Mister Roberts: The Dark Backstory of a Beloved Film
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- The 1955 World War II comedy-drama film Mister Roberts, starring Henry Fonda, has been beloved by generations of fans. Even 68 years later it's still funny, sharp and poignant. Based on a play which was itself based on Thomas Heggen's 1946 novel, Mister Roberts, light-hearted though it is, has a troublingly dark backstory and subtext. In this video I'll examine the film, the phenomenon, and the reality behind the story, including the disturbing fate of the author, Thomas Heggen, and how the picture evokes the unresolved trauma of World War II veterans who had difficulties reassimilating into society. This may change your thinking about this film and about the "Greatest Generation" as a whole.
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Chapters:
00:00-03:12: Intro
03:12-10:08: The Movie
10:08-18:01: The Story Behind the Movie
18:01-22:24: Thomas Heggen
22:24-30:04: The Veterans
30:04-30:49: Conclusion - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
Writers block was not the main reason for Tom Heggen’s death. He was my uncle and I’ve been studying his life story for decades. Heggen’s depression, anxiety and insomnia were root causes of mental illnesses present long before his death. I am grateful for the work he left, validating the experiences of many vets. I don’t think he owed us more. I think he did his best. He spoke about the value of being there for one another. I wish I could have known him in life, rather than finding him in my research but I know he did his best.
Thank you!
Moving tribute and thank you .
My dad served as a combat infantryman in the Pacific war. He told me that during the war for every man actually fighting the battles there was at least 14 men who kept them supplied and supported in the war. He said that without that support there would be no combat at all.
He stated that there were different degrees of heroism. And just because a man or woman didn't see action or come under fire didn't demenish their service.
My friends father served in the Canadian Merchant Marine as an engineer. He arrived on deck for a smoke and break from the engine room, only to see another ship in the convoy blown up by a torpedo. It wasn't called PTSD then, but seeing his friends die like that was with him for life.
I absolutely cannot believe your channel hasn't taken off yet. Your videos are fantastic!!! It feels like I'm sitting with a friend that can explain everything to me.
Thank you! It may be starting to happen...my video on Iran-Contra suddenly got a lot of views this week, so perhaps the channel is finally going somewhere.
Yeap mr.Munger has a soothing voice and answers every question that comes to mind before it materializes.
If you ever want to do another book/movie deep dive about post World War II angst among American service members, consider “The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit.” The book is quite readable and it involves the specific (and more universal) issue of biological children left behind by returning service members. The author resembled the protagonist in his background (so I gather from Wikipedia) but not his war experience.
@@SeanMunger Guess so.
First time I saw Mister Roberts I was a sophomore in High School, in 1978 . They showed us this film after we passed finals. Everyone loved it, times have changed!
Times have changed, like the fact that school's, do not show movies, anymore. I too, grew up with all my schools, showing films at some course, during the year.
Sean, brilliant and keenly insightful work as always. My Dad was an enlisted sailor during the Korean War. He told me that when a copy of Herman Wouk’s recently published best seller “The Caine Mutiny” arrived as a new title for the library on board his ship, which was underway off the coast of N. Korea as part of Task Force 77, the Captain confiscated it and would not let anyone on the crew read it before he vetted it. Dad was a huge fan of Mister Roberts and told me about some similar experiences he had to the crew of the bucket. As a combat vet myself (Iraq, 06/07) I can relate & corroborate your observations of many WW2 vets views on the “Greatest Generation” hype. My war was not nearly as intense as theirs, but I get it. Every time someone says “Thank you for your service” I’m grateful that they are polite enough to acknowledge it but inside, I cringe a little. Thank the men and women who didn’t make it home. I was no hero, I was just lucky, and did my job best I could til they let me come home.
My dad was WW2 R.C.N. His corvette was torpedoed February 22,1945. Six men were killed, and he was badly wounded on the right side of his face and head, and lost his right eye. After the war he endured five surgeries to reconstruct his face, etc. He never talked about the war. He only ever volunteered one thing to me about the war "I refused to take the morphine I didn't want to come back as an addict". Great video, thank you.
♥️🇺🇲🪖
Thank you for this information.
My dad was a 23 veteran of the USN. He served in WW 2, at the age of 17, Korea and Viet Nam until 1964. He never had boots on the ground action and was very proud of his service. I’m not exactly sure what he did in the WW 2 portion of his career but I do remember him saying that he didn’t want to talk about his war experiences.
