World War II Movie Night

Ahoy! Tonight we set sail for Cuba.  But with a title like "Voyage of the Damned," it's gonna be a choppy ride. A popular 1974 book became this 1976 movie, which tells the true story of the St. Louis. More than 900 Jews were allowed to leave Germany in 1939 aboard this ocean liner. For some (including those in concentration camps), it was a Godsend, but things are revealed to be not what they seem...

Tonight we look at 1955's "To Hell and Back," in which Audie Murphy plays himself, doing stuff he actually did in the War. Audie didn't like the movie, but Audie-nces did, making THaB mega-successful, and seemingly influential on WWII movies for decades to come... asides include, hmm, I guess the hand gestures some of us make when we forget our Covid masks.  Drop us a line at worldwartwomovienight...

World War II Movie Night does its second (only?!) NEW movie with "Munich - The Edge of War." Jeremy Irons grows out the 'stache to play former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a man whose actions vis-a-vis Hitler and the War are hotly debated to this day. The larger story of Chamberlain's and Hitler's Munich negotiations is the backdrop for a fictional one about two former college buds...

"I'm the Guns of the Navarone!" World War II Movie Night tackles this 1961 listener pick that some consider alongside such big-budget epics as "The Great Escape" and "Bridge on the River Kwai." A successful novel became a successful movie considered a classic of high-adventure cinema... asides include the moral responsibility of parents to teach their kids to swim, and I finally saw "Dune" (and th...

You might need a drink - or some other outlet - to get through tonight's episode, as World War II Movie Night tackles Steven Spielberg's forgotten WWII comedy, 1979's "1941". Spielberg was reportedly fraught with uncertainty in his first try at comedy, so he threw every kind of joke into "1941," including many he'd rather you forget. Citizens of the West Coast are worried that after Pearl Harbor t...

World War II Movie Night delves into 1964's "The Pawnbroker." Many Jewish and Black groups objected to this movie upon its release, supposedly for negative stereotypes. Rod Steiger gives a career-jumpstarting performance as Sol Nazerman, an embittered Holocaust-survivor who runs an East Harlem pawnshop. Sol regards his customers as scum, and doesn't think much better of the multiple people he sets...

You won't know who to trust as World War II Movie Night goes "Where Eagles Dare." Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood lead an operation to rescue an American general from an impregnable German castle. Pretty clear-cut, right? Actually no. Unexpected events make clear something more is going on. High action mixes with intrigue in this 1968 British classic... Asides include Iron Maiden, yes, that Iron...

It's time for World War II Movie Night's 50th episode! We begin with a State of the Podcast address, which includes reflections, status-updates, thank-yous, and a couple announcements... Then we get into it: Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." We look at how this pivotal movie from 1998 changed World War II cinema forever, and reinvigorated interest in the War in general... Asides? Well we e...

A little different tonight as World War II Movie Night explores the 1987 British TV movie, "Escape from Sobibor." Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer star in this death-camp tale that hews closely to real events, and real people. Life in Sobibor is horrible, survival is always in doubt, and escape seems impossible. But as the smokestacks at the far end of the camp remind them, our protagonists must find a...

Grab your pith helmet! Because tonight we cheat for the second time with a World War I movie, Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" from 1957. This tight, compact movie offers a unique anti-war theme. After an offensive goes badly, a vindictive general demands three soldiers be tried for cowardice and shot. Kirk Douglas, as the men's commander, defends them against the capricious charges. Will he suc...

Felix and Oscar got nothing on Groves and Oppenheimer, the original atomic odd-couple. This 1989 film portrays Los Alamos, the Manhattan Project, and the eventual Trinity Test. Military and Scientists butt heads about how to use the awesome power they're about to unleash. Watch a fictional-yet-factual take on actions that will be debated the rest of our lives. Enjoy Paul Newman's gruff take on Gen...

Cool, fun, and a sea-change in World War II movies as they entered a new decade, 1970's "Kelly's Heroes" reflects the era's anti-establishment zeitgeist. Clint Eastwood leads an ensemble cast as he and his men race to pull off the biggest gold heist in history, contending with not only Germans behind enemy lines, but their own side's clueless/corrupt higher-ups, and even another unit who wants in...

