Night at the Movies

“Victory At Sea”

World War II ended almost 80 years ago, and to this day one of the most enduring documentaries about it remains the TV series “Victory at Sea.” Released only eight years after the war ended, and while the Korean War still raged, it originally aired on NBC, premiering October 26, 1952. Produced by Henry Salomon, a former U.S. Navy Lt. […]
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Valkyrie

Directed by Bryan Singer, this 2008 extravaganza is based on actual events that took place in Germany during the Second World War. It pays tribute to Lt. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and his involvement in the July 20, 1944, attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Portraying Stauffenberg is Tom Cruise, a Golden Globe winner, four-time Academy Award nominee and one of […]
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The Great Escape

One of the top adventure movies to come out of Hollywood, this 1963 film was directed by Academy Award Nominee John Sturges. The film was based on the 1950 book by Paul Brickhill, which details a plan to break out 250 Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp. The book is based on Brickhill’s real-life experiences as an […]
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The Big Lift

This 1950 docudrama stars four-time Academy Award nominee Montgomery Clift and veteran character actor Paul Douglas as U.S. Airmen participating in the Berlin Airlift. To consolidate their control over the Occupied City of Berlin, the Russians closed off all land access to the city in 1948. With no access to food, fuel or other necessities, the city was on the […]
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Hogan’s Heroes

One of the most popular military TV comedies to air during the Vietnam War was “Hogan’s Heroes.” The show ran from 1965 to 1971 and is still seen today, with the “heroes” of the show forever remaining POWs in the world of reruns. The show centers on a group of well-fed, well-clothed and well-groomed Allied soldiers with the ability to […]
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Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, television’s evening news brought the Vietnam War home to America, in real time and in living color.  While Vietnam was proving to be the country’s most unpopular war, a strange phenomenon was occurring. With Americans fighting and dying overseas, military-themed TV shows were a hit with audiences back home. Some of the more popular […]
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Downfall

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, this 2004 film takes us into the madness of Adolf Hitler’s Fuhrerbunker in the last weeks of WW II. As the Russians surround Berlin, we journey into a delusional subterranean world where Hitler and his cronies are living out the last days of the Third Reich. This film is unique because it is told from the […]
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Somebody Up There Likes Me

This 1956 movie, directed by Robert Wise, is based on the autobiography by boxer Rocky Graziano. Starring Paul Newman as Rocky and Pier Angeli as his wife, it also features appearances by Sal Mineo and Steve McQueen. Raised on New York’s Lower East Side, Rocky was a gang member and criminal by his early teens. As a child, his father […]
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All Quiet on the Western Front

The 1928 novel by former soldier Erich Maria Remarque is considered by many to be the greatest anti-war work of the 20th century, if not of all time. A product of Remarque’s experiences as a German Infantryman in WW I, this timeless story has twice been adapted into a motion picture by U.S. studios, first in 1930 and again in […]
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The Package

Set in the midst of the Cold War, this 1989 spy thriller takes place in Berlin and the United Sates, but with the exception of the opening scene in Berlin, it was filmed entirely in and around Chicago. Directed by Andrew Davis, the talent-laden cast includes two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman as Green Beret Master Sergeant Johnny Gallagher, Academy […]
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