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Fall 2009 Program
DIARY OF ANN FRANK
Tues, October 20, 7pm, Warner Student Life Center (TL II)Fee and Code: $5 per person. Brookdale students: Free.
XWWTS 206
George Stevens (Giant) directed this 1959 film based on the writings of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl from Amsterdam who hid in an attic with her family and others during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Stevens turns the many overlapping dramas of the caged characters into the foundation of Anne's growth as a young woman, ready for life and love just at the moment the dream comes to an end. Filmed on location in Amsterdam around the actual house in which the family had hidden, great care was taken to make the film look as authentic as possible. Otto Frank and one of the men who helped hide him and his family, Johannes Kleiman, were brought in as advisors so that the movie set could be set up according to their memories. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three.
SO PROUDLY WE HAIL
Tues, November 17, 7pm, Warner Student Life Center (TL 1)
Fee and Code: $5 per person. Brookdale students: Free.
XWWTS 207
"So Proudly We Hail" (1943), traces the true story of the lives of several Red Cross nurses from the time they leave pre-war San Francisco through the trials and tribulations of their service with the armed services in the South Pacific. Three in particular are focused on: team leader Lt. Janet Davidson (Claudette Colbert), vivacious Lt. Joan O'Doul (Paulette Goddard) and inwardly tormented Lt. Olivia D'Arcy (Veronica Lake). Their stories are interwoven through the real life action of the group first being sent to Hawaii and then to the Bataan region in the Philippine Islands where they care for and then help evacuate military and civilian wounded in the face of the Japanese invasion of the islands. The saga ends with the remains of their party being evacuated after much loss and suffering to Australia. The finale was designed to lift the spirits of the audience, which in 1943 was not as certain as Hollywood of final victory in World War II. Come and see for yourself.
THE WINTER WAR
Tues, November 24 7pm, Warner Student Life Center (TL 1)
Fee and Code: $5 per person. Brookdale students: Free.
XWWTS 208
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"Winter War" (Talvisota in Finnish) is a docu-drama of the 1939-40 Russo-Finnish War seen through the eyes of a reserve infantry unit. They are seen leaving their farms upon mobilization and one follows them into battle until an armistice some 110 days later. Although most who know anything about the Winter War maintain visions of Finnish ski troops skiing rings around the Russians, the majority of Finnish units operated conventionally either in the Finnish Mannerheim Line or to the North/North East of it. It is the action of these units that this film describes. The battle scenes are authentic and the vehicles, weapons, and uniforms use are all entirely accurate. One watches as more and more Finnish are killed and wounded in relentless Red Army assaults. A sense of loss is brought home simply, but elegantly, in the scenes regarding the "home front". The final effect of the news of an armistice on the troops is depressing to see, but again entirely accurate. This film is a fitting tribute to the Finnish "Greatest Generation" who also did nothing less than ultimately save their nation from Soviet domination. Finnish with English subtitles.
THE GALLANT HOURS
Tues, December 15, 7pm, Warner Student Life Center (TL 1)
Fee and Code: $5 per person. Brookdale students: Free.
XWWTS 209
“The Gallant Hours” is an episodic biography of US Admiral William "Bull" Halsey during the early days of World War II while he was the naval theater commander for the Guadalcanal campaign in the South West Pacific. James Cagney is superb in this very unusual war film, which relies primarily on character development and the intensity of interpersonal relationships to tell its story. Although Admiral Halsey (Cagney) is the central figure, the movie also closely follows the involvement of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese theater commander, giving the viewer an interesting and enlightening counterpoint perspective of the attitudes, concerns and approaches of the opposing leaders. For the individual who wants a serious treatment of the personal effects of warfare, “The Gallant Hours” is a sobering, not to be forgotten movie experience.
*Fee is not an admissions charge. The fee covers the costs of promoting the program and refreshments.