How did a conscientious objector win a Medal of Honor? "Hacksaw Ridge" tells the story of Desmond Doss, a religious soldier who refused to carry a weapon, yet distinguished himself as a medic in the Battle of Okinawa. HR also represents a comeback for Mel Gibson, many years down-and-out when he redeemed himself with this acclaimed, successful World War II epic... Asides include more on Gibson's to...

Tonight's the mostly forgotten movie adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's famous World War II novel. The book may be a quirky sci-fi hybrid, but it delves seriously into Vonnegut's real-life experiences as a POW during the Dresden firebombing. How successfully these experiences transfer to the screen is, well, arguable. Tonight's episode toggles between a serious approach to the subject matter and the re...

Bomb it? Blow it? Take it? Keep it? The options are dizzying as Germans and Americans decide what to do with the titular "The Bridge at Remagen." Reflecting a real event (supposedly pretty accurately), tonight's listener request gives both sides ample screentime, from the American Lt. put in charge of fighters as weary and cynical as himself, to the German Major (and his General friend) who hope t...

World War II Movie Night tackles the sixth most popular movie ever made (which makes it by default the most popular World War II movie ever made), 1965's "The Sound of Music." Although it takes a while to get there, by its third act TSoM is primarily about the Anschluss - the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, and how major WWII developments affected private lives... in this case hiding out...

Come upstairs for the party! World War II Movie Night delves into the defining movie re: Hitler's (and the Reich's) last days. Alongside this excellent German production we examine a recent Hitler biography, a 2002 documentary ("Blind Spot") and, yes, a classic "Simpsons". We also count the suicides and recoil from Goebbels' creepiness. So get on the dance floor and try to ignore the Russian shell...

Tonight is a listener request from the Swiss Alps. The 1968 American movie "The Devil's Brigade" is regarded by its makers as suffering from bad timing, given that it came out shortly after "The Dirty Dozen." However, while TDB and TDD share some common tropes (e.g., grizzled older man assembles rag-tag group of misfits, has to convince skeptical highers-up of their skills, etc.), TDB has the adde...

We've had some odd movies on World War II Movie Night, but tonight's "Jojo Rabbit" is odd for its unexpectedness. The modern genre of comedy that mixes humor and pathos produced a World War II movie, and there's more to it than one might think. Hitler-Youth devotee Jojo, 10, navigates life in late-war Germany after a terrible accident. Challenges include his Resistance-happy mother, his relationsh...

If "Cross of Iron" could be said to be a WWII Vietnam movie, 1967's "Beach Red" is even moreso. BR is remembered for its gore and cutting-edge editing. Although its influence is debatable, it at least features many things that would be seen in WWII movies decades later, such as a gory beach landing with a severed arm ("Saving Private Ryan"), showing the Japanese as real people with lives back home...

World War II Movie Night delves into fan favorite "Stalag 17," a movie that mixes intrigue and comedy to great effect. American POWs while away their captivity ogling Russian women and trying to undermine their German overseers. But the Germans are always one step ahead, leading some prisoners to think there's a spy in their midst. Wheeler-dealer Sefton is the prime suspect, but is it that simple?...

World War II Movie Night gets philosophical with Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line." Released the same year as "Saving Private Ryan," 1998, TTRL couldn't quite escape that movie's shadow, although everyone thought it was good and some thought it was one of the best movies ever made. What up? Find out as we examine the movie that broke Malick's 20-year hiatus from filmmaking... Asides include la...

Jack Palance, Lee Marvin and Eddie Albert star in this black-and-white combat drama. As the Battle of the Bulge launches, the men of Fragile Fox company worry that their Captain, who only has his command through a political favor, will get even more fighters killed. What can be done?... Asides include '80s primetime soap operas, and Lee Marvin as the first inductee into the World War II Movie Nigh...

This highly regarded homefront drama is considered the gold standard for soldiers-returning-home movies. Acclaimed director William Wyler followed up 1942's "Mrs. Miniver" with 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives" (now two World War II Movie Night selections), sweeping the Oscars with both. Witness the overlapping tribulations of WWII vets Fred, Al, and Homer, as they try to pick up where they lef...

Get schlocky as we delve into the beautiful disaster that is 1983's "The Keep." Adapted by Michael Mann from the popular paperback, "The Keep" is gothic horror in a World War II setting. A deeply flawed movie (for interesting reasons, it turns out), it nonetheless has a cult following. Why? We'll find out as we set up camp in a castle that wasn't made to keep anything out, but to keep something IN...