer (DR. ZHIVAGO). Attenborough's experience with a big production like A BRIDGE TOO FAR helped immensely with his pet project GANDHI in 1982 which garned him Academy Awards in 1982 for Best Picture and Best Director.  Attenborough became famous to a new generation of fans when Steven Spielberg cast him as multi-millionaire John Hammond in JURASSIC PARK (1993).

What I love about A BRIDGE TOO FAR are the pairings and groupings of one of the greatest array of movie stars to ever appear in a film. In some cases, this was the only film where these actors and actresses appeared on film together.

Dirk Borgarde/Sean Connery/Gene Hackman/Ryan O'Neal

Sean Connery/Gene Hackman

Dirk Borgarde/Sean Connery

Michael Caine/Edward Fox

Michael Caine/Elliott Gould

Hardy Kruger/Maximillian Schell

Dirk Borgarde/Edward Fox/Ryan O'Neal

Ryan O'Neal/Robert Redford

Ryan O'Neal/Michael Caine

Laurence Olivier/Liv Ullmann

Sean Connery/Laurence Olivier

Dirk Borgarde/Michael Caine/Edward Fox/Gene Hackman/Ryan O'Neal

Hardy Kruger/Laurence Olivier/Maximillian Schell

Some final trivia and tidbits about A BRIDGE TOO FAR. As I mentioned, film critics did not believe some of actual events shown in the film happened like the James Caan scene.  Another critique they had was that Ryan O'Neal was far too young to play Maj. Gen. James Gavin.  In fact, Gavin was the youngest American ever to become a Major General at the age of 37. O'Neal was 36 when A BRIDGE TOO FAR was released. Some of the A BRIDGE TOO FAR stars had appeared in previous war films. Elliott Gould burst onto movie screens as eccentric Army Surgeon "Trapper" John McIntyre in Robert Altman's black comedy MASH (1970) set in the Korean War. Robert Redford's first feature film was WAR HUNT (1962) also set in the Korean War with John Saxon and future director and Redford friend Sydney Pollack. And Michael Caine made his cinematic debut in Cy Enfield's ZULU (1964) set in South Africa in 1879 where 150 British troops held off 4000 Zulu warriors at an outpost called Rorke's Drift. Composer John Addison (TOM JONES) was actually a tank commander in Operation Market Garden. Addison was on the fringes of the action yet his experience inspired him when writing the score for A BRIDGE TOO FAR. 

In the summer of 1977, the film that most teenagers my age (including a 13 year old CRAZYFILMGUY) remember was George's Lucas's Sci-Fi fantasy STAR WARS. I have a feeling there was a smaller group of teenagers like myself who also remember A BRIDGE TOO FAR which was released just a few weeks after STAR WARS on June 15th, 1977. I introduced my son to the STAR WARS universe in 1999 when STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE came out and he never looked back. My son became interested in war history when he was a teenager so I showed him A BRIDGE TOO FAR on DVD.  To this day, it's his favorite war movie. A BRIDGE TOO FAR is an anti-war film. It does not glorify war. What Richard Attenborough and his production team accomplish is a realistic depiction of war using real tanks, planes, a massive recreation of the parachute drop into the Netherlands, actual Dutch locations where the battles took place and the bridges exist, and humanizing the emotional and psychological damage war took on the every day citizens of the town of Arnhem.  A BRIDGE TOO FAR is gritty and no doubt the blueprint for more recent realistic WWII films like Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) with Tom Hanks and a cast of up and coming young actors and David Ayer's tank film FURY (2014) starring Brad Pitt. While the beaches of France, the deserts of Egypt, the black sands of Iwo Jima, and the forests of Belgium captured most of the attention of WWII history, A BRIDGE TOO FAR shed light on an ambitious plan with good intentions that fell short in the lowlands of the Netherlands.

Armageddon (1998)

A giant asteroid striking earth and wiping out all mankind seems like something only Hollywood could dream up. Yet, 65 million years ago, an asteroid 6 to 9 miles in diameter did strike the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, wiping out 70 percent of all living species on earth at that time including dinosaurs. That was a once in a 65 million year event right? Not necessarily. In 1989, an asteroid around 1000 feet in diameter came within 500,000 miles of Earth, crossing our planet's orbital path six hours after Earth had passed the same area. Talk about a close call. The reality of an asteroid colliding with planet Earth again wasn't so far fetched. That possible scenario seemed the perfect vehicle for a future Jerry Bruckheimer produced, Michael Bay directed big-budget action adventure film. 

It turns out mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer and uber director Michael Bay did bring the doomsday story of an asteroid the size of Texas on a collision course with Earth to the big screen in the over the top ARMAGEDDON (1998). I have to admit ARMAGEDDON slipped under my radar when it was released. I was anti-Bruckheimer at the time. In the 1980s, Bruckheimer along with his partner Don Simpson became well known producing hits at Paramount like Adrian Lyne's FLASHDANCE (1983), Martin Brest's BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984) with Eddie Murphy, and Tony Scott's TOP GUN (1986) starring Tom Cruise. Bruckheimer/Simpson had come across the formula of making films that looked like full length MTV videos with their rapid fire editing and Top 40 music soundtracks. Their films were commercially successful but cinematically vapid. 

When Simpson died in 1996, Bruckheimer paired with up and coming music video director Michael Bay for their first hit together THE ROCK (1996) starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage. As much as I loved MTV in the 1980s, I was a snob to the MTV style for feature films (except for my guilty pleasure Walter Hill's  STREETS OF FIRE). I avoided anything made by Bruckheimer and Bay for a few years until Bruckheimer hit upon the successful PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise and produced Bay's World War II epic PEARL HARBOR (2001). ARMAGEDDON was another film that friends had raved about to me.  Before a real asteroid does come and strike Earth, it's time for CRAZYFILMGUY to see what all the fuss is about. 

