What Will's Watching

Gentleman's Agreement: Gregory Peck and John Garfield take on WASPy anti-Semitism in 1947. Peck plays Phil Green, a gentile magazine writer who wants to blow the top off of Jew hatred. john Garfield is as tough as ever as Green's childhood best friend. Estelle Holm gives an Oscar performance as the magazine's witty, wry and perceptive fashion editor. Watch her closely. Hokey, but that's what the country wanted, needed, and deserved in the late 40's. It's a period piece now. Who are these men that wear a coat, tie and fedora everywhere they go? Growing up in the NYC's northern suburbs and living in Dover, Arlington and now New Jersey, we have never, ever experienced anti-Semitism of the type shown in this film. Never. 

MacArthur!

General Douglas MacArthur is a subject we've written about before. We are extremely critical of his actions in the Philippines. His conduct of the rest of the war is exemplary, though.

On a whim yesterday I watched MacArthur, the 1977 film staring Gregory Peck. I'd not seen it in something like 30 years.

This was Universal's answer to Patton, a movie we once loved (in 1992, when we played Captain Bracket in South Pacific, we modeled our monologue on Patton's),but have trashed in this space.  As a drama and historical document MacArthur is a better film.

MacArthur is no hagiography. This movie pulls no punches and is at times very critical of MacArthur, showing his ego and his obsession with the press. His speech upon landing at Leyte is melodramatic in the extreme and we found it hard to watch.

That said MacArthur's words and actions during the surrender ceremony were perfect and well portrayed in this film. The general is also given credit for bypassing Japanese strongholds and avoiding casualties.

A note on the specs. They filmed MacArthur in technicolor using Panavision camera lenses. The effect is sooooo 1970's. It almost looks like an extended episode of Black Sheep Squadron. I found the intro scene on Corregidor utterly convincing. This too is true also when MacArthur tours a liberated prison camp. In another scene MacArthur reunites with General Wainwright and it is heartbreaking.

The film also does an excellent job showing MacArthur's reconstruction of Japan, a supreme act of statesmanship for which he does not get enough credit.

While one can't quite forget that one is watching Gregory Peck, he does give a fine performance of the man, capturing perfectly his ego and most importantly his mysticism. Peck does bear a striking resemblance to MacArthur.

If one is curious about the man and his campaigns, MacArthur is a good place to start.