I’m 70 now and I do remember seeing the movie Mr Roberts, so I will need to look for it with your take and my experiences as an older adult.
I served in the USA at the end of Viet Nam (medical and stateside) and encountered many broken Veterans during my service and, in these shitty golden years, as I receive care in the VA system.
Again, thanks for this review and commentary of this movie.
Your channel popped up as I was scrolling for home history to watch.
I started watching Franklin Pierce and got partway through it. Idly, my grandfather was born in 1894 and his name was Franklin Pierce (Kowing).
Have a good one.
It was the Summer of 1955. My father was an Army officer (WW2...followed by Korea...) My mother, sister and I had just flown into NYC from two years in Germany. My father left us to fly to another foreign assignment...and we would return to Boise Idaho.
.
The hotel was inexpensive...and like inexpensive hotels in NYC in 1955....no air conditioning. Summer in NYC gan get ugly. My mother had the afternoon and evening planned out. We would check in all of our luggage at the train station for the midnight train. We then went to an air conditioned cafe...followed by Radio City Music Hall... where we saw the Rockettes on stage... Followed by "Mr. Roberts..." Then a taxi to depot and across the continent.
I was six at the time...and Mr. Roberts is the first film that I remember having watched. In later decades I survived two wars and one bad marriage...but I still remember that film. I was in my 50s when I saw it the second time... Amazing how much I remembered over the decades. On a collision course with 74 now... Very much enjoyed your review... YP
Mr. Roberts, and after it, Ensign Pulver, were fantastic movies about the war in the Pacific.
My family has a military history going back many generations, including myself. At the age of 57, I have outlived most of the men in my family's history. My step-grandfather was drafted into the Army during WWII. His wife, my grandmother, took over the family business of a service station in Portland, OR. In 1949, my grandmother divorced him because of domestic abuse. In the early '50s, I think 1954, he committed suicide. I always think of him when I see a WWII movie. My father died at 49, ten years after retiring from the Air Force. I was already in the Army Airborne, and was medically retired a few years after the Gulf War. I'm still working it out. My family history always hangs over me, and I'm glad that my children chose not to join the military.
I have had many years of useful therapy, and I keep the crisis hotline number posted on my fridge, just in case.
I really appreciate you talking about experiences of veterans returning home. You are spot on. I thank you for this excellent video.God Bless.
This is a very interesting side of one of my favorite movies .
Movies such as Drums Along The Mohawk ,Young Mr. Lincoln , Fail Safe and Mr. Roberts are testament that no actor , before or since , conveyed human decency better than Henry Fonda .
His face and entire persona exuded it .
During the Parkinson interview , Fonda offered the self effacing explanation that maybe it was simply his Midwestern face that conveyed that decency . However , it's my opinion that actors like Gary Cooper and Fonda , simply played themselves and therefore the decency was genuine .
It's a great movie with a stellar cast .
Thanks for posting .
The only film I’ve seen with Henry Fonda was _12 Angry Men_ and I got that impression from him. While I was on the plane watching that film, I was constantly rooting for him. (Of course, they probably made it clear from the beginning that the defendant was not guilty, but that didn’t detract from it.)
My dad was too young to enlist in the army, navy, coast guard, etc however in June 1943 at age 16 he shipped out of San Francisco as a merchant ordinary seaman. As far as I know he never saw anything other than life on a US merchant ship plying the waters of the Pacific Ocean. His comments about his shipboard life always appealed to me even though as he described his as more mundane. Because of the Viet Nam war I joined the USCG living a uneventful life of a CG enlisted man later commissioned officer. I don’t remember when I saw Mr Roberts the first time but I did see it with my dad, we both identified with it.
My dad loves several WWII films, but Mister Roberts was always his favorite. He introduced it to me when I was a kid and it was one of many things we bonded over. I even did an English paper in high school comparing the film to the play. In college, email was a brand-new phenomenon, and my dad and I would email each other frequently; every email we sent would start with a line from Mister Roberts. We'd trade lines from the scene until we couldn't remember what came next, and then we'd move on to another scene. It's strange that my older brothers never developed the affection for the film that my dad and I did. My dad, a Vietnam War veteran himself, said I was a little more feet-on-the-ground rather than head-in-the-clouds like they were. I'd like to think early exposure to films like this contributed to that.