With a story by Robert Roy Pool and Jonathan Hensleigh, adaptation by Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno, screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams, and directed by Michael Bay (BAD BOYS), ARMAGEDDON opens with a brief narration by Moses himself Charlton Heston and a scene recapping the Yucatan asteroid 65 million years ago that struck Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. We jump to 1998 and the Space Shuttle Atlantis orbiting around Earth when it's struck by a rogue meteor shower and explodes. More meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere causing havoc in New York city, damaging Grand Central Station, Wall Street, and the Chrysler Building. Monitoring the situation at NASA in Houston, Texas is director Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton).  General Kimsey (Keith David) with the Pentagon calls Truman on behalf of the President (Stanley Anderson) demanding answers. NASA tracks the random meteors to a giant asteroid the size of Texas that broke through the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, a "global killer" racing toward Earth and probable "Armageddon" or the end of the world unless it can be stopped.

Truman's staff pitches possible ideas to destroy the rogue asteroid. None seem feasible until NASA physicist Ronald Quincy (Jason Isaacs) suggests drilling a hole inside the asteroid and blowing it up with a nuclear bomb. Truman recommends recruiting Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis), an expert oil driller currently working on a project in the South China Sea. The Army show up in helicopters at the oil platform and whisk Harry and his daughter Grace Stamper (Liv Tyler) who works for him back to Houston where Truman explains their dilemma to Harry. They have 18 days to reach the asteroid and blow it up before it gets to the point of "Zero Barrier" where splitting the asteroid in two won't stop it from striking Earth. Harry agrees to the mission but only if he can bring his ragtag team of roughnecks with him including Chick Chapple (Will Patton), Harry's best friend and partner; geologists Rockhound (Steve Buscemi) and Oscar Choice (Owen Wilson); and drillers including Bear Curlene (Michael Clarke Duncan), Max (Ken Hudson Campbell) and A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck), who happens to be dating Harry's daughter Grace, much to Harry's dislike. The FBI rounds up Harry's men and bring them back to Houston where they undergo a battery of psychological tests (which they fail) and begin 12 days of intensive astronaut training under the tutelage of Col. Willie Sharp (William Fichtner). 

NASA's plan is to send two space shuttles - the Freedom and the Independence -- into space, each shuttle piloted by two astronauts transporting Harry and his crew. The two shuttles will dock briefly at the Russian Space Station orbiting Earth where Cosmonaut Lev Andropov (Peter Stormare) will refuel both shuttles before they continue on. Before they leave on their mission, A.J. proposes to Grace and Chick visits  his estranged wife and young son whose never met Chick before. Another round of meteor showers enter the Earth's atmosphere and destroy Shanghai.  The truth about the killer asteroid becomes public.  The two shuttles blast off and link up at the Russian space station. As A.J. manages the refueling, a fuel leak threatens to blow up the space shuttles.  Lev rescues A.J. from the fuel pod and both men leap into the Independence before the space station explodes. The space shuttles use the moon's gravity to sling shot their way toward the asteroid. The Independence is struck by space debris and crash lands on the asteroid, killing Oscar and a few others. Only A.J., Lev, and Bear survive. The Freedom overshoots its landing zone by 26 miles. The two parties are now separated with time running out to blow up the asteroid.

A.J., Lev, and Bear fire up the "Armadillo", a mobile drilling vehicle, and begin the dangerous trek across the asteroid to rendezvous with Harry and the rest of the Freedom crew. Harry and his men use the 2nd "Armadillo" to begin drilling into the asteroid's core. The drilling goes too slow. NASA discovers the asteroid's axis has shifted. They may not be able to remote detonate the nuclear bomb. The President overrides the mission and engages "Secondary Protocol" where he will remotely activate the bomb. This plan won't split the asteroid and will fail to save Earth. Harry and Sharp argue with Harry telling  Sharp his team can finish the drilling. He convinces Sharp to disarm the bomb. The 2nd "Armadillo" keeps drilling until they hit an unexpected gas pocket that causes the "Armadillo" and its operator Max to float away. Another meteor shower strikes Paris. All hope seems lost until A.J. and the others show up with the first "Armadillo."  A.J. finishes drilling the hole. A rock storm damagers the remote detonator. The team realizes someone has to stay behind to set the bomb off. They draws straws and A.J. gets the short straw.  As the group file into the Freedom to return back to Earth, Harry disables A.J.'s breathing apparatus and switches places with him. Sharp and the survivors blast off the asteroid. Harry says goodbye to Grace via the "Armadillo's" communication system and detonates the nuclear bomb, sacrificing his life for planet Earth as the Freedom returns A.J., Rockhound, Bear, and the rest of the crew safely back to Houston. 

After watching ARMAGEDDON,  I was reminded that a Michael Bay film is an assault on the senses. Even the most mundane scene like NASA engineers at their workstations becomes a tour de force of 360 degree camera angles rotating around the technicians with garish red, green, and blue lights from their monitors reflecting off their black rimmed glasses. If there's a scene involving the Army or FBI, Bay will make sure there are two dozen cop cars or a dozen helicopters crowded into the frame, buzzing around like mosquitoes. A couple of action scenes in ARGAGEDDON like the fuel pump leak on the Russian Space Stations or the crash landing of the Independence space shuttle, I had no idea what was happening, the quick editing and sound and flashing lights were so overwhelming. ARMAGEDDON owes a huge nod to an earlier doomsday action film, Roland Emmerich's INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996).  Instead of alien spaceships blowing up the White House among other famous landmarks in INDEPENDENCE DAY, Bay has meteor showers destroy New York's Chrysler Building and the city of Shanghai, China in ARMAGEDDON.

If you scratch past the explosions and noise and cinematic razzmatazz of  ARMAGEDDON, Bay's film is about family.  Bruce Willis's Harry S. Stamper is father to his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) who lives a vagabond life with him, hopping around the world drilling for oil.  But Harry's also a father figure to his group of misfit oil drillers who all seem to come from dysfunctional or broken families. Harry has banded them together under his leadership and guidance. A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck) is not Harry's offspring but he acts like a son seeking Harry's validation whether it's discovering an oil pocket in the South China Sea or asking for the hand of Harry's daughter Grace (who's already sleeping with A.J. behind Harry's back). Chick (Will Patton) is the one member of the roughnecks that does not look to Harry as his father.  Harry and Chick have more of a brotherly relationship as they are roughly the same age. 

