MacArthur

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but a flawed portrait of MacArthur
Review: Gregory Peck does his customary stellar job in this very enjoyable movie about General Douglas MacArthur. The film spans the time frame from the onset of World War II and the fall of the Phillipines (of which MacArthur was military commander) through the relief of General MacArthur in the midst of the Korean War. The movie is notably true to history in all respects that I could determine, and deserves kudos for that.

In my opinion the film is flawed because it goes out of its way to portray MacArthur in an unfavorable light. It ridicules his skillful use of public relations, and presents MacArthur as a demagogue and as a somewhat shallow, manipulative, and downright political General. The troops' dislike of MacArthur is overplayed--other great generals were not always popular with their men, but the fact is that MacArthur and his strategy of bypassing Japanese strong points ("island hopping") worked, and saved countless American and Allied lives. While there is perhaps some truth to the notion that MacArthur was obsessed with his image to the American people, the fact is that the country needed heros in the dark days following Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt knew it and served up Patton and MacArthur, and MacArthur knew it too. In the early days of American involvement in the war, guts and morale were about all the country had going for it.

The movie deserves praise for its portrayal of MacArthur's handling of the Korean War. I don't recall ever seeing a more insightful or accurate dramatic portrayal of what happened in this underexamined war, and the movie gives MacArthur credit for his boldness and genius, and at the same time, in a fair and evenhanded way, the film explains why President Truman saw fit to relieve MacArthur. This action was appropriate although unfortunate, and the film handles this episode fairly, in my opinion.

The movie "Patton" is probably the model for how a movie should portray the life story of a great American general. compared against "Patton" this film does not measure up. Nevertheless, this film is well worth seeing and owning despite its flaws.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but a flawed portrait of MacArthur
Review: Gregory Peck does his customary stellar job in this very enjoyable movie about General Douglas MacArthur. The film spans the time frame from the onset of World War II and the fall of the Phillipines (of which MacArthur was military commander) through the relief of General MacArthur in the midst of the Korean War. The movie is notably true to history in all respects that I could determine, and deserves kudos for that.

In my opinion the film is flawed because it goes out of its way to portray MacArthur in an unfavorable light. It ridicules his skillful use of public relations, and presents MacArthur as a demagogue and as a somewhat shallow, manipulative, and downright political General. The troops' dislike of MacArthur is overplayed--other great generals were not always popular with their men, but the fact is that MacArthur and his strategy of bypassing Japanese strong points ("island hopping") worked, and saved countless American and Allied lives. While there is perhaps some truth to the notion that MacArthur was obsessed with his image to the American people, the fact is that the country needed heros in the dark days following Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt knew it and served up Patton and MacArthur, and MacArthur knew it too. In the early days of American involvement in the war, guts and morale were about all the country had going for it.

The movie deserves praise for its portrayal of MacArthur's handling of the Korean War. I don't recall ever seeing a more insightful or accurate dramatic portrayal of what happened in this underexamined war, and the movie gives MacArthur credit for his boldness and genius, and at the same time, in a fair and evenhanded way, the film explains why President Truman saw fit to relieve MacArthur. This action was appropriate although unfortunate, and the film handles this episode fairly, in my opinion.

The movie "Patton" is probably the model for how a movie should portray the life story of a great American general. compared against "Patton" this film does not measure up. Nevertheless, this film is well worth seeing and owning despite its flaws.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie about an American legend!!!!
Review: Having read William Manchester's epic biography of MacArthur, "American Ceasar", I found this movie to be just a brief synopsis of one short period in his interesting and often controversial life. MacArthur's disdain for some authority, so prevelant in his dealings with Truman and depicted in the movie, was evident as early as 1908, when he received several reprimands as a young first lieutenant. He was a Momma's boy ("Pinky" stayed in a hotel near West Point throughtout his schooling there), and a prima donna almost without peer. His comment in the movie, to the effect, that he and his mother were the first mother and son to gradutate from West Point was actually more truthful than humorous. Patton was a prima donna and he readily admitted it, while MacArthur would have never accepted that description of himself. (Interesting trivia: Patton's Aunt moved from California to be nearby during his West Point days, but Patton was more "Papa's" boy than Momma's.)

MacArthur truly saw himself as a military genius and therefore, he should be completely above the imposed and interferring requirements of the constitutionally mandated civilian control of the military. He labeled the civilain control over the military as "a dangerous concept", and this is portrayed truthfully in the movie.

There are many revisionist thoughts today as to his real leadership abilities, or whether some, such as Army Air Corps General George Kenney and others, were the real inspiration behind his successes. There were many, without argument, Kenney included, who contributed immensely to victory in the Pacific. MacArthur got most of the credit. There are many books and articles around to support whether he deserved this credit or not, and you can accept any view you wish to take on the issue. But, that argument is, of course, far beyond the purpose of this review. The movie leaves little doubt it was MacArthur's genius (forget the atom bomb) that was responsible for defeating Japan.