Off-topic, I remember one of my older brothers' reactions after seeing Saving Private Ryan and the Omaha Beach scene for the first time. He said he was horrified that that was what war was actually like for those men. I asked him what the hell he assumed it was like before, and he blamed those glorified Hollywood WWII films he grew up watching that always had the happy ending. Words immediately failed me. To this day I still shake my head over that one.
This is by far my favorite analysis of 'Mister Roberts'. Like most historians I know, my gateway to history was World War 2. As you stated, the experience of many a veteran was the crushing monotony of boredom, which carries its own traumatic overtones. I'm a historian of fascism and anti-fascism, and I always found that deification of 'The Greatest Generation' particularly troubling, especially when combined with the idea of American exceptionalism. It was certainly a disservice to those who served in the war in its insistence on portraying all in a monolithic and superhuman way. Great content, you've got yourself a new watcher!
Glad you talked about "The Best Years of Our Lives" that was a groundbreaker
Excellent and accurate insight (in my view)-- Thank you
I loved your commentary. I'm a very distant relative of the author. Even share the same name. I think my great grandfathers ..brothers son? He even looks a bit like my dad. Anyway very respectful account and maybe the 15 degrees of separation thing is true? well done.
Mister Roberts is still one of my favorite movies since I was about 12yo. A very creative script. The great performances were no surprise from such professionals like Fonda, Cagney, Powell & Lemmon, but loved all the same.
I really enjoyed this video. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Mister Roberts movie all the way through, but seen out of sequence clips and know the approximate gist of it. I really enjoyed your commentary and found a lot of parallels with my favorite book of all time The Caine Mutiny which includes a lot of the same themes. The monotony matches the war stories of my own Europe theatre serving Grandpa who was in the quartermasters (supply) and never saw any combat. The main story he told was of his involvement in the battle of the bulge in which him and his crew sat at an empty warehouse for three days before being told to leave. They were told that at their leaving, they were behind German lines, but they never saw any enemies on their way back to their own side. The other story he liked to tell were of his failed comical attempts to communicate with Parisians while touring the city on leave. Truly a logistical war all around.
Both of my grandfather's served in the Korean War, one was an infantryman and my other grandfather was a quartermaster on a submarine. I never got to meet him, he died two years before I was born but from reading his journal and letters from the Korean and from speaking to my other grandfather who died in 2011, gave me a good perspective on how both of them saw their jobs in the military. It was an endless slog of monotony sprinkled in with seconds or a few minutes at most of abject fear and violence, if it didn't leave a mark, it sounds absolutely terrifying to go from silence to a few minutes where you are terrified a bullet, shrapnel, artillery shell, or depth charge is going to end it all and then back to the mindless tedium afterwards. It is not surprising that PTSD effected many such veterans, not just of World War 2 but of all conflicts. These men and women spend a lot of time with nothing to do, followed by intense fear, even in relatively 'safe' jobs, like being on a submarine post World War 2. It's honestly pretty amazing how many of them are eventually able to return to civilian life with at least some level of normalcy for them, I'm certain I couldn't do it but we should always remember that there were always hundreds of people at home and delivering supplies to keep each soldier, sailor, marine, and airman in a combat role in their positions and it wasn't easy for any of them.
Just found this channel as i love the older movies like Mr Roberts.
Great video with tons of information delivered.
Brilliant commentary, Sean. Thanks. Humanity deserves such an honest, insightful discussion of the popular culture images of WW2.
Actually, LST stood for "long, slow, target"
Or, that's the joke. Man, the fact that you did this take is amazing. This film was a singular bonding point for my father and me.
He introduced me to this movie in the 70s when I was a kid, I'm gen x too, dad a boomer. Ultimately I too went on to be a navy sailor. On a nuclear submarine. And while I am a member of the cold war, yes, it was tedious and often boring.
The monotony is what kept you from being killed.
Thank you again for yet another amazing lesson.
My dad was born during the depression. Joined the Army before the end of WW2. He served 2 tours in both Korea and Vietnam. When he came back around 1969-70 My older brothers said he was "scary quiet". I know he saw some awful things and only spoke about them to me. Just before he passed in 90. He was the best dad and my best friend. The only normal thing in my abusive childhood. That he rescued me from after he & my mom divorced. I know war scarred him. But he got thru it and became my hero as well!
