Matt McKeon
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- Aug 25, 2019
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I saw this tonight, the 1951 starring war hero Audie Murphy. It was directed by John Huston, who made a 135 minute version. It didn't test well, and the studio cut it to 70 minutes, then lost or destroyed the negative, so the mutilated film could never be restored. What a loss!
Murphy is pretty good as the self doubting "Youth" considering he seemed to not doubt himself at all in actual WWII combat. The short film, with a ponderous narration by James Whitmore, has its moments, beautifully composed and deep focused shots, interesting character actors: the sincere and steady Jim Conlin, the strict lieutenant, and the most interesting of all, Bill Maudlin the cartoonist as one of Murphy's comrades, a substantial part.
But it has been slashed to bits. Too bad. I think it should be remade today, properly.
Murphy is pretty good as the self doubting "Youth" considering he seemed to not doubt himself at all in actual WWII combat. The short film, with a ponderous narration by James Whitmore, has its moments, beautifully composed and deep focused shots, interesting character actors: the sincere and steady Jim Conlin, the strict lieutenant, and the most interesting of all, Bill Maudlin the cartoonist as one of Murphy's comrades, a substantial part.
But it has been slashed to bits. Too bad. I think it should be remade today, properly.