Paul Busch Movies
Fantasia, Walt Disney's animated masterpiece of the 1940s, grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Mickey Mouse was starred in this eight-minute effort, while the orchestra was under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. Disney and Stokowski eventually decided that the notion of marrying classical music with animation was too good to confine to a mere short subject; thus the notion was expanded into a two-hour feature, incorporating seven musical selections and a bridging narration by music critic Deems Taylor. The first piece, Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", was used to underscore a series of abstract images. The next selection, Tschiakovsky's "Nutcracker Suite", is performed by dancing wood-sprites, mushrooms, flowers, goldfish, thistles, milkweeds and frost fairies. The Mickey Mouse version of "Sorcerer's Apprentice" is next, followed by Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", which serves as leitmotif for the story of the creation of the world, replete with dinosaurs and volcanoes. After a brief jam session involving the live-action musicians comes Beethoven's "Pastorale Symphony", enacted against a Greek-mythology tapestry by centaurs, unicorns, cupids and a besotted Bacchus. Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" is performed by a Corps de Ballet consisting of hippos, ostriches and alligators. The program comes to a conclusion with a fearsome visualization of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", dominated by the black god Tchernobog (referred to in the pencil tests as "Yensid", which is guess-what spelled backwards); this study of the "sacred and profane" segues into a reverent rendition of Schubert's "Ave Maria". Originally, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" was part of the film, but was cut from the final release print; also cut, due to budgetary considerations, was Disney's intention of issuing an annual "update" of Fantasia with new musical highlights and animated sequences. A box-office disappointment upon its first release (due partly to Disney's notion of releasing the film in an early stereophonic-sound process which few theatres could accommodate), Fantasia eventually recouped its cost in its many reissues. For one of the return engagements, the film was retitled Fantasia Will Amaze-ya, while the 1963 reissue saw the film "squashed" to conform with the Cinemascope aspect ratio. Other re-releases pruned the picture from 120 to 88 minutes, and in 1983, Disney redistributed the film with newly orchestrated music and Tim Matheson replacing Deems Taylor as narrator. Once and for all, a restored Fantasia was made available to filmgoers in 1990. A sequel, Fantasia 2000, was released in theaters in 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Writer-director Samuel Fuller applies his kino-fist to this raw-boned war drama -- one of the first American films to deal with Vietnam. The film concerns the battle between the Vietnamese and the Chinese, through the efforts of a small band of soldiers to locate and destroy a hidden communist arms depot. Gene Barry stars as Sgt. Johnny Brock, the cynical leader of the patrol, who is an American Korean War veteran. Leading the expedition to find the munitions dump is the half-Asian Lucky Legs (Angie Dickinson), Brock's ex-wife. One of Brock's less-endearing qualities is his rabid racism -- he can't accept the fact that their five-year-old son is completely Oriental in appearance. The other members of the patrol are also haunted by past memories -- Goldie (Nat "King" Cole) is a veteran of Korea and World war II who hates war and wants to see peace at all costs; Corporal Pigalle (George Givot) is an ex-French gendarme who doesn't like taking orders; and Private Andreades (Gerald Milton), is a hard-nosed Greek expatriate. When the patrol arrives at the compound, they are greeted by Major Cham (Lee Van Cleef), the communist commander who immediately falls in love with Lucky Legs -- complicating the situation immensely. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1959
Director Samuel Fuller skillfully intercuts footage of the German death camps with scenes from this thought-provoking drama about a forbidden, post-war love affair. David (James Best) is a G.I. stationed in Germany with the American Military Government. He falls in love with Helga (Susan Cummings), a young German woman, and she reciprocates his feelings. But their romance is not condoned by either culture and made all the more difficult because a troublesome gang of neo-Nazis is on the rampage, killing, stealing, and helping war criminals evade capture. Helga's younger brother is a member of the gang who suddenly breaks down when he attends the Nuremburg trials and sees footage on the death camps. That changes his mind and he is ready to help the American military, and maybe the relationship between his sister and David as well. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Best, Susan Cummings, (more)
- 1959
This routine wartime drama of bravery and misunderstanding stars (Richard Bakalyan) as Charlie, a soldier who suffers the scorn of his paratroop unit because he accidentally kills one of their own men. The setting is World War II in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. There seems to be no clear way to square himself with his own conscience, or to right the fatal mistake he made, and so Charlie has to somehow live with the retribution and the tensions his act causes among the other paratroopers. But since everyone is in the same combat situation, he might one day get a chance to redeem himself. Director William Witney made his reputation in action films like this one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Bakalyan, Ken Lynch, (more)
After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, by an international tribunal, headed by American legal and military officials, with the intent of bringing to justice those guilty of crimes against humanity. However, by that time most of the major figures of the Nazi regime were either dead or long missing, and in the resulting legal proceedings American judges often found themselves confronting the question of how much responsibility someone held who had "just followed orders." Judgment at Nuremberg is a dramatized version of the proceedings at one of these trials, in which Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is overseeing the trials of four German judges -- most notably Dr. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) -- accused of knowingly sentencing innocent men to death in collusion with the Nazis. Representing the defense is attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), while prosecuting the accused is U.S. Col. Tad Lawson (Richard Widmark). As the trial goes on, both the visiting Americans and their reluctant German hosts often find themselves facing the legacy of the war, and how both of their nations have been irrevocably changed by it. Judgment at Nuremberg also features notable supporting performances by Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and Montgomery Clift. Originally written and produced as a play for television, the screen version of Judgment at Nuremberg was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, with Maximilian Schell and Abby Mann taking home Oscars for (respectively) Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, (more)
