War Movies on TCM

Turner Classic Movies is running its tribute to Memorial Day this weekend.  There are some very good and appropriate selections including  Glory, The Longest Day, The Big Parade, From Here to Eternity,  and especially Ford’s They Were Expendable which is the best movie about World War II that I have ever seen. Most of the others  fit the theme, though some of the  fairly large group of service comedies are a stretch.  However a few of the choices make one wonder what the programmers were thinking.

The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Hill, and A Bridge too Far are films entirely or mainly about the British Empire in World War II. Since Memorial Day is a holiday honoring members of the U.S. armed forces,  their selection is a little odd and out of place. The Dirty Dozen, M*A*S*H,  and Kelly’s Heroes, while fun in a different setting (at least the first two; I haven’t seen Kelly’s Heroes, only previews of it), simply do not belong in a salute to Memorial Day and fallen service people.   The tone deafness is surprising. 

A Programming Suggestion

I really enjoy Turner Classic Movies. Indeed it is the main reason we are still on cable. However I have to wonder about their thinking if not their sincerity with their Memorial Day tribute. Once again they are showing films such as  The Dirty Dozen and Kelly’s Heroes. One would think that TCM’s programmers would notice  that  portraying them as psychopaths, halfwits,  and criminals is perhaps not the best way of honoring those who served in the armed forces. (Of course TCM is not alone. One of the other networks is showing Apocalypse Now as one of its Memorial Day offerings.)  The most charitable explanation is that those in charge see all war movies as an undifferentiated collection of shoot ‘em ups with any one doing about as well as another. There are of course less charitable and perhaps  more likely interpretations, particularly since the folks at TCM are supposed to be movie buffs.

It is especially unfortunate since there are so many other choices available. Wings, Sergeant York, What Price Glory, and The Big Parade from World War I, Flying Tigers, From Here to Eternity, In Harm’s Way,  Wake Island, They Were Expendable,  Bataan, Cry Havoc, So Proudly We Hail, Gung Ho, Destination Tokyo, The Enemy Below, Run Silent, Run Deep, The Gallant Hours, PT-109, Patton, The Longest Day, The Story of G.I. Joe, Darby’s Rangers, Command Decision, Twelve O’clock High,  Air Force,  Flying Leathernecks, Sands of Iwo Jima, Battle Cry, Battleground, Stalag 17, and The Big Red One from World War II, and The Bridges at Toko-ri, Pork Chop Hill, The Hanoi Hilton, Flight of the Intruder, The Deer Hunter, and The Green Berets from later conflicts are examples that come to mind easily.  (That does not mean they are all better movies. Some are fairly or even very poor movies, but they would be more appropriate for a tribute because they do not demean the service people who are their subject. That is the point. Movies that do demean service people would be better shown at other times if one’s intent were to produce a tribute.) Of course TCM does include many of these and other appropriate films in their tribute each year. It  just would be nice if they were a bit more consistent.