Directed by Stuart Cooper Overlord makes poetry out of existing war footage. Around half of the 83 minute film pulls from sometimes grim but certainly striking footage of bombs, bodies and gunfire. The other half patches together a brief narrative about a doomed young soldier named Tom. These two halves are woven together in a … Continue reading Overlord (1975)
world war 2
The Great Dictator (1940)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin Film critic Stanley Kauffmann said of Charlie Chaplin that The Great Dictator made him the David to Hitler's Goliath. Chaplin's first talkie film, with the last (possible) incarnation of The Tramp, started off as a parody of Hitler and became an act of defiance somewhere along the way. The film was put … Continue reading The Great Dictator (1940)
The Longest Day (1962)
Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald The Longest Day is a three hour World War II epic that was completely overshadowed by David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Both films are expansive though in different ways. While Lawrence centers on a single figure over the course of a long, arduous journey, The Longest Day focuses … Continue reading The Longest Day (1962)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Directed by Billy Wilder [EDIT: This is a long, rambling review as I try to figure out what Stalag 17 is really about. By the end I decide it's about the postwar conditions of the 1950s, specifically the red scare. It takes me a while to get there, and I still might be completely missing the … Continue reading Stalag 17 (1953)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Shadow of a Doubt, like Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941), is about the deconstruction of myth, to some extent. They are similar films, following one character's increasing paranoia that someone they love is a monster. In the former, Joan Fontaine begins to worry that the man she married, played by Cary Grant, has … Continue reading Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
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