My grandfathers, grandmother, and great uncle served in the US and Canadian armies, respectively, in World War II. My paternal grandfather lost half his leg in battle and was apparently in constant pain the rest of his life. He earned two Purple Hearts for his service. The undocumented side of war is what you don't hear about, what the children endure. In retrospect, I would consider both of my grandfathers to have suffered from PTSD. Both men drank heavily and beat physically and were otherwise abusive to their male children during the 1950's. My father and uncles to the alcoholic mind of their fathers were transformed into the enemy. My uncles in turn became alcoholics and one committed suicide. My father survived the abuse. Neither of my parents touch alcohol, but family events were painful for me as a child because it seemed like no other adult present was sober. I am a man born 30 years after WW2 and to this day WW2 affects me and my family. Military service is a huge sacrifice that men and their families have made to this country. If you looked at me you wouldn't even know it. Families don't get medals for being survivors of veterans.
Sir. Thanks. I read the book, too. I pretty much have always regarded it as a delightful farce. I’ll probably watch it again with your thorough assessment in mind. For about as long as the the titles last. Then it will revert to just a fun fantasy.
I was born in 1969 and grew up in the orbit of a lot of WW2 vets in the 70s at a little yacht club here in Minnesota. My dad was 10 years younger than all those guys and never served (too young for WW2 and too old for Vietnam). Mainly, I remember they did a lot of drinking, smoking, laughing and seemed to live only for the moment.
Thank you, Sean. This mindful and superbly researched piece connects with me in so many ways. I am very pleased to see that someone else shares my view that lavishing the "Greatest Generation" label on WW II veterans was patronizing and insincere.
To summarize, the understanding passed on to me by my family from their memories of the nation's wars has been strictly non-mythical real world. My biological father (a person I only communicated with during my childhood once or twice a decade) was a World War II submarine veteran. In the final 10 years of his life, he and I became closer, but the fact that his experiences in the sub were possibly cripplingly horrendous did not become apparent to me until the final years.
That seems to mirror the pattern of your grandfather's grudgingly opening up about his trauma.
More later, it's 2 am. (I just subscribed)
A thoughtful video, a great piece of work. Also I appreciate the clarity you have when expressing what is you personal thoughts/opinion and explaining why, something that more people should do as it's engaging for viewers 👍
In the film "Not Fade Away" James Gandolfini played a Father who never made it to war. This film was set in the early 1960's yet it covers an aspect of life for The Greatest Generation
I served on a supply ship (USS Concord) during Desert Shield & Desert Storm. Navy movies were my favorite as young boy, especially The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
I got to your channel after watching the Texas School Book Depository video on lemmino. I watched both parts of your Lee Harvey Oswald, and really got a lot out of it. Thank you for the content.
Awesome! Thank you!
Hi Sean
Thank you for a very insightful and thought provoking video!
With kind regards
Thomas
Very good analysis. Thanks for taking it on.
Well done, Sean! Thanks for your service Dad (RIP). He didn't like talking about it, either.
“The liberty scene was problematic.” It. Was. 1955. Moreover, it was depicting a Naval ship underway during wartime conditions and requiring grueling, labor intensive work every single day. All of this while dodging Japanese kamikaze or fast boat attacks. Context matters.
Yeah. Gimme a break.
Sailors haven't had the company of women in how long? And they're going to be gentlemen when then get away with long distance ogling?
I don't think so.
Great actors, a convincing plot, people in charge without having the appropriate moral and professional traits
Great content, it was a favorite movie of mine as a kid as well. I appreciate your nuanced take on WW2 veterans & respect and agree w/your take on Saving Private Ryan. Always felt there was something thematically rotten about it.
this is my new favorite channel!
Omg where has this channel been? Why do you constantly fail me algorithm? This is a favorite movie of my family. My grandfather served on a mine sweeper, he never saw any Japanese either. Great video. This was amazing and I gleefully subbed and have 5 more of your videos cued up. Thanks Dr Munger
Edit: Also did you know that on the show The Mandalorian John Wayne's grandson Brendan is the one usually in the suit?
Very good - brought back happy memories of Sunday afternoon movies with my family in the UK.
Now do Operation Petticoat please!