One of the things I enjoy when watching films from the 1990s are the young actors and actresses appearing in films early in their careers. ARMAGEDDON has a host of rising talent with ARMAGEDDON a stepping stone to their successful careers. Ben Affleck had just won an Academy Award for co-writing Gus Van Sant's GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) with Matt Damon. ARMAGEDDON was Affleck's first blockbuster film after HUNTING. Affleck plays another cocky, anti-authority young man in the Paul Newman vein as A.J. Frost. It's also a romantic lead. It's not one of Affleck's better roles yet by the time Bay cast Affleck in PEARL HARBOR three years later (as a cocky WWII fighter pilot), Affleck was more seasoned and assured of himself. Billy Bob Thornton as NASA director Dan Truman had been bouncing around in minor roles until he starred and directed in the movie version of his play SLING BLADE (1996) in which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. ARMAGEDDON was an opportunity to step out from independent films into the big time. Truman is one of Thornton's more mainstream characters, a calm presence having to coddle different factions (the military, the President, oil drillers) into working together to save mankind. Nobody can speak dialogue fast and funny than Thornton. 

If you blink, you might miss Owen Wilson who plays one of Harry's young geologists Oscar. Wilson made his debut in in Wes Anderson's first feature film BOTTLE ROCKET (1996) and was on casting director's radar. He's wasted in ARMAGEDDON but more Wes Anderson movies (THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS) and teaming with Jackie Chan in the comedy western SHANGHAI NOON (2000) lifted Wilson to success. Liv Tyler may have the most unenviable job in ARMAGEDDON as Harry's daughter (and accountant) Grace Stamper. Tyler was more famous as Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler's daughter, even appearing in one of Aerosmith's videos "Crazy." Famed Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci cast Tyler in STEALING BEAUTY (1996) opposite Jeremy Irons which led to ARMAGEDDON. For such a thankless role, Tyler brings a quiet sanity to all the visual mayhem.  And those shots of Tyler's piercing, sad eyes as she watches her father and boyfriend try to save Earth must have caught the eye of director Peter Jackson who would change Tyler's life forever when he cast her as the elf princess Arwen in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) and its sequels. 

Another familiar face in ARMAGEDDON is Jason Isaacs who plays NASA physicist Ronald Quincy. Today, movie fans will recognize Isaacs from his role as Draco Malfoy's evil father Lucius Malfoy in the HARRY POTTER series or his excellent turn as Captain Hook in P.J. Hogan's PETER PAN (2003). In ARMAGEDDON, Isaacs is just another supporting character who manages to make enough of an impression that he stands out among the throng of other technicians at NASA.  Ironically, Steve Buscemi who plays Rockhound in ARMAGEDDON was the up and coming actor de jour at the beginning of the 1990s with his breakout performance as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's crime drama RESERVOIR DOGS (1992). By the time of ARGAGEDDON, Buscemi was a familiar, dependable character actor appearing in the Coen Brothers FARGO (1996) and another Bruckheimer produced action film CON AIR (1997) with Nicholas Cage. Buscemi's Rockhound has most of the best quips in ARMAGEDDON including this observation as they head to destroy the asteroid, "You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon, and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it?" Every big action film needs a Buscemi in it. 

Holding ARMAGEDDON together is the most unlikely action hero that ever came to be. Bruce Willis. Willis began his career in television playing private detective David Addison, Jr opposite Cybil Sheppard in Glenn Gordon Caron's hit ABC TV series MOONLIGHTING (1985-1989). When director John McTiernan cast Willis in 1988's DIE HARD after numerous big stars turned it down, Willis's career changed forever. Willis was adept at bouncing around in numerous genres from comedies like Blake Edwards BLIND DATE (1987) to serious dramas like Robert Benton's NOBODY'S FOOL (1994) with Paul Newman to action films like Luc Besson's THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997) and Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY (2005) to one of the best cameos ever in Steven Soderbergh's OCEAN'S TWELVE (2004). Without Willis, ARMAGEDDON is an unmitigated mess. Willis bring stability and believability to oil driller Harry S. Stamper. Willis makes us believe the unbelievable that a group of roughnecks could save the world from a monster asteroid. It's a daring choice to have Willis sacrifice his life for the entire planet. He's a blue collar Jesus, giving up his life so his daughter (and billions of others) can live. 

Some final ARMAGEDDON tidbits and trivia. I noticed ARMAGEDDON had some similarities with INDEPENDENCE DAY which came out a few years earlier.  Apparently, in 1998, ARMAGEDDON was competing with another doomsday film, Mimi Leder's DEEP IMPACT about a comet heading directly for Earth. DEEP IMPACT was less flashy than Bay's disaster action film and loaded with more established actors like Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell, Elijah Wood (pre-LORD OF THE RINGS), and Morgan Freeman as the President of the United States. DEEP IMPACT made $349 million worldwide; ARMAGEDDON $554 million globally. I'm not the only one who feels ARMAGEDDON is not very good. Director Michael Bay has been quoted that he felt ARMAGEDDON is his worst film.  Ben Affleck makes fun of much of ARMAGEDDON on the DVD commentary for the film. According to IMDB, NASA shows the film during their management training program and asks the new managers to spot any errors in the film's authenticity. It's reported that new managers have found 168 errors in ARMAGEDDON. Hey, it's just a movie!

