The War Lover (1962)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Philip Leacock

Writers:

John Hersey (novel)
Howard Koch (writer)

Release Date:

25 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

John Hersey's Major Novel of World War II

Plot:

Buzz Rickson is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Bomber | Bomber Pilot | Courage | Airplane

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Capt. Buzz Rickson
Robert Wagner	...	1st Lt. Ed Bolland
Shirley Anne Field	...	Daphne Caldwell
Gary Cockrell	...	2nd Lt. Marty Lynch
Michael Crawford	...	Sgt. Junior Sailen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ed Bishop	...	Col. Vogt (as Edward Bishop)
Bernard Braden	...	Flight Surgeon Randall
Tom Busby	...	Sgt. Farr
Charles De Temple	...	Capt. Braddock
Louise Dunn	...	Hazel
Robert Easton	...	Sgt. Handown
Bill Edwards	...	2nd Lt. Max Brindt
Arthur Hewlett	...	Vicar
Chuck Julian	...	Lamb
Bob Kanter	...	2nd Lt. Haverstraw
Sean Kelly	...	Capt. Woodman
Richard Leech	...	Maj. Murika
Justine Lord	...	Street Girl
Neil McCallum	...	Sully
George Sperdakos	...	Sgt. Bragliani
Jerry Stovin	...	Col. Emmet
Viera	...	Singer
Al Waxman	...	Sgt. Prien

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Steve Mcqueen had a stand up row with wardrobe mistress Wyn Keely after a blouse worn by Shirley Ann field didn't rip during there kissing scene on the first take.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The briefing map the pilots get to see before the raid on Leipzig shows the Netherlands as having an area of reclaimed land that was not yet there during WW II. It's called Eastern Flevoland (or, in Dutch: Oostelijk Flevoland) and wasn't finished until 1957.

Quotes:

Captain Buzz Rickson: What's the matter Bolland, afraid to die?
1st Lt Ed Bolland: Damn right I am. But you're scared to live.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005)

Character Study of Arrogance and Conceit

I haven't read the John Hersey novel others praise. (I've always liked Hersey's reporting and writing - just missed this one). So I can judge only the movie.

Steve McQueen gives a truly wonderful performance as the sort of guy you want to punch - arrogant, self-absorbed, cruel, conceited. (Of course in life, we read the same of him!). Robert Wagner also gives a wonderful performance - how not to appear a loser when the cruel arrogant one always wins. Shirley Anne Field is absolutely lovely in a very upper class/dreamgirl sort of way.

The movie is quite romantic - you really believe in Wagner-Field as a couple. There is warmth and lust and trust and realism between the two. The movie gives the flavor of love in wartime almost as well as Yanks.

I quite liked the movie- but it seems too short - let us have more of these characters' interactions. They ARE interesting characters at an interesting and dangerous time. I suppose if they'd have taken more from Hersey's novel, it would have felt a more substantial meal.