re: Must see WWII movies?

The best WWII movie you've never heard of:



An American airman is dropped into occupied France to assassinate a resistance agent suspected of being a Nazi spy. But he learns that dropping bombs on anonymous specks below is a lot easier than killing a man one-on-one...




Orders To Kill was directed by Anthony Asquith (the son of a former British prime minister), who specialized in filming hit plays by veddy British, veddy genteel playwrights like Terence Rattigan. OTK is definitely the odd man out in his filmography. There is a montage sequence here that is by far the most cinematic thing I've ever seen in an Asquith film.

The film's tough atmosphere must have originated with writer Donald Downes. Wikipedia: "The film was based on an original story by Downes. He was an important OSS officer involved in numerous operations during the war, according to histories of the era."





The lead, a young Canadian actor named Paul Massie (who FWIW ended up teaching acting at the Univ of Central Florida) is OK. The acting honors go to an actress previously unknown to me named Irene Worth, as Massie's French contact. Apparently she was an American who worked mostly on the British stage -- here she is extraordinarily affecting as a resistance agent who is trying to fight against a vicious enemy while retaining her humanity.



Orders To Kill went virtually unseen for decades, but is now available on DVD. If you look hard enough, it can also be streamed online (that's how I saw it). Anyone interested in war films should definitely check it out.

Combat was an hour-long drama series that ran on ABC from 1962-7. It's sort of the original Band of Brothers. Created by screenwriter and war film specialist Robert Pirosh (Oscar winner for Battleground), Combat follows an infantry squad after D-Day as they go through France.



Top-notch writing and innovative production, including frequent use of handheld cameras to simulate actual battle footage, give it a grittiness seldom seen in network TV before or since. The late, great Vic Morrow stars as the tough, no-nonsense Sergeant Saunders.



A few notable episodes:

"The Glory Among Men" -- One of my favorite episodes. The most hated member of the squad is wounded and trapped out in the open. But the Germans don't finish him off -- instead they leave him alive, hoping to draw out the Americans to rescue him. Should the squad risk their lives for someone they despise?

"Anatomy of a Patrol" -- Trying to get a wounded pilot and valuable reconnaissance film back to HQ, Saunders must match wits with a German sergeant every bit as shrewd as he is. The sergeant is played by a very young James Caan, who speaks some rather impressive German.



"The Bridge At Chalons" -- The squad must guard a surly demolitions expert while he blows a key bridge. The guest star is no less than the great Lee Marvin.

"The Enemy" w/guest star Robert Duvall. Duvall's German accent isn't so hot (though it's better than his English one in The 7% Solution) but otherwise he gives a subtle performance as a demolitions expert who has booby-trapped an entire town in advance of the American army taking it. He is captured by Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) and forced to defuse the bombs he's planted, resulting in a nerve-racking game of cat and mouse, with script and direction taking every possible advantage of the suspenseful premise.



"Survival" -- Directed by Robert Altman, and another of my favorites. Wounded in a fire and separated from the squad, Saunders wanders through enemy territory in a daze. Virtually half the footage has no dialogue, and Altman employs some unorthodox camera angles (shooting into the sun) previously unheard of in TV.

The Devil's Brigade (1968)

Twelve O’clock High is one I always recommend. One of my favorites.

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The Longest Day

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One of my favorites and the most accurate moving about D-Day there is. The technical advisers for this film include officers in the high command who either were part of D-Day planning or who were actually there.

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One of my favorites and the most accurate moving about D-Day there is. The technical advisers for this film include officers in the high command who either were part of D-Day planning or who were actually there.

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It’s one of the movies of this era that I want to be remade with modern CGI/effects

I will add Mr Roberts

To Hell and Back - the story of America's most decorated soldier, Audie Murphy starring the one and only...Audie Murphy

Where Eagles Dare