Michael Bay would learn from his mistake that is ARMAGEDDON, financially successful as it was. PEARL HARBOR is a much more restrained (for Bay) movie that still showcases Bay's virtuoso ability with camera and editing.  The film that surprised me and may be Bay's best is TRANSFORMERS (2007) based on the Hasbro toy and starring Shia LeBouef, Megan Fox, and Josh Duhamel. It combines action, humor, and Sci-Fi much better than ARMAGEDDON did. ARMAGEDDON was one of those big concept ideas that sounded better than it delivered. Director Bay's over exuberance of lighting, sound, and editing just gave me a headache. However, ARMAGEDDON added a big budget film to the resume of some rising actors and actresses. It solidified Willis as one of our best action heroes of the decade. I will still keep looking up at stars each night, hoping that those rogue asteroids and comets out there in space keep missing our big, beautiful blue planet for as long as I live and beyond. 

Safety Last! (1923)

I have written previously about how the Old Spaghetti Factory in Old Town Portland, Oregon influenced me cinematically in the early 1970s. As my family waited for a table to enjoy a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs with warm garlic bread dripping with melted butter, a 16mm projector played black and white shorts in the lobby starring silent film comedians like Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and the Keystone Cops. In the men's bathroom, giant posters of Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Rudolph Valentino as the Sheik stared at you from all corners. There was one poster of a silent film comedian that overshadowed all the other posters. It was a poster of a young man in a suit with round black rimmed glasses, dangling from a clock high above a busy big city street. The photo was not photoshopped or created by AI.  It was real. That young man was silent film comedian Harold Lloyd. It was a still photo blown up from Lloyd's silent comedy SAFETY FIRST! (1923).

While the public remembers silent comedy film titans like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd is the forgotten third member of that elite silent film comedy club.  Chaplin had his signature little black moustache and Keaton his perennial droopy sad face. Lloyd was the clean-cut All-American alternative with the horn rimmed glasses and perfect white teeth. Chaplin had his Little Tramp character.  Lloyd's alter ego was referred to as the Glasses character. Lloyd made over 200 film comedies in his lifetime including full length hits like THE FRESHMEN (1925), THE KID BROTHER (1927), and SAFETY FIRST! (1923) At one time, Lloyd was more famous and popular than either Chaplin or Keaton, his films outgrossing both of them, allowing Lloyd to build one of the biggest mansions in Hollywood, the 45,000 square foot estate called Greenacres.

With a screenplay by Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, and Tim Whelan and directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor (with plenty of uncredited input from Harold Lloyd on both story and direction), SAFETY FIRST! (Lloyd's third full-length film) begins with ambitious country hayseed Harold - The Boy (Harold Lloyd) packing his suitcase and telling his girlfriend Mildred - the Girl (Mildred Davis) that he's leaving their little hick town of Great Bend for the big city to make his fortune. In the big city, Harold shares a room with his pal Limpy Bill (Bill Strother), a construction worker where they struggle to make enough to pay for the monthly rent. Harold lands a job at De Vore Department store where he works as a lowly clerk.  He writes letters to Mildred every day, exaggerating his importance at the department store to impress her. Harold's nemesis at the department store is the floor manager (or floorwalker) Mr. Stubbs (Westcott B. Clarke) who keeps a close eye on Harold. 

After working a half day on Saturday, Harold prepares to hang out with Bill but runs into a friendly cop (Chester A. Bachman) outside the department store that he knew back in Great Bend.  Harold convinces Bill to help pull a prank on the friendly cop. Only they accidentally pull the prank on the wrong cop - Officer Jim Taylor (Noah Young) leading to Officer Taylor chasing after Bill who climbs up the side of a building like a human fly to escape the law.  Harold uses his week's pay to buy a pendant for Mildred and mails it to her back in Great Bend. Mildred decides to travel to the big city and surprise Harold. The department store is having a dress goods sale. Harold is swarmed by a mob of women shoppers, becoming disheveled from all their grabbing and pulling. Mildred arrives at the store and locates Harold. Mildred tells Harold how proud she and her mother are with his success, not realizing he's just a fabric salesman. Harold pretends that he's more important than he really appears, ordering his co-workers around to impress Mildred. Harold receives  a complaint card from Stubbs for his earlier disheveled appearance. Harold must go to the General Manager's office.

Harold waits for the real General Manager to exit his office before bringing Mildred in. Mildred thinks Harold is the general manager.  Harold presses a series of buttons on the General Manager's desk which beckons all the employees to show up, further impressing Mildred. The employees all leave when they realize the General Manager's not in his office. Harold manages to usher Mildred out of the office before he returns. Mildred realizes she's forgotten her purse back in the office.  Harold returns to fetch the purse and overhears the General Manager's Assistant (William Gillespie) talking to a press agent that he will pay $1000 for a new idea to attract customers to the De Vore Department Store. Harold remembers his friend Bill scaling a tall building to avoid Officer Taylor.  Harold pitches the idea to the General Manager's Assistant. He agrees to give Harold's idea a chance. Harold calls the local pool hall where Bill hangs out. Harold asks Bill if he'll climb the 12 floors of the Bolton Building for $500 for a publicity stunt for De Vore Department Store. Harold will receive the other $500. Bill agrees to the stunt. With a large amount of money nearly in his possession, Harold promises Mildred they will be married the next day. 

The press promotes the stunt in numerous newspapers.  They coin the man who will climb the skyscraper the "Mystery Man." Officer Taylor reads the headline.  He knows the identity of the "Mystery Man." He knows it's Bill.  Officer Taylor waits for Bill to show his face so he can arrest him.  Thousands of the public come to watch the stunt. Harold and Bill arrive and see Officer Taylor.  Harold tries to distract Officer Taylor.  He tricks a Drunk Man (Earl Mohan) into kicking Officer Taylor. Taylor begins to chase the drunk then remembers his original plan. Bill suggests Harold take his place and climb up to the second floor window where Bill will switch with Harold at that point. Only Officer Taylor spots Bill and chases him into the building.  Every time Bill tries to switch with Harold, Taylor almost catches Bill. Harold's forced to keep climbing higher and higher. Harold has bird seed spilled on him and he's attacked by pigeons. Harold finally finds Bill waiting for him next to a giant clock on the corner of the skyscraper. Bill accidentally knocks Harold onto the clock face where Harold famously hangs on one of its hands. After some more hair raising stunts, Harold manages to extricate himself from the clock and ledge of the building and reunites with Mildred at the very top. 

