The Story of G.I. Joe, Restored on BluRay

There was a time when G.I.’s expected war correspondents to be on their side. That was during WWII and maybe sometimes the Korean War. Nobody had more sympathy for the grunts in harm’s way than Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle. Sadly, Pyle was killed-in-action during the Battle of Okinawa, two months before the film based on his newspaper stories was released. We missed the humanity of his journalism in future wars, while Pyle missed out seeing his words done justice in William Wellman’s The Story of G.I. Joe, which has been freshly restored and released on DVD and BluRay, by Ignite Films.

When Pyle first embeds with Company C (18^th Infantry) in Tunisia, the GIs see an undersized middle-aged pencil-pusher, but they respect him when he proves he is tough enough to keep up with them. Subsequently, they immediately accept as a foxhole-mate when he rejoins them in Italy. Pyle remembers them all well, especially battle-hardened Lt. Bill Walker, who is now Capt. Walker, because he “outlived” the other Lieutenants.

Mired underneath an ancient monastery serving as a German observation post, Pyle serves as a sounding board, counselor, and too often a eulogist for Walker’s men. Sgt. Steve Warnicki constantly fiddles with a victrola, hoping to hear the special pressing his wife sent of his newborn son’s voice. Pvt. Dondaro is a Jersey ladies man, who conveniently speaks Italian. In contrast, Pvt. Robert “Wingless” Murphy will marry his sweetheart, “Red,” a Red Cross nurse (played by Wellman’s uncredited wife, Dorothy Coonan Wellman. However, this is war, so not everyone will live to see the end of the film, just like the real-life Pyle did not survive to cover the end of the war.

The Story of G.I. Joe was added to the National Film Registry and it earned Robert Mitchum’s only Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Capt. Walker, so it is hardly an unheralded film. Nevertheless, if you discover it by watching Ignite’s stunning restoration, you might rightfully wonder why rarely appears on all-time best lists.

Seriously, this is a masterwork. Although Wellman largely maintains an intimate squad-level focus, there are realistic battle scenes that still hold up post-Saving Private Ryan. It presents war with brutal honesty, making it clear every starring or supporting character could very easily fall in battle. The writing is consistently sharp and sometimes even hilarious, as when Pyle humors the men with ribald Hollywood gossip, which the sound of artillery “censors” for viewers.

Burgess Meredith is famous for classic The Twilight Zone episodes, the Rocky franchise, and dozens of other films, but Pyle might be the greatest screen performance of his entire career. He has the perfect look for the 43-year-old journalist, even though he was specially discharged from the Army expressly for this film. When he talks in-character about war, viewers believe he speaks from experience, which indeed was true for Burgess on a personal level.

The Twilight Zone: The Obsolete Man

When The Shift released in theaters, some critics were scandalized by the very notion of Evangelical science fiction. Yet, some of the best science fiction of all-time has been shaped by Christian faith, including novels by C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, Gene Wolfe, and Walter M. Miller Jr. Viewers could also see legit Christian-themed sf during the Golden Age of Television, including “The Bitter Storm” episode of Tales of Tomorrow. However, one of the greatest examples came from an unimpeachable liberal, Rod Serling, who wrote “The Obsolete Man,” one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone, which airs tomorrow as part of SyFy’s annual Twilight Zone New Year’s marathon.

Before “Time Enough at Last” (the post-apocalyptic tale of the bibliophile who breaks his glasses) Burgess Meredith starred as Romney Wordsworth, a former librarian who has been declared “obsolete” now that books are illegal. After a nearly two-year investigation, he has been sentenced to death, but he is granted permission to choose the particulars.

Even during his initial hearing, Wordsworth directly invokes his faith in a Christian God, whereas the Chancellor openly expresses admiration for Hitler and Stalin. Later in the episode, Wordsworth invites the militantly atheist Chancellor to visit him during his final moments, to listen to him read the Psalms. That was not what the Chancellor had in mind, but Wordsworth turns the tables on him, thanks in part to his carpentry skills. Get the significance—he is also a carpenter.

“The Obsolete Man” is one of the most under-appreciated Twilight Zone episodes and one of the greatest dystopian science fiction productions of any length. Meredith is genuinely inspiring as Wordsworth and Fritz Weaver perfectly channels the mindset of statist extremists. As the Chancellor grows more desperate, he truly shows the oppressive bully to be a coward at heart.

Cine-Simenon: The Man on the Eiffel Tower

Georges Simenon remains one of the best known Belgian writers, but his signature detective, French Police Commissaire Jules Maigret has been played by French, British, Dutch, Italian, Armenian, Czech, Russian, and Japanese actors.  British born Hollywood legend Charles Laughton also picked up Maigret’s trademark pipe for a memorable one-off, The Man on the Eiffel Tower, directed by the Burgess Meredith, which screens as part of Anthology Film Archives new retrospective, Cine-Simenon.

It is post-war Paris, where expat Bill Kirby has a wife, a mistress, a rich but prickly old aunt, and an aversion to work.  After he complains about the old dear’s longevity in a crowded café, a mystery man slips him a note.  His problem can be solved for 100,000 Francs.  He need only mail her key to an anonymous postal drop—and so he does.

For Maigret, the most suspicious aspect of the crime scene is how thoroughly it implicates the Joseph Heurtin. The bespectacled knife-grinder simply does not strike Maigret as a killer.  Playing a hunch, the Inspector allows Heurtin to escape, hoping he will lead the police to the master criminal pulling his strings.  Maigret soon concludes the real murderer is the Czech Johann Radek, a dissolute former medical student.  However, proving it will be a trickier matter.  Thus commences a game of cat and mouse that will indeed take both men to the famous Parisian landmark.

All AFA screenings will be in 35mm, which is good to know, since there are some pretty scruffy prints of Eiffel in circulation.  Evidently, it was one of the few films shot on a certain brand of color stock that has not aged gracefully.  Nonetheless, it is jolly good little suspenser, as well as an evocative time-capsule of post-war Paris.

Frankly, it is a shame Charles Laughton went one-and-done as Maigret, because he fits the part like a comfortably rumpled suit.  It would make a good double feature with his classic performance as the not-quite-as-crafty-as-he-thinks-he-is Sir Wilfrid in Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution.  In addition to helming with economy and style (reportedly with the occasional assist from his two big name co-stars), Burgess Meredith is effectively squirrely as Heurtin, even foreshadowing hints of Henry Bemis in the classic Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last.  Yet, perhaps the greatest revelation is Franchot Tone’s diabolically manic Radek.

Indeed, Laughton’s shrewd persona, Simenon’s clever plotting, and the still impressively dizzying climax promised by the title are hard combination to beat.  An all-around entertaining classic, Eiffel does right by the source novel, which was also the basis for an earlier French adaptation duly included in Cine-Simenon as well.  Highly recommended regardless of the condition of its surviving prints, The Man on the Eiffel Tower screens this Friday (8/9) and Sunday the 18^th at the Anthology Film Archives.