Just found yourr channel, I am a High School history teacher in Oklahoma, I see a lot of content on your channel i will be watching
This is great to hear, thank you!
It's true that in wartime as in other times, there are unglamorous bureaucracies that provide necessary services-- and also true that very little literature, theater or cinema is produced about such entities. However, I think your minimizing of combat service (because there were more bureaucrats than combatants in WWII) is limited. The men and women who did serve on the front lines were imperiled in every way and faced horrors that we can hardly imagine now. Ken Burns' very thorough documentary about the war shows this persuasively.
Perhaps "greatest generation" is also an overstatement, but the people who fought in that war-- whatever their relative numbers-- faced great challenges. And in that war the enemy's operations and plans truly were almost wholly evil.
What about Norman Mailer? His WWII novel "The Naked and the Dead" was such a stunner. He too was in that generation...and a veteran.
You are wrong about returning veterans. Dad returned from service in the Navy as a radioman on an attack transport in WW2 with everything important in life still ahead of him: raising a family, college on the GI Bill, owning a home, sending kids to college and careers, and a 67 year marriage. Dad had a Mr. Roberts experience when a popular Exec was promoted into his own ship, Dad's transfer request was denied, fortunately because the Exec's ship was sunk with heavy loss of life. He had about six stories from the war, all incomplete and all never-changing, one of which, one time, caused him to tear up. He was on radio watch when there was a collision between a French aircraft carrier and another troop transport, spilling a number of GIs into the winter North Atlantic in the dark of the night. Water temp around 31F. The rescue ship in the convoy was given 15 minutes to search. Because of U-boat threats, no lights. No survivors.
I believe his post-service life was fairly common. Mom hated Hirohito with a passion long after the war ended, it was many decades before Dad bought a Japanese car.
For what it's worth, the idea about veterans having the "best years of their lives" behind them was made by Civil War historian Bruce Catton in one of his trilogies. For a better view, see George MacDonald Fraser's Quartered Safe Out Here. Fraser served in the Burma campaign with the 14th Indian Division.
Love your channel, loved this movie as a kid, watched it many times and agree with your take on the so-called Greatest Generation. I think the greatest American novel about WW2 is Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, as much as you can say that book is "about" the war rather than the systems which produced and grew out of it.
As I sit here once again watching the trailer of Mr. Roberts, and reading the reviews, I have to marvel how destiny dealt me cards of what my life would turn out to be and the synchronicity of it all. I joined the navy in 1957, in 1958 I was stationed in Astoria Oregon where we tended to moth balled ships. We had several AKL's ( same as the Reluctant) it's possible we even had her there. AKL stands for Auxiliary Light Cargo. The movie is a wee bit over the top but not by much. Most every aspect of the movie I experienced in my 22 years in the navy. Stationed on small island, served on a destroyer and a carrier. The destroyer I was on was asked to leave Midway Island early because we were too rowdy. In those days destroyers had to stop to refuel at Midway after our 6 or 7 month duty in the Far East on our way back to the west coast. I retired in 1991 (broken service) all of this is almost like yesterday to me. I'm amazed how much I can remember the details of all that went down.
haha...I remember those Saturday afternoon movies, Sunday too, Always hoping it was going to be something like The Vikings :)) Always like the beginning of that movie with the music and introduction.
In the TV series Band of Brothers, there is a interesting segment in the last show where the real life soldiers' portrayed in the series talk about there life after the War , some came back and felt they could do anything after what they had been through and accomplished, while others came back and felt lost because of what they had been through. Funny the mental makeup of people, I know in my brothers' case when he came back from Vietnam where he served as a door gunner on a helicopter, he went on to become a Federal Judge, but his best friend from college drank himself to death by the time he was forty.
I saw this movie late at night when I was a teenager. It was responsible for me to read the copy of the book which my WW II Pacific veteran father had in the basement, then i started reading the books on the war that he had and I became a history nerd. Part of the movie was filmed at Midway Island, where John Ford was during the battle and some of his film of the Japanese attack are used as stock footage.
Indeed! Saving Private Ryan actually made me physically sick: that was how nauseating I found it! What a load of ol' codswallop that was. Great to hear someone who shares my opinion. But that's coming from someone who hated the Titanic which everyone else loved.