Chaplin had his Little Tramp character. Keaton was the perennial lovable loser. For Harold Lloyd, his "Glasses character" like the Boy in SAFETY LAST! was his signature persona. Lloyd was the All-American, Everyman looking kid with a suit, horn rimmed glasses, and a straw hat. Like most of Lloyd's successful silent films from 1922 to 1928 including SAFETY LAST!, the Boy strives to make his life better, a noble cause that moviegoers related to. Only in his efforts to become successful, the Boy instigates all kinds of hilarious predicaments that threaten to derail his ambitions and test his mettle. The Boy lies to his sweetheart in his letters to her, bragging of deals and promotions that are a mirage, bringing her to the big city to witness his supposed achievements. The Boy adroitly maintains the charade, using his wits to solve his problems like appearing to be the general manager in front of his Girl when he's just a lowly clerk. The Boy's scaling the skyscraper in SAFETY LAST'S! jaw dropping climax is a metaphor for the Harold literally climbing the corporate ladder to success. 

Having only seen the poster of Lloyd hanging from the large clock face high above the city streets, I never knew the context of the image until I viewed SAFETY LAST! How Lloyd ends up hanging to the clock is just a piece of SAFETY LAST'S! big climax which involves much more. Lloyd's the Boy isn't even supposed to climb the building. He enlists his friend and roommate Bill to be the "Mystery Man" meant to scale the department store building as a publicity stunt and split the $1000. Only Bill has the very angry Office Taylor chasing him up each floor after one of the Boy's practical jokes inadvertently involving Officer Taylor goes horribly wrong. The climbing of the skyscraper set piece is a tour de force of comic ingenuity mixed with jaw dropping scares. The Boy's ascent includes battling pigeons, a badminton net dropped from the sporting goods floor, the giant clock, a vicious dog tied to a long leash, overzealous gawkers who won't let the Boy back into a window, a tiny mouse that finds itself in the Boy's pant leg, two painters and a board, and a wind gauge. SAFETY LAST'S! final stunt is even more dangerous looking than the Boy hanging from the clock face. It's Lloyd swinging back and forth like a pendulum with a rope tied around his foot high above the street and crowd below. 

I had always assumed that Harold Lloyd did the entire climbing and stunts on his own in SAFTY LAST! Lloyd may have disseminated that notion to the press himself. It's not true. A combination of clever photography and a couple of stunt men besides Lloyd contributed to the harrowing sequence. Fake building facade sets built on three different sized buildings in downtown Los Angeles provided the perspective of dizzying heights allowing Lloyd to seemingly tip toe on ledges and cling to a clock stories above the busy sidewalks below. It wasn't until Lloyd died in 1971 that stunt man Harvey Parry revealed he stood in for Lloyd on long shots where it appeared Lloyd was performing the dangerous stunts himself. Bill Strothers who plays Lloyd's buddy Limpy Bill also doubled for Lloyd in some long shots where the Boy scrabbles up the building. It was Strothers who Lloyd saw perform the human fly stunt earlier, scampering up a tall building that gave Lloyd the idea for the finale for SAFETY LAST! Lloyd still did all the gags and pratfalls that were in medium and close ups including the famous clock set piece.

Actress Mildred Davis aka Mildred the Girl in SAFETY LAST! first began appearing with Lloyd in FROM HAND TO MOUTH (1919) replacing Lloyd's previous leading lady Bebe Daniels who wanted to be a star on her own. Davis has that classic silent film starlet look with an expressive face and curly hair.  Davis was afraid of heights, yet she performed her scenes flawlessly atop the building in SAFETY LAST! as Lloyd attempts to reach his love at the top of De Vore Department store in the film's climax.  After SAFETY LAST!, Davis retired from making films with Lloyd (she did make three more films without him before giving up acting in 1927). Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis were married in 1923 and had two children and adopted a third child. 

Bill Strothers who plays the Boy's friend and roommate Limpy Bill in SAFETY FIRST! provided the inspiration to Lloyd for the daredevil climbing stunt in the film's final reel. Lloyd had seen Strothers perform his "human fly" stunt where he climbed a building without ropes or harnesses months earlier. Ironically, before filming SAFETY LAST! began, Strothers had been recovering from breaking his left leg. Despite doubts from Lloyd and his producer Hal Roach, Strothers insisted he could still climb and double for Lloyd in long shots on the real building's facade which he did. Watch closely when Strothers runs and climbs in the film. He favors his left leg. The writers humorously gave Strothers character the name Limpy Bill in SAFETY LAST! good naturedly poking fun at his recent injury. One of the most recognizable faces in SAFETY LAST! is Noah Taylor who plays Officer Jim Taylor - the Law. Taylor was a regular in Harold Lloyd films (FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE), playing either dumb cops or dumb villains. Taylor's film career ended with the dawn of talkie films.

Some final Harold Lloyd tidbits. In the ultimate comedy gag irony, Lloyd accidentally lost his right thumb and forefinger in 1919 when a prop bomb he was handed for a publicity photo turned out to be a real explosive and blew up in his hand. Afterwards, Lloyd wore a specially made prosthetic glove in future films like HAUNTED SPOOKS (1920) that hid his injury. For a good part of his career, Lloyd's films were produced by Hal Roach (who also contributed on the creative side to Lloyd's films). Lloyd and Roach rose up together in the silent film comedy industry becoming huge successes after struggling early in their careers. Lloyd and Roach eventually parted ways with Roach concentrating on a new kids comedy franchise called OUR GANG (retitled THE LITTLE RASCALS for television) and a new comedy duo known as Laurel and Hardy. Before Harold Lloyd came up with his successful "Glasses" character in 1917, Lloyd appeared early in his career as a Charlie Chaplin knockoff known as "Lonesome Luke" complete with little black moustache (except with a part in the middle of the moustache). Thankfully, Lloyd moved on to a more original and enduring persona. 

