This week’s pick is the classic Blake Edwards 1966 comedy What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? which stars legendary comedian Dick Shawn of The Producers (Captain Lionel Cash), James Coburn Cross of Iron (Lt. Christian), Aldo Ray Men in War (Sgt. Rizzo), Sergio Fantoni Von Ryan’s Express (Captain Oppo), Harry Morgan T.V.s M*A*S*H* (Maj. Pott), Giovanna Ralli (Gina Romano), Jay Novello (Mayor Romano), Leon Askin Hogan’s Heroes (Col. Kastorp) and Carroll O’ Connor Kelly’s Heroes (Gen. Bolt). The film was written by William Peter Blatty The Exorcist.

The film is set in 1943 when the Americans and Allies launched Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily to drive out the entrenched German army which had retreated from North Africa a few months prior as a result of Allied victory. Captain Lionel Cash (Shawn) is placed in command of Charlie Company, a band of misfits in need of R&R and are none too thrilled to be given another mission. General Bolt (O’ Connor) believes that there is some enemy resistance in the little village of Valerno.

The all too eager to prove himself Captain Cash, excepts the mission and plans to attack the village immediately. Cash introduces himself to the new company and its commander Lt. Christian (Coburn) whose insubordination and carefree attitude are the polar opposite of Cash and his “90 day wonder” mentality. Cash rounds up his company and they head off towards their objective.

When Cash and his men arrive at the sleepy village of Valerno, they find the town to be completely empty. Cash and his men find the townspeople and a garrison of Italian soldiers holding a soccer match which is interrupted when the ball lands on the bayonet of an American soldier in disbelief of such an impressive kick.

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This week’s pick is Midway (1976) which depicts the U.S. and Japanese naval battle which turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Director Jack Smight assembled some of Hollywood’s A-list talent including Charlton Heston (Capt. Matt Garth), Robert Mitchum (Vice Adm. William “Bull” Halsey), Henry Fonda (Adm. Chester Nimitz), James Coburn (Capt. Vinton Maddox), Glenn Ford (Rear Adm. Raymond Spruance), Hal Holbrook (Cmdr. Joe Rochefort), Steve Kanaly (Lt. Cmdr. Lance Massey), Tom Selleck (Capt. Cyril Simard), Robert Webber (Rear Adm. Jack Fletcher), and Toshiro Mifune (Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto).

Midway is best known for two things, its Academy Award winning Sensurround pre-surround sound/William Castle inspired movie experience, and as a war film which was shot using mostly colorized combat footage from World War II, and scenes from Hollywood greats like Tora! Tora! Tora! and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Jack Smight had stated in an interview years later that the footage was meant to show the scope of the battle and that these were scenes shot under real battlefield conditions. Despite these flaws, the film does have a wide array of well orchestrated scenes, and the action is quite convincing in that many historical moments are made through matters of sheer luck and through careless actions.

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The Great Escape (1963) is one of those films that no matter how many times I see it, I find a new way to appreciate it even more. Director John Sturges (Never So Few, The Magnificent Seven) brings to the screen this World War II adventure about allied soldiers who stage one of the greatest massive escapes from a new type of German POW camp.

Steve McQueen (Capt. Virgil “The Cooler King” Hilts), James Garner ( Lt. Robert “The Scrounger” Hendley), Richard Attenborough (Squadron Leader Roger “The Big X” Bartlett), Charles Bronson (Lt. Danny “The Tunnel King” Velinski), James Coburn (Flying Officer Louis “The Manufacturer” Sedgwick) and Donald Pleasence (Lt. Colin “The Forger” Blythe) make up the cast of escape artists.

The German Luftwaffe (Air Force) has created a new type of POW camp in which “all their rotten eggs” can be placed in one heavily guarded basket. Allied POWs have been gathered from all stockades in Germany and are brought to Stalag Luft III outside of Sagan, Germany. The new camp commandant, Col. von Luger (Hannes Messemer) informs the new prisoners that there will be no escape attempts and if any try they will be executed. The senior allied officer, Group Captain Ramsey (James Donald) tells the commandant that it is the sworn duty of every prisoner to try and escape.

Von Luger feels comfortable that the new facility will make it impossible for any to escape. Within the first few minutes of arriving in the camp, the main characters begin probing for weaknesses among the camp’s guards, the wire, and the conning towers which overlook everyone and everything within the camp. Several make attempts to try and escape but are quickly discovered and prove to be a handful for their captors.

The most notable of these attempts is perpetrated by Capt Hilts (McQueen), an American flier who throws his baseball over the “wire of death” which is erected in front of the camp perimeter fence. Hilts informs one of his fellow American inmates that between the two towers at night, makes it almost impossible for them to see someone trying to cut through the fence. He is discovered by one guard and is shot at by another in one of the towers.

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This week’s pick is legendary filmmaker and pioneer of balletic death scenes Sam Peckinpah’s 1977 production of Cross of Iron. The film stars James Coburn (in one of his finest performances, and as one of Peckinpah’s go-to-actors) as Sgt. Rolf Steiner, a tough German soldier stationed on the Eastern Front in 1943 as the German army was being pushed back by the advancing Soviets.

Steiner is in command of a small squad who are attached to the main German column who are retreating from the Taman peninsula on the Black Sea coast following the German defeat at Stalingrad (one year earlier), which turned the tide of the war in the east. The story is that of conflict between Steiner and a new company commander Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), a Prussian aristocrat who covets the famed Iron Cross which is one of the highest awards given to a German soldier.

Cross of Iron was Peckinpah’s only war film that shows the audience the kind of war that was being fought on the Eastern Front, and that it was the last place a German soldier wanted to go. Steiner (Coburn) is tired of war and has very little respect for those in charge. When Stransky reports to his new commander, Colonel Brandt (played by veteran British actor James Mason), he tells the Colonel that he applied for a transfer from occupied France to the Eastern Front in order to win the Iron Cross.

The Colonel’s adjutant, Captain Kiesel (the great character actor David Warner) who is also sick of war and military politics, scoffs at Stransky and his naive outlook. Steiner is introduced to Stransky who is told of his exploits. Stransky promotes Steiner to Staff Sgt. in order to curry favor. Steiner shows overt contempt and little appreciation for Stransky as a German officer. To Steiner, Stransky is the real enemy with false notions of heroism and bravery.

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