Well, now I know why my father loved this movie. He served on the USS Mathews (AKA-96) during WW2 which was also an attack cargo ship and had his own stories. 🙃
Also, he (and many other sailors) said they wanted to see combat and were "distressed" that the war ended before they could.
Great analysis. Always liked this film. My father was a B17 bombardier, was shot down over Holland, and spent a year and a half in Stalag 1. I also TOTALLY agree with your "greatest generation" take, along with "Saving Private Ryan". It was a bunch of sentimental pap meant to make Americans feel good about themselves. Always imagined Brokaw writing a book about the depression and calling it "The Worst Generation", which makes about as much sense. BTW, always thought HBOs "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" were two of the best war dramas ever made, so go figure.
My father served aboard the U.S,S. Brazos, an oiler (A0-1). He was the Exec, The Navigator, and finished the war as a Lieutenant Commander. I have always wondered if Herman Wouk used the activities of my dad's ship as a part basis for "The Caine Mutiney". My father land several other officers went to a higher authority (not as high as Admiral Bull Halsey as depicted in "The Caine Mutiny") to have the captain of the Brazos removed, as he was a mentally ill, abusive officer. They were successful getting the Captain removed and replaced by legal means, NOT a mutiny.
Had I known Wouk was still alive in the early 2000s, I would have made an effort and contacted Wouk to see if the removal of the captain of the U.S.S. Brazos was a part of Wouk's research when writing "The Caine Mutiny". I know my dad said it happened around August of 1944, sorta close to "The Caine Mutiny" timeline in the fictional stories account. I guess I'll never know now. The Department of the Navy records for the ship never mention the removal of the captain, but certainly the documentation of the order to remove the captain must exist somewhere. Oh well. Thank you for the video.
Like my father who was a Merchant Marine in WWII, many boring days and all they had to worry about was a torpedo coming out of nowhere, but maybe that would of made things more interesting over those long days :))
One of the greatest Navy stories to come out of WWII I believe the US Naval Institute has placed the book on its recommended list. When I was in graduate school at Georgetown in the early 1970’s Herman Wouk could be seen walking his dog near the University. “The Caine Mutiny” was one of the first adult level novels I remember reading, though large parts of it I did not understand at the time mid 1950’s.
It's a great book.
I would remind everyone what Alfred Hitchcock once replied to a criticism of one of his films. "It's only a movie"!
Very good take on SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and the so called Greatest Generation Sean... somebody needed to say it..!
I don't know if you'll read this comment, Sean, but have you tried looking into the book The Hooligans of Kandahar by Joseph Kassabian?
It's very similar to The Things They Carried, and addresses many of these topics within the context of the occupation of Afghanistan.
It's a good read, even if it commits the unforgivable sin of having been written in first person perspective.
I too adore this movie. Along with Operation Petticoat, Wackiest Ship in the Army, and Father Goose. They definitely show a lighter side of WW2. Memories of watching these movies with my dad. He was a young teen during WW2 and didnt serve but he had three brothers that did.
My dad served in the Pacific on the USS Key destroyer escort. He raised 6 children. He never spoke about the war ever. When I asked about it, he wouldn't share any of his experiences.
Norman Mailer is missing from the list of WWII authors. I think The Naked and the Dead is up there with From Here to Eternity. I think I always saw Mister Roberts as a tragedy. Despite the comic elements, even when I was a little kid (I probably first saw the movie in the late 60's or early 70's) there seemed to be a tragic element to Roberts even before his transfer.
I am always a bit sceptic about cannels on youtube, but this one actually good. I share your opinon on the Indiana Jonesserieand the gradeing of them.
So I fond your videos very entertaining and informativ.
Think you!
6:20
The movie DOES explain why the captain is like he is. He was a bus boy and porter who was tired of being on the 'low class' end of society, and his power as captain has gone to his head.
How interesting. I would like more about the Trauma of WW2 Soldiers.
first time i've ever heard the term "twink" used in a historical documentary, so big points for innovation on that front! And i tend to agree about saving private ryan. Rob Ager (aka collative learning) has some pretty good analysis of that movie that go into pretty substantial detail about how its essentially a glorified piece of pro war propaganda. its still a very well made war film and i genuinely think spielbergs heart was in the right place, he just couldn't help but make something somewhat shallow and unreflective, as opposed to a lot of other war films that i would consider a lot more interesting (platoon, the thin red line etc)
The .movie and tbe play most certainly DOES explain why the captain is so mean: When he tells Roberts how he has been pushed around by Roberts' "kind" since he was "ten years old, working as a bus boy." And some people are just mean for no reason.
