I watched Stalag 17 on television the other night. I'm sure getting old. I'm old enough to remember when Hollywood was on our side and most of the movie stars were also. If the current Hollywood buttheads were around in WWII, they would have been on Hitler's side. The Lamestream Media would have been also. Assholes!
Posted by denny at October 22, 2005 11:41 AMThat was back when actors could act.
Posted by: Jeremy on October 22, 2005 12:32 PMThey *were* on Stalin's side, though. Even when that wasn't necessarily our side.
Posted by: Jim C. on October 22, 2005 08:35 PMhi denny -- as a young person who LOVES the movies of the 30s & 40s, i should point out also that not only was hollywood on our side, but many of the filmstars of that generation were also servicemembers defending the u.s.
not to make any sore points, but i don't see matt damon or sean [dickhead] penn running off to iraq to defend their country.
but brigadeer general jimmy stewart, who served in the military for 25 years, wasn't afraid of messing up his coif.
I had an E-mail several years ago on the Hollywood heros of yesteryear. Men like Stewart and Kennedy who served with honor and distinction. I wish I had kept it.
Posted by: Jeremy on October 23, 2005 03:55 PMA VERY short list of others:
Clark Gable (USAAF)
Tyron Power (USMC) Naval Aviator
Sterling Hayden (OSS)
Ted Williams (USAAF and USAF (Korea))
I love that movie. "Animal" is a scream, and the film is the perfect combination of serious and funny.
I also have the original Mad comic - yes, comic - with the parody "Stalag 18," vintage 1954.
Posted by: Elisson on October 23, 2005 06:07 PMAh yes, one of William Holden's best roles. Peter Graves made a great Nazi plant, too.
Posted by: Ralph Gizzip on October 23, 2005 09:29 PMDenny,
I spoke about this a little on my site. Check out this story I ran across.
Can you imagine this happening today? I can, and all too easily.
http://schadenfreude.cogitox.com/archives/000425.html
Posted by: Dan on October 23, 2005 09:33 PMBack in WWII, Journalists, the likes of Ernie Pyle, were welcome friends of the infantrymen in the fox holes. They knew to protect the GI's by not printing anything that could hurt them.
Today, the embedded journalist just aches for a jucy bit of intelligence that could cost our military some additional lives - just waiting to pounce on it and publish it to our enemies.
There's gonna be an accounting some day soon, and I'm gonna try and make sure that I'm around to see that the requisite number of warning shots are fired into the heads of the many anti-American journalists. I can hardly wait!
Posted by: Vulgorilla on October 23, 2005 10:46 PMAs a sort of a side note,a current add for the new Honda pick-up truck has the "Colonel Boggie March" from "Bridge On The River Kwai" as it's theme music.A touch inappropiate,wouldn't you say?//////////And on current movies,the trailer for "Jarhead",from what I've seen at first glance,doesn't look too,too anti-military.
Posted by: big al on October 23, 2005 10:56 PM