My dad fought in World War 2 and was injured in the Reischwald Forest near the end of the war. He was sent to Belgium to recuperate from being shot. He awoke and found he was unshaven, was cold and found out his dad was told he died. The Red Cross came in and offered to shave him, give him a blanket and write to his dad… for a fee! They were going to charge him to bathe him, shave him, charge him for a blanket and charge him for writing a letter. My dad told them, to take their offer and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Later, the Salvation Army came in and did all of this without asking for one dime. He was warm, clean shaven, bathed and, most importantly, wrote a letter to his dad and mailed it free of charge. When I met my ex, his dad was also shot near the end of the war, sent to a Belgium hospital and had the exact same experience! 81 years ago, both brave men went through the same experience and I thought this would be a great theme…the military hospital. I love the film, “M.A.S.H.” But I spoke about it more than once so I chose not to talk about it this time. Here are my picks on Military Hospitals…
1. CAPTAIN NEWMAN M.D.-1963
This is an under-appreciated film that stars Gregory Peck as a Military psychiatrist who chooses unique therapy methods to try and help his many patients dealing with all sorts of PTSD, which used to be called Battle Fatigue in WW2 and She’ll Shock in WW1. Peck is under-staffed, but he is able to convince Tony Curtis, an orderly with an unorthodox way to help the patients, plus Angie Dickenson, to help him deal with his, too many, patients. The patients include Bobby Darin, dealing with survivor’s guilt abusing alcohol, a soldier who is catatonic who hid out in a basement for a year in a Nazi occupied town and a colonel, played so well by Eddie Albert, who is severely unhinged because the men who served under him died. It is not all serious but also has some good comedic moments.
2. 36 HOURS-1964
This is a little different because it’s about an army Major, played by the always great James Garner, dealing with amnesia in an U. S. military hospital. His psychiatrist, played by Robert Taylor and Taylor’s nurse, Eva Marie Saint, are trying to help him remember the details of early June, 1944. It is 1950, and Garner is trying to recall what his life was before the War ended until he sees his paper cut on his finger. When he dupes one of the orderlies who promptly stands at attention in a very German way, he realizes he is being duped. The war is still on and it is early June, 1944. He has been captured and the bad Germans are trying to get him to disclose details of an oncoming invasion. It’s a pretty good thriller with all sorts of duplicity going on. It’s a good thriller with great actors and worth a watch.
3. COMING HOME-1978
This film was made because of Jane Fonda’s dedication to her negative views about the Vietnam War. She plays the wife to Bruce Dern, who is about to be deployed to Vietnam. When he leaves, she changes her life by moving into an apartment and buying a sports car. Her friend coaxes her to volunteer at a military hospital where she meets an angry Joh Voight. He is a Vietnam Vet left a paraplegic because of thewar. They knew each other in high school and slowly develop a friendship which leaves to love. This happens surrounded by the turmoil and destruction of human beings because of this war. Their bliss is interrupted when her husband returns broken because of the war. I saw this when it first came out and should see it again. I would have liked the film if it centered less on the lovey story ( and Fonda’s orgasm scene) and more on the actual soldiers. I do remember the Oscars because this film was up for many awards along with, “The Deer Hunter” which became a bitter rival. I think the 2 directors even started to fight at one of the awards shows…oh brother.
Bonus..
TV SHOW M.A.S.H.- 1972-1983
I love this TV show that ran for 11 seasons and the finale is still the highest rated TV ending..ever! This show came from the 1970 film of the same name. Alan Alda plays Hawkeye Pierce, a top notch surgeon, Loretta Swift plays head nurse, Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlahan who loves men that outrank her.Gary Burghoff plays the company clerk, Radar O’Rielly, who also appeared in the film. Mclean Stephenson, Larry Linville, Wayne Rogers, Jamie Farr and William Christopher were in the first part of this series but in season 4, McLean and Rogers left the show and, in season 5, Linville left. Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell and then David Ogden Stiers entered the show and stayed until the end. This show started out as an all out comedy with some serious overtones but, once Alda became the star of the series, he changed the format and it became more of a dramedy. I do love the early episodes and, I think, once Alda became Creative Consultant, director and writer on the series, it lost that black satiric comedy. I do believe Alda went overboard in a couple of episodes clubbing us over the head with his preach ways. Overall, though, this show is one of the very best written shows that takes place during the Korean War at a MASH hospital. I hope young people find this show and continue to keep this famous as it deserves to be.