I just daw this film on tubi. I akways liked James Cagney, Henry Fonda, William Powell and Jack Lennon. John Ford started to direct this film and Ford's temper flew. I heard that he got so angry he punch Henry Fonda. Its a really great film.
Although this film is dear to me, I find huge problems with its execution at the hands of its many directors. There's an old adage about acting that's also true in life. "Good comedy is best played straight." Although there are certainly humorous moments, they were the result of men whose forced, mundane existence reduced their highest aspirations to those of peeking at naked nurses with binoculars, being shirtless while working in extreme heat and getting drunk as often as possible. Hardly worthwhile activities had they better options. While those moments were played up as if the Bowery Boys had gone to sea, they should have been treated as what they were. The drastically-curtailed meanderings of normal men with no better options given the punitive restrictions of their egomaniacal captain. Because of the ham-fisted direction these segments received to yuck it up to attract audiences, they were portrayed as drunken bumpkins with double-digit IQ's.And in so doing, the profound and self-sacrificing gesture the men make in getting Roberts what he wanted becomes un-weighted from the gravitas it should have gotten. Rather than courageously and selflessly take turns forging the captain's signature on a document that was sure to remove their beloved Roberts from their midst, they they were portrayed as too drunk and stupid to know what they were doing. So their their risk of prosecution for forgery weighed nothing as a gesture. And prosecution would be a very real possibility given the vindictiveness of their captain. This great story deserved better treatment and understanding of its true nature and the lessons of compassion, selflessness, and kindness that were its real message. And as Roberts' letter states so well, the REAL meaning of courage and bravery.
Fonda counted this role as his favorite having played in on Broadway over 2000 times. He came to blows with his old friend Ford over the direction and it would be my guess it was about the very issues about which I wrote above.
What about "Captain Newman, MD", specifically the roles played by Eddie Albert and Bobbie Darren?
I'm afraid I can't relate to anybody that doesn't think Saving Private Ryan is a great film.
always recommend Paul fussell's Wartime as a read.
All of his stuff is great.
You might want to check the facts about you grandfather’s service. My father served on a LST and was under attack by Japanese warships, shore batteries, and especially by kamikazes. LSTs went onto the beaches to unload troops and tanks. Naval service usually meant you did not see the enemy soldiers, but you saw and felt their bullets. And if your ship was sunk, you died just as certainly.
He told me they were never under attack. You think you'd remember something like that, wouldn't you? I mean it's not easy to forget.
@@SeanMunger thank you for your prompt reply. I respect his service nonetheless. One other point is that terror in warfare is not confined to combat. My father was shipwrecked while serving on a destroyer early in the war. He described it matter-of-factly, but I later found, only by research, that many men died in that shipwreck.
This was a good movie I think it was one of my step dad favorite movies, what really kinda got me about the story line was that I think the doctor could have done more the caption was a very cruel and sadistic man in my opinion not fit for the job.
Sean, if your surname is münger, why is it that your grandfathers' surname, is Orrell (as depicted@28:30)??? Obviously, different than yours???
On another note; My dad (who was in the navy, during the Korean conflict) was the one, who watched 'Mr. Roberts' with me, when I was a little boy. ALWAYS LOVED, 'Mr. Roberts', as it's a mainstay, of my war film, lineup.
You seem unfamiliar with the concept of maternal grandparents. 😜
Maternal?? I'm not familiar, with that term🤔. Is that not, your real parents??? If you mentioned that, I must of not, caught it.
Maternal grandparents? Your mother's parents? Also my name is not Münger (with a umlaut). It's not German.
@@SeanMunger Thank you. Sorry, 'bout that. I never had grandparents, on my mother's, side. Munger, is British then🤔??
Unless your mother was of virgin birth and thus literally Christ, you definitely have grandparents on your mother's side. Your mother had a mother and father. I absolutely guarantee it.
The very reasons you give for not deifying the greatest generation are THE very reasons that make them the "Greatest Generation" ever. They selflessly sacrificed, without wanting ego boosting recognition, and YES, it should be recognized, and it should never be forgotten. These men, and women, fought actual Nazis, fought actual evil, and are the basis for the greatest expansion and lifting of human rights and easing of human suffering in the entire history of human existence.