In his heyday in the 1920s, Harold Lloyd was more famous and successful than either Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Yet, the legacies of Chaplin and Keaton endured after the demise of silent films and the emergence of sound films while the career of Harold Lloyd was largely forgotten. Some attribute Lloyd's fading from the public's memory due to Lloyd himself owning and controlling all his films, keeping them out of the public eye for decades while Chaplin and Keaton's films still ran at revival houses to a new generation of fans. It wasn't until Lloyd began to show his films at film festivals and retrospectives in the 1960s (and finally on television) that a new generation of fans discovered the versatility and innovation of Harold Lloyd in films like SAFETY LAST! Like the title of the 1989 English documentary about Lloyd's career, Harold Lloyd was "the Third Genius" of silent film comedians, up there with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. 

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Five of the best directors in Hollywood would put their careers on hold to help the United States with the war effort during World War II, some even getting right in the action. They were Frank Capra (MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON), John Ford (THE GRAPES OF WRATH), John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON), George Stevens (GUNGA DIN), and William Wyler (WUTHERING HEIGHTS). Their story is detailed in the engrossing non-fiction book Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris. The five directors would all be profoundly affected by what they saw during the conflict and shape their careers forever when they returned to moviemaking after the war ended.

John Ford filmed the actual Battle of Midway between U.S. and Japanese forces, almost getting killed in the process. John Huston was embedded with the U.S. army in Italy (although he staged some supposed battle scenes to make his documentary SAN PIETRO more authentic). George Stevens was with the first U.S. troops to witness the horrible atrocities in the Nazi concentration camps. And William Wyler focused on the crew of a B-17 bomber nicknamed The Memphis Belle  that flew an astonishing 25 bombing missions without losing any crew members. When the war ended in 1945, all these directors returned to Hollywood to resume their careers. Capra's first film after WWII ended was IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) with James Stewart who had also just returned from the war as a pilot. Huston made THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (1948) with Humphrey Bogart. Ford made THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945) about the Philippines conflict with John Wayne and Robert Montgomery. William Wyler tackled a subject not often shown in films, the return of the soldier to every day life and their struggle integrating back into society and family in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946).

 
Today, this topic explored in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES would be a no-brainer for a modern film to tackle. In the mid-1940s, right after World War II, it was a subject matter that was taboo especially to the military who did not acknowledge that their soldiers might have trouble readjusting to civilian life after such an intense military campaign. John Huston made a documentary right after WWII called LET THERE BE LIGHT (1946) that candidly interviewed soldiers with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other neurological disorders from the war who were getting treatment at a U.S. Army psychiatric hospital.  The U.S. government would suppress the documentary for more than 30 years.

With a screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood, based on the novel Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor and directed by William Wyler (BEN HUR), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES opens with three servicemen returning home to Boone City (a fictional stand in for Cincinnati, Ohio) after the conclusion of World War II in 1945. The men are blue collar Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) from the Air Force; middle class Al Stephenson (Fredric March) with Infantry; and hometown sports hero Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) from the Navy. The three veterans first catch an ATC (Air Transport Command) B-17 flight together then share a taxi ride to their respective homes. Of the three, Homer is the only one physically handicapped from the war with hooks for hands, the result of losing his hands in a fire during the war. The three men are a bit apprehensive about going home as they take in the sights of their hometown. Homer is dropped off first. His parents (Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin) are excited to hug their son. Homer's self-conscious about his hooks when his girlfriend next door Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell) arrives to greet him. Al surprises his wife Milly (Myrna Loy), daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright), and son Rob (Michael Hall) with his return. Fred's dropped off at his parents (Gladys George, Roman Bohnen) home near the train tracks where he learns his new wife Marie (Virginia Mayo) has moved out while he was overseas and into her own apartment. 

The three men begin to assimilate back into civilian life and their families with some unease. Ironically, on their first night back, the three men all end up at a bar called Butch's owned by Homer's piano playing Uncle Butch Engle (Hoagy Carmichael). Al, who's with Milly and Peggy, begins to exhibit a penchant for heavy drinking after a night of bar hopping. Peggy's introduced to Fred who still hasn't connected with his wife Marie who works at a nightclub. Peggy takes a liking to Fred. Butch gives Homer a ride home before he becomes too drunk. The Stephenson's try to drop Fred off at his wife's apartment but she's still not home. Fred sleeps at the Stephenson's where he has a nightmare, waking Peggy who calms Fred down. Fred and Peggy chat the next morning. Fred's not sure what work he wants to do. He doesn't want to return to his old job as a soda jerk. Al wakes up hungover and struggles to be intimate with his wife Milly. Peggy drops Fred off at Marie's apartment before going to work as a nurse. It's a happy reunion for Fred and Marie.

Al visits his old bank and meets with his boss Mr. Milton (Ray Collins) who offers Al a vice president position. Fred checks out his old soda shop and discovers it has been transformed into a drug store. Marie quits her nightclub job. Fred struggles to find any kind of meaningful work. He tells Marie they're broke having spent all his military pay. Fred takes a job behind a perfume counter at the drug store to make ends meet. Marie's not happy with their situation. She wants to go out every night. Homer struggles to connect with Wilma. Homer's bothered by the neighborhood kids staring at his hooks for hands. Al helps Mr. Novak (Dean White), a fellow G.I. with a loan. Al doesn't ask for collateral which angers his boss Mr. Milton. Peggy runs into Fred at the perfume counter. They have lunch together. Walking back to their cars, Fred impulsively kisses Peggy. Peggy begins to develop feelings for Fred. Peggy tells her parents her feelings for Fred. Al confronts Fred at Butch's and asks him to stop seeing Peggy. Fred agrees and calls up Peggy from the phone booth, breaking up with her.