What Military hospital shows have you seen?
Interesting topic, Birgit, and what a coincidence that both of your dads had the same wartime experience! Of your movies, I've only seen Coming Home, but the first two sound really interesting and I'd like to watch them. MASH was an excellent movie, but IMO, the TV show was even better. You might recall that Steven McCarthy, who hosted BOTB for years, was a background actor on that show and had many anecdotes about it. P.S. My father was a Korean war vet who had PTSD. He would leave the room when I was watching MASH. Painful memories, I assume.
ReplyDeleteTV show WAS better. Alan Alda was a great Hawkeye.
DeleteYes, he was outstanding. I loved that show! ♥
DeleteI love MASH and I bought the whole series in DVD. It is better than the film by far and there are so many episodes tht I love. Yes, I know Stephen was in it as a background player. If I’m not mistaken, he plays the soldier who is brain dead and they need his aorta to save the life of another soldier. I have to ask him. I do find that some of the older shows, once Alan Alda, had creative control, etc..became a bit heavy handed in the “war is bad. This is immoral yadda yadda.” There are a couple of shows where he kind of rewrote an earlier episode and made it a moral point. In an early episode, he and Trapper take out an appendix from a General so that General can’t kill more of his troops. It’s done in a sub plot and jokes abounded. In a later episode, Hawkeye is so incensed by how uncaring the General is to his troops, that he takes out the man’s appendix. B. J. Is horrified by what Hawkeye wants and does do. It’s heavy handed and ends where another General take over. The worst episode, for me, was when a nurse, no one knew, walked into a mine field and blew up. Hawkeye decides to give all the people he cares for a memento to make sure that no life goes unnoticed. He talks to each one about his love for them. It was too much and it’s always Hawkeye who saves the day or does something like this. Blecchh. Aside from this, many episodes are just great!
DeleteI had no idea the Red Cross was that mercenary during WWII. I've seen M*A*S*H (movie and series), but none of your other picks. They sound interesting, though.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was surprised to hear that from my dad and then, years later from my dad-in-law. I wonder if that happened just in this hospital or everywhere. My mom, on the other hand recalls getting shoes from the Red Cross. I hope you see the other 2 movies
DeleteThere's a great movie called Atonement (based on the novel) with a heart-wrenching military hospital scene that really resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteHahahaaa…I call that movie “ABorement” . Sorry, maybe I should see it again and see if I was wrong. I know that Jeff, Ron, Sue and Mark all felt the same. I caught Ron sleeping. The ending is a shocker and very, very sad. It was the middle of the film that just f let like a slog.
DeleteI never got into MASH, but I'm in a minority for sure---as usual. The first movie with a military hospital scene that comes to mind is the biopic about Cole Porter Night and Day.
ReplyDeleteLee
Talk about a minority...I despise the movie "Rudy." Very few people understand my animosity...lol.
DeleteI have to see both of your choices. You know, I almost went with Gone With The Wind with the epic scene of Scarlett among all those soldiers.
DeleteThat is amazing that the Red Cross asked for money. Today, sadly, I could see it, but the 1940s? Wow.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the movie "MASH." Plus, I really liked the TV series until it got all Alan Alda preachy.
Yeah,,, The Red Cross was horrible in tht area but I have no idea if they were like this everywhere. Thank goodness the Salvation Army came and write the letter for my dad to make sure his dad knew he was alive. I agree with you about the preachy Alan Alda. There are a few where he went way too heavy handed. Thank goodness, most of the episodes are great.
DeleteI am gobsmacked about the Red Cross.
DeleteI haven't seen any of these movies. The Jane Fonda one sounds the most interesting to me. I'll have to look for that.
ReplyDelete