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Re: Movie Madness



On Fri, 30 Jun 2000, Casey Grene wrote:

> There are books available with titles such as _The Fifty Worst
> Movies of All Time_, or along those lines, which will aid this
> discussion.  Many of the reviewed titles in these books have
> historical themes.  Take John Wayne's portrayal of Genghis Khan in
> THE CONQUEROR (1956).  Susan Hayward played his love interest.
> My favorite are World War II movies which incorporate film footage
> dating from before or after the war as part of the movie.  As a
> military and naval history buff, I can usually spot the
> inaccuracies, especially in the warship models used for miniature
> work.

My favorite is a movie called (I believe) "Flat-Top," done during the
1950s.  It's a story about naval aviators in WWII onboard aircraft
carriers.  They used real war footage of carrier takeoffs and
landings.  The problem is, while the viewer sees "our hero" and his
squadron take off for a mission, they must have switched aircraft in
mid-flight, because the planes that land on the carrier deck,
supposedly bearing the returning aviators, are not even the same
*kind* of plane that they took off in.  How's that for "low budget"?
Out of all the miles of film shot of planes taking off and landing
from carrier decks during the war, they couldn't even match up the
plane types for one takeoff and one landing.

Another pet peeve about military re-creations for movies is that the
19th century cannon never recoil after firing.  Those things, mounted
on wheeled carriages, jumped back two to three feet when they were
fired.  But in the movies they barely move when the muzzle charge is
set off.  You'd the special effects guys could work some of their
magic.  I've even been to a Civil War re-enactment where they were
doing an artillery firing drill.  The guy carrying the sponge was
positioned directly behind one of the wheels, almost against it.  I
said, to no one in particular, "if they were firing ordnance, he'd be
wearing that wheel in a very strategic place."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

James Stimpert                       E-mail:    James.Stimpert@jhu.edu
Archives (Arts and Sciences)
MSE Library
Johns Hopkins University             Voice:     (410) 516-8323
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21218                 Fax:       (410) 516-7202

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