Fred returns to his old soda jerk job. Homer stops by the soda shop where he gets into a disagreement with a customer (Ray Teal) about the war. Fred comes to Homer's defense and punches the customer. Fred quits his job before he's fired. He tells Homer to marry Wilma.  He'd be crazy to lose her. That night, Wilma pays a visit to Homer. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with, removing his hooks at night, helping him get dressed and into bed. Wilma tells Homer she loves him, for better or worse. Tired of staying at home, Marie asks Fred for a divorce which he agrees to.  Fred packs up and moves back with his parents. Fred plans to leave town. As Fred waits at the airport, he wanders around a nearby military plane graveyard and climbs into one of the planes he flew bombing missions in - a B-17. Fred peers down through the bombing chute, reliving his nightmares. A junkman yells at Fred to get out of the plane. The junkman, also a returned veteran, is making pre-fabricated houses out of the metal from the planes. Fred asks for a job and the junkman hires him. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ends with Homer and Wilma getting married at Homer's parents home. Fred's the best man and Al, Milly, and Peggy arrive as guests. Al is on the wagon, drinking fruit punch instead of vodka. Homer and Wilma exchange vows and kiss. Fred approaches Peggy and they kiss. It's a new beginning for these three unsung heroes of WWII. 

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shines a spotlight on three returning veterans, focusing on a different issue that each one grapples with as they adjust back to civilian life. Director Wyler never makes their struggles maudlin or cliche. The film honestly portrays real life issues that veterans faced as they integrated from wartime to regular life. For Al Stephenson (Fredric March), who made life and death decisions as he led men into combat in the Pacific, he now has to get permission from his bank superiors to approve loans for G.I.s trying to start fresh. Al turns to drinking to make him happy, much to the chagrin of his wife Milly (Myrna Loy). Fred (Dana Andrews), who had the enormous responsibility of dropping bombs on the Germans while avoiding flak from the enemy, can't find a meaningful, good paying job after his sacrifice for his country. He's haunted by nightmares of crewmen who died around him. Fred's money problems will filter into his marriage failing with his younger, gold-digger wife Marie (Virginia Mayo). Homer (Harold Russell), even with his handicap, is the most grounded of the three men. But it's how he thinks he's perceived by his family, the neighborhood kids, and his girlfriend that affects him. Homer, who was a star athlete in high school, feels everyone thinks he's a freak with hooks for hands. He assumes Wilma won't want to marry him due to his disability. All three men will face trials and tribulations as they readjust from the war to begin to live a normal life again.

Two powerful scenes towards the end of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES solidify this film as a classic. The first is when Homer and Wilma finally have a heart to heart talk at night in Homer's bedroom. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with day after day, night after night with a disabled veteran.  Dressing and undressing him.  Taking off and putting on his mechanical hooks. Wilma is undaunted by Homer's physical limitations. Wilma tells him plainly and simply she loves him, has always loved him, always will love him. It's a simple, poignant scene that provides an emotional release for Homer. The film ends with Homer and Wilma getting married in front of family and friends.

The second scene is Fred passing time at the airport before heading east. Having quit his soda jerk job, his marriage to Marie in shambles, and his promise to Al to not pursue Peggy, Fred has nothing to keep him in Boone City. Director Wyler has a quick insert of Fred's Dad finding Fred's Citation for Bravery, awarded for completing his mission while injured. Fred wanders into an airplane graveyard beside the airport, climbing into a decommissioned B-17 like the ones he flew bombing missions in. Fred sits in the nose compartment where the bombardiers sat, reliving his nightmares (expertly shot by famed cinematographer Gregg Toland), a cathartic moment where he purges himself of his demons. He's snapped back to reality by a junkman who tells Fred to get out of the plane. That junkman will end up hiring Fred to help him build pre-fabricated houses from metal taken from those planes, keeping Fred in Boone City. Fred rediscovers his purpose, regains his confidence. He's Homer's best man at the wedding and he approaches Peggy for a second chance at a relationship which she gladly accepts.

Because Homer and Fred's stories are more dramatic, Al Stephenson's storyline has a humorous edge even with the fact he's drinking too much. The music soundtrack is light and bouncy as Al hits the town his first night back with his wife and daughter.  Al's not a violent drunk or even an obnoxious drunk.  He's a fun one. When Al wakes up hungover the next morning, he takes a shower (still in his pajamas).  Milly laughs and rolls her eyes. She's trying not to be too judgmental too soon.  We see the effect it's having on Milly when she and Al go to the Union Club with Mr. Milton. Milly marks the number of drinks Al has with her fork on a napkin. She's afraid Al will embarrass himself during a speech. Al manages to slyly make a dig at his bosses without getting fired. There's no big dramatic scene where Milly confronts Al about his drinking. At Homer's wedding, Al casually mentions that Milly has convinced him to stop drinking as he pours himself a cup of fruit punch. The three men all laugh.  Al's drinking problem seems to be resolved.

Although Fredric March won an Academy Award for Best Actor for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, my favorite performance in the film is Dana Andrews as pilot Fred Derry. March was an accomplished actor, one of the best during the Golden Age of Cinema, playing challenging, dramatic, flawed characters better than anyone else in films like Rouben Mamoulian's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931), Richard Boleslawski's LES MISERABLES (1935), and William Wellman's A STAR IS BORN (1937) where March played alcoholic actor Norman Maine. March's Al Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES is becoming an alcoholic albeit a humorous one. Al's not a violent drunk or a sloppy one. He turns to alcohol to cope with returning to normal life after the war, to forget the horrors he witnessed in the Pacific, and to numb his anger at his bank superiors who seem ignorant to the dangers the returning servicemen endured during the war that are now jumping through hoops for basic loans. March probably won his Best Actor Oscar for his sarcastic, funny speech he gives in front of his wife Milly and banking peers including his boss Mr. Milton where Al equates a veteran putting up collateral to the bank for a loan to risking their lives to take a hill during a battle.