YOU LEFT OUT EUGENE SLEDGE. WITH THE OLD BREED. I READ THAT BOOK 30 YRS AGO
The endless boredom, doing backbreaking work for tyrant and the only thing sometimes piercing thought that monotony is the endless horror of the industrialized war grinder, where you might get sacrificed.
After witnessing the horrors of war, transfer to combat unit probably lost any hero appeal.
Cargo ships usually are not on the commissioned ships list. Today they would carry an USNS prefix, but during WW2 i don't think that was already active, so going by the text you showed from the Movie start it would have been SS THE RELUCTANT... but not "USS RELUCTANT".
Ah okay "Attack Cargo Ships" are basically landing craft mother ships. Bringing the boats and their crew complement to a landing zone.
Which brings them into Combat. A lot. And explains the commission for them.
Virgo or at least troops she deployed actually saw combat at Tarawa, Kawajalein, Bougainville, New Guinea, Guam, Peleliu all during 1944.
In between those she mostly served in landing maneuvers to prepare the troops meant to be carried. In October 1942 she was refurbished in a san Francisco Yard and after that would serve more pedestrian cargo transport needs, mostly resupplying fleets awaiting their role in invasions.
APA = ATTACK TRANSPORT/ TROOPSHIP = VICTORY . Liberties had a diff nomination code, can t recall rite now (maybe AP ? ). AGC = Amphibious Command Ship. Look it up. . NAVY = ACCURACY = The Navy Way ....
Suggest dig up AWAY ALL BOATS w Jeff Chandler who died prematurely post a back-surgery ...has a VICTORY under Kamikazes ...color
Yes - younger people are doing away with the Greatest Generation thing, but sadly, many are also doing away with the idea that democracy defeating fascism was noble. I think many would have rather seen communism winning out in the end.
love the royal, mine was light brown
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
EDWARD L. BEACH, Leon Uris : Battle Cry (= a Van Heflin film ! ), JAMES BASSETT : In Harm s Way (a Kirk - Wayne feature 1966 ! ! ! ), MARTIN CAIDIN ... to name a few of the essential pac war "fictionists" the lecturer "4got" ...(?). JOHN HERSEY.
Semper fiNN Welcome to NATO 🇫🇮
sean munger supremacy
The captain kept attacking Fonda character, as a rich person with high and mighty education. Perhaps the caotain character, felt inferior to Mr. Roberts, cayse captain not not rich and not well educated. So he has it in for Mr. Robert's.
I thought I was the only one who hates the whole 'greatest generation' thing.
Go back to your PlayStation!
Play Station?@@mikealvord55
It doesn’t matter guys, they did what they had to whether they wanted to, or not and got the job done, even if it was on a cargo ship. They ARE the greatest generation. And the idea of reacclimating to society proves it.
Hey Sean, somebody's gonna be the hero. That stuff you're spouting between 26 and 28 minutes, It's a load of crap bro. Sometimes men have to stand up and be, if not what they really were, what we think they were. That's how civilization moves forward.
I'm a combat vet. You will never find someone less war friendly, then a combat vet. If you tell me, "thank you for your service.", I will tell you, "Thank you for your taxes," shake your hand, and move on. If I have to be a hero, my shoulders are broad enough for it, my back is strong enough, and so was your granddad's. Its the last service that we vets get to give. The knowledge that when we were needed we served.
I don't want you to forget with those men and women did when they came home. They changed the entirety of society. They Integrated schools (Brown vs the Board of Education) Gave rights to the downtrodden (Gideon vs Wainwright), Created pharmiticutical women's health and birth control ( Doctor Percy Julian), Presided over women's reproductive rights (Roe vs Wade) Created vast wealth across all areas of society. If there ever was the greatest generation of Americans, it was those who served in WWII and what they did afterwards. It's not unfair it's just the truth. If you want to argue, it was the founding fathers, Fine state your case. But for me, the folks, who live through the depression, fought World War 2, strenghiened America into he greatest country in the world, fought social inequities, and created the society that finally lived up to the concept that," all men were created equal" in the 50s-80s; They were greater than anyone before them, and we have yet to live up to this standard.