Fact is, the United States needed heros badly, and FDR, fully cognizant of this need, saw an answer in MacArthur, Eisenhower, Marshall, Patton, among others, and he exploited them to the fullest with astronomical, though sometimes controversial, success. MacArthur became a Philipine Field Marshal, after accepting the Philipines as his adopted home, in 1936, and in 1941 FDR recalled him to active duty as the U.S. Far East Commander. A few months after this recall, is roughly the time-frame where the movie begins. His life prior to this point is full of interesting and historical events not mentioned in the movie, and had they been, the movie would exceed "Band of Brothers" in length. His life spanned a period from 1880 to 1964. Interestingly, shortly before his death, he begged LBJ to get out of and stay the hell out of Vietnam. Most of us know how that all turned out. Anyway, enough trivia, back to the movie.

Gregory Peck was superb as MacArthur, and, even though I have tried, I can't think of anyone who could have done it any better. However, IMHO, George C. Scott WAS Patton--Peck, though superb, "portrayed" MacArthur-- just couldn't forget it was Peck. My only complaint, and a small one at that, is that Peck and the writers, overdid the humility angle. The movie made little effort to portray MacArthur in any light, but that of a humble hero. Hero he no doubt was--humble he wasn't. He refused to let Patton come to the Pacific, in spite of Patton's pleas to do so after the European war ended, because he simply was afraid he would be upstaged. Two prima donnas in the Pacific was one too many for MacArthur.

MacArthur was not known for self-deprecation by anybody's account. He obviously had a sincere personal feeling of responsibility, concern and compassion for those left in the Philipines, after his ordered departure. His war-imposed delay in returning to liberate the survivors and the Philipines was an obviously agonizing period in his life. FDR's order for him to leave the Philipines to fight another day, was undoubtedly one of the most difficult orders for MacArthur to obey. His argument with himself, family and staff over whether or not to obey was portrayed truthfully in the movie. I am not sure he deserved a Medal of Honor, but that was FDRs way to increase his status as an heroic symbol with the public at home. His portrayed anxiety over the landing at Inchon in Korea was one of just a very few times in his life that he was filled with much visible self-doubt. His success relieved this anxiety and increased the image of himself and his genius in his mind. This inflated ego contibuted to his ultimate reckoning with Truman.

I was overwhelmed by the actor, Ed Flanders, who portrayed Truman. To me, he WAS Truman. I was sorry to hear that he committed suicide a few years after this movie was made. What a terrible waste of talent.

There are so many interesting stories from MacArthur's life and much is left out of this movie, but overall it is a must to be enjoyed as a brief, mostly true with the usual Hollywood embellishments, look at a complicated man. As others have noted, much was cut from available film and discarded. This is unfortunate as there is a lot of story that would have increased the movies interest and the added length in time would discourage few.

If you haven't seen it before--do. If you collect war genre or historical movies--this is a must for your collection. If you just like an interesting and entertaining movie with popcorn, friends and other essentials--this is a good one. 5 stars, plus.



Rating:
Summary: The best biography film ever made.
Review: I enjoyed this film because of Gregory Peck's portrayal of General Douglas MacArthur. It was powerful and I was amazed by it. The portrayal of President Truman in the film was just as convincing. I think it's worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: GOD BLESS GREGORY PECK!!!
Review: I watched this film as part of TCM's Salute to Gregory Peck, one of the greatest actors ever to grace the screen. He was great in the two versions of "Moby Dick" (as Ahab in the 1956 Version, and as Father Mapple in the 1998 USA Miniseries), and was excellent in "To Kill a Mockingbird." As for this film, Peck put his heart and soul into his portrayal of one of history's greatest military generals: General Douglas MacArthur. The scenes dealing with other people and events tend to lag at times, but Peck's outstanding performance and the epic battle scenes (featuring visual effects that are awesome for 1977) make this film a must-own!! Grade: A+

Rating:
Summary: Where is the uncut version
Review: In my review of the Midway 'Collector's edition' DVD I asked the question: Why won't someone put out a complete version of this movie on DVD or even VHS? I ask the same question for this DVD. It is also a much better movie when complete and you almost never see it that way. I ask the company who put this DVD and the Midway DVD out to please call up TNT cable channel and get the copies of the uncut versions of these films, now!

Rating:
Summary: Where is the uncut version
Review: In my review of the Midway 'Collector's edition' DVD I asked the question: Why won't someone put out a complete version of this movie on DVD or even VHS? I ask the same question for this DVD. It is also a much better movie when complete and you almost never see it that way. I ask the company who put this DVD and the Midway DVD out to please call up TNT cable channel and get the copies of the uncut versions of these films, now!

Rating:
Summary: If you are a history buff, you will LOVE this movie....
Review: Peck is excellent. The quotes from this movie coupled with the Ed Flanders's portray of Harry Truman, coupled with the accuracy of the film historically make this probably my all time favorite film. and the darn thing is on back order! Fudge.