Dana Andrews' Fred Derry is the most complicated of the three servicemen. He's dealing with three issues that real veterans faced when returning home. Fred has nightmares (or PTSD) when he sleeps from the war. He's struggling financially, unable to find a good paying job after his service to his country. And his marriage is crumbling. When Fred married Marie (Virginia Mayo) before the war, they were newlyweds and carefree. Marie's a bit younger than Fred. The war will change Fred. His values change. He's more pragmatic, serious. Marie's living in the past. She wants to stay out all night and party. Fred begins to yearn for the more mature Peggy Stephenson (Teresa Wright) who he meets his first night back. Andrews handles all these different emotions adroitly. I first came upon Andrews as the cop who falls in love with the painting of murdered Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA (1944). Andrews was already on his way to becoming a major star when THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was released with solid credits prior including William Wellman's THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) co-starring Henry Fonda; Walter Lang's musical STATE FAIR (1945), and an actual war movie set in Italy A WALK IN THE SUN (1945) directed by Lewis Milestone. 

Harold Russell who plays disabled Navy veteran Homer Parrish in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the neophyte of the group, having never acted before which director Wyler liked. Russell was training paratroopers at an Army camp in North Carolina in 1944 when some explosives he was handling detonated, causing Russell to lose both hands. Russell's Homer is the All-American boy. A star athlete in high school (we see the pictures in his room) and in love with the literal girl next door Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell). Homer's come to accept his disability. Even with hooks, he's adept at lighting cigarettes, holding a glass of beer, or playing the piano. It's his perception of how others see him that plays tricks in his head. He doesn't believe Wilma will want to marry him now that he's disabled. Russell would win two Oscars for his performance in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. He unexpectedly won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a special Oscar that the Academy created for him as an inspiration to returning veterans (he wasn't expected to win the Best Supporting Actor award). Russell would not make another film until Richard Donner's INSIDE MOVES (1980) with John Savage as a young man who becomes handicapped after a failed suicide attempt.

Not to be outdone by the male star power in March and Andrews, the three main actresses in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES were equally strong from established leading lady Myrna Loy to rising stars Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo. In fact, Loy has top billing even though her screen time is limited. Loy and Wright (and O'Donnell) are calming influences to the returning men. Loy's Milly Stephenson doesn't overreact as she observes her husband Al acclimate back into the family and his banking job with some hiccups along the way. She's a domestic general for their family. Besides managing Al's increasing drinking, Milly navigates her daughter Peggy's emotions with a burgeoning relationship with the married airman Fred Derry. After Fred's wife Marie puts down Fred to Peggy on a double date, Peggy vows to become a home wrecker and save Fred. It's Milly (and Al) who calm her down, admitting their marriage has had its ups and downs. Loy played sexier, wilder roles early in her career in films such as  THE THIN MAN (1934) and its sequels opposite William Powell and Jack Conway's TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938) with Clark Gable. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the beginning of Loy playing more matriarch type roles in films like Lewis Milestone's THE RED PONY (1949) based a series of short stories by John Steinbeck.

For Teresa Wright, her Peggy Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a step up to play a more complicated, mature young adult than her ingenue roles she had  played like in Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1942) which she's very good in. Peggy begins to have feelings for the married Fred Derry just back from the war. Even after they share a secret kiss after a lunch date, Peggy's uneasy about the relationship until she meets Fred's wife Marie on a double date she engineers. Hoping to like Marie and end her foolish thoughts, she ends up wishing to be a home wrecker to the Derry's marriage after Marie badmouths Fred to Peggy in the powder room. A nurse by trade, Peggy nurses Fred psychologically back to civilian life whereas Marie lets him down. Wright was a favorite of director Wyler, also appearing in Wyler's THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) with Bette Davis and MRS. MINIVER (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. 

Some might look at Virginia Mayo as Fred's wife Marie as the villain of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. That label would be inaccurate. Marie represents one of the realities servicemen faced upon returning home. A marriage that has changed due to the war and time and one's priorities. Fred and Marie got married before the war, perhaps too soon. Marie's younger than Fred.  She's all about going out and having a good time.  Fred liked to have fun early in their marriage.  When Fred returns from the war, he's changed forever by his war experiences.  Marie hasn't changed. She works at a nightclub to get by, up all night, sleeping most of the day. Fred's slow return to normal life and a finding a decent job will clash with Marie's need to maintain her nocturnal social life. When Fred comes home to find Marie about to go out with a handsome friend of hers (Steve Cochran), the writing is on the wall for Fred and Marie's marriage. Mayo was not director Wyler's first choice as Marie. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn pushed for Mayo and got his way.  THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a breakout role for Mayo who quickly transitioned to leading lady in various films from the comedy THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947) with Danny Kaye to James Cagney's unscrupulous girlfriend in Raoul Walsh's WHITE HEAT (1949) to damsel in distress in Jacques Tourneur's THE FLAME AND THE ARROW (1950). 

Some final THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES trivia tidbits. The title is never mentioned in the film although Virgina Mayo's Marie comes closest during an argument with Fred when she says, "I've given you every chance to make something of yourself. I gave up my job. I gave up the best years of my life!" Besides March and Russell winning Academy Awards for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, the film won 7 other Oscars including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert E. Sherwood, and Best Director for William Wyler. In the film, Russell's Homer needs help taking off his artificial hands. In real life, Russell was capable of taking off and putting on his hooks with no assistance. Lastly, actress Cathy O'Donnell who plays Homer's girlfriend Wilma received her first film credit for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.  She was primed to have a successful career until she married William Wyler's brother Robert Wyler, a producer. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn who had groomed O'Donnell had an acrimonious split with director William Wyler after THE BEST YEAR OF OUR LIVES. Goldwyn would cancel O'Donnell's studio contract. She worked rarely after 1948 and her last well know role would by in William Wyler's biblical epic BEN HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shined a light on the plight of hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from World War II trying to readjust to their regular lives after the horrors of fighting a global war. For most of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, we observe our three returning servicemen toiling to integrate back into their personal and work lives.  Civilian life almost seems hopeless for Al, Fred, and Homer and we feel helpless for these men. Director Wyler skillfully resolves their stories from despair to hope in the final third of the film, making us feel the three men will overcome their fears and doubts and succeed in their everyday lives, in no small part due to the love and support of three amazing women who stand by these soldiers. For Al, Fred, and Homer, the best years of their lives are ahead of them.