Rating:
Summary: Gregory Peck tries to make sense of Douglas MacArthur
Review: The 1977 film "MacArthur" is well aware that there were two sides to the controversial military leader Douglas MacArthur, and you can almost see the makers of this film flipping a coin to decide which side Gregory Peck gets to show in the next scene. On the one hand there was the brilliant military strategist and leader who directed Allied forces in the Pacific against the Japanese in World War II and for the first half of the Koran War. On the other hand that was the vain and egotistical man who selected official photographs with as much care as he plained invasions and attacks. Most of the credit in this film goes to Peck's performance in making these two diverse sides fit together for the most part.

The contrast between the two is probably best captured in two scenes involving Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright (Sandy Kenyon), who was left behind in command of the Philippines when FDR ordered MacArthur to get to safety in Australia. Even though he promises MacArthur he "will be here or I'll be dead," Wainwright is ultimately forced to surrender and MacArthur goes off the deep end, insisting that Wainwright has gone insane and heaping invective on the man's name. Later in the film, on the day the Japanese signed the articles of surrender on the U.S.S. "Missouri," Wainwright arrives, a gaunt figure after years of captivity in a Japanese prison. MacArthur embraces Wainwright warmly, brushing away all apologies and assuring the man he can have his Corps back as soon as he says the word. MacArthur remains the same man, unconcerned by the obvious contradictions of his nature.

Director Joseph Sargent frames this biopic with MacArthur's famous speech to the cadets of West Point, where he extols the virtues of "Duty," "Honor," "Country." Beyond a brief look back at his early life and military career, the story of the film begins with the general and his besieged forces in the Philippines. But throughout the film we are supposed to hear those words "Duty," "Honor," "Country" resonating. MacArthur is forced to leave the Philippines, but he vows to return, and he does. The UN forces are almost forced off the Korean peninsula, but MacArthur retakes it all before the Chinese get involved. MacArthur is able to force FDR to go with his plans, but finds Harry Truman unwilling to go along, thereby ending a distinguished military career of over half-a-century.

Which sides comes out ahead? The ways Sargent tries to balance the two sides gets pretty interesting. Both Roosevelt (Dan O'Herlihy) and Truman (Ed Flanders) have their pokes at MacArthur, while it is a pair of his Japanese adversaries who speak to his military ability (scenes that are reminiscent of the Germans doing the same thing in "Patton"). The Presidents give the general credit for his military endeavors, but those accolades are buried beneath the verbal ripostes; on the political side the rebuttal comes from actual film footage of Republican Senators (e.g., Nixon of California) supporting MacArthur and blasting Truman. Even stranger, MacArthur's aides are forced to play it both ways. On the one hand they are doing everything they can for the general's public relations, but then there are also times when they basically roll their eyes at what is coming out of MacArthur's mouth.

In the end, MacArthur is not only redeemed by Peck's performance, but by having the final two scenes of the film be the famous pair of speeches MacArthur delivered when he returned to the United States. The first was the "The Old Soldiers" speech given to the Joint Session of Congress and the other the speech to the cadets. When you have a character who has been saying some pretty stupid things from time to time throughout the film and then allow him to reach such flights of oratorical elegance, it is hard not to end on his side of the ledger. "MacArthur" is not enough to allow anyone to make a reasoned judgment on the man and his career, but it should be enough to inspire those who are interested to go read some books that can provide you better evidence for really making up your mind.

Rating:
Summary: Great Gregory Peck Perfomance Is Crippled By Poor Screenplay
Review: The 1977 film of MacArthur is worth watching for the towering performance of Gregory Peck as General Douglas MacArthur. Peck considered this one of his favorite roles and fought with the producers over the screenplay and editing of the film -- and fought he should have because those very flaws kept this movie from being a great film.

MacArthur lead a long, dramatic and heroic life during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. As a vain and brilliant military genius who believed in his own destiny, the movie focuses on the decade 1942-1952. The film feels like MacArthur's greatest hits: the set pieces of Bataan, "I shall return", his rulership of Japan, the Inchon landing in Korea, "The Old Soldier" speech before Congress and so forth WITHOUT pulling the various scenes together into a coherent whole. According to Peck, the original three hour version fleshed out MacArthur more before it was edited down to the 130 minute commerial version.

Without prior knowledge of MacArthur's life, the movie would be confusing and lacking in the richness that was MacArthur's life. As one example, the various military situations are dealt with superfical, briefly and often without maps, so that one does not see the strategic brilliance of his Pacific campaigns. I highly recommend reading William Manchester's "MacArthur" before seeing the film.

Should you see the movie? Yes, even a MacArthur at half speed is more interesting than most movies and Gregory Peck IS MacArthur. He was passed over for an Oscar nomination although that was interpreted at the time as more of a comment on the film itself than upon his acting. It is worth seeing for Peck's performance in and of itself.