- 1963
Eddie Albert guest stars in this episode, playing--of all things--a middle-aged American farmer with a foreign-accented wife. But this is Combat, not Green Acres: Albert's character, a WW1 veteran named Phil, has been living in France with his French-born wife Marie (played by Alida Valli of The Third Man fame) ever since the Armistice. Unhinged by the ceaseless gunfire of WW2, Phil begins to imagine that he is still fighting The Great War--and so he dons his old uniform, marches into the countryside, and captures Sgt. Saunders (Vince Morrow), whom he believes to be a "Heinie" spy! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Sequestered in an observation post, a tiny band of German soldiers commandered by dedicated Nazi Kessler (Gunnar Hellstrom) holds off the efforts by Hanley's platoon to capture them. Declaring "the merciful are weak", Kessler threatens to kill his French hostages--including a female librarian named Annette (Denise Alexander) and five children--if Hanley (Rick Jason) makes a move. The only way to break this stalemate and save the hostages is for Annette to play upon Kessler's one and only weakness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on iconoclastic novelist Paul Newman, but he is temporarily shunted to the background when physics expert Edward G. Robinson is kidnaped and replaced by his wicked twin brother. The real Robinson is to be spirited behind the Iron Curtain, while the "fake" Robinson is to disrupt the awards ceremony with an anti-American tirade. Newman gets wind of the plot, and with the help of Swedish foreign office functionary Elke Sommer, he endeavors to rescue the real Robinson and expose the phony-who has yet another trick up his sleeve before the film is over. We'll go along with the fantastic plot convolutions of The Prize, provided we don't have to swallow the premise of another man's voice emanating from that familiar Eddie Robinson mug. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
- 1963
The title character is Bijou (Michel Petit), an enterprising French orphan boy who hopes to use his knowledge of the local terrain to be "adopted" by the Army. Thing of it is, Bijou doesn't seem to care if he is taken in by the American army or the German army. As a result, Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his squad can't shake the premonition that the lovable, bright-eyed youngster will betray them to the Nazis at the drop of a hat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In 1950, Maj. Jefferson Pike (James Garner), an Army intelligence agent who served with distinction in World War II, awakens in a hospital with severe amnesia. He isn't sure where he is, how he got there, or even who the woman at his side is, even though the doctor tells him that her name is Anna (Eva Marie Saint) and that she is his wife. The doctor instructs Pike to recall, in as much detail as possible, what he was doing before the accident that caused his traumatic memory loss. But the doctor isn't a doctor, Anna isn't Pike's wife, it isn't 1950, and he isn't in an American hospital. World War II is still very much in progress, and Pike is being duped in an elaborate scheme prepared by Maj. Walter Gerber (Rod Taylor), a German intelligence agent. Gerber is trying to trick a drugged and suggestible Pike into telling him everything he knows, as the injured soldier lies in a Bavarian military hospital after being taken prisoner. Will Pike be able to see through the cracks in Gerber's facade before he spills the beans that could mean death and defeat for American soldiers? 36 Hours was later remade for TV under the title Breaking Point. TV fans will want to keep an eye peeled for bit parts by James Doohan from Star Trek and John Banner from Hogan's Heroes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1964
There's no room for argument in the matter: the most disliked member of King Company is an obnoxious newcomer named Mason (Eddie Ryder). But the Germans don't know this, and when they take Mason prisoner, they're certain that Saunders (Vic Morrow) will try to rescue him. Even if Saunders cared anything about Mason (which he doesn't), he has been given orders indicating that the man is expendable. But as it turns out, there is one member of the platoon who is willing to put his life on the line to save the redoubtable Mason. This is the final episode of Combat's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Trapped behind enemy lines, Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) and a wounded GI named Stark (Warren Oates) take refuge in a deserted pillbox. Before long, a thunderstorm aries, and the two men are joined by three others--all German soldiers. Thus are mortal enemies thrown together by circumstance, forced to rely upon one another for their mutual survival. But when the storm blows over, who will have "won" this battle of wits and wills? This is the first Combat! episode directed by series star Vic Morrow (Sgt. Saunders). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Captured by the Germans, Saunders (Vic Morrow) is rescued by Cpl. Jerry Bacon (Guy Stockwell), who claims to have just escaped from an enemy stronghold. Bacon then takes Saunders to meet his superior officer, Col. Johnson (Edward Binns. Unfortunately, it turns out that both Bacon and Johnson are German spies, hoping to use their All-American facade to pump Saunders for vital information. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Hanley (Rick Jason) and his men are stranded in the middle of enemy territory when they are refused transportation by arrogant British commando Major Cole-Hughes (Michael Evans). Thus, it is no small surprise to Hanley when, later on, Cole-Hughes demands that Hanley and Kirby (Jack Hogan) accompany him on a mission to seek out and destroy a German V-2 launching site. The swaggering, bombastic Cole-Hughes provides a fascinating contrast to the taciturn, no-nonsense Hanley--but will the two men be able to smother their mutual animosity for the Greater Good? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Saunders (Vic Morrow) is more dispirited than usual over the latest crop of replacements. One of the newcomers has been wounded in battle and walks with a limp; another is wallowing in homesickness; a third is a former politician who has never seen combat; and all three of them are rapidly approaching the age of 40. Now Saunders must lead these "oldsters" on a risky recon patrol to grab a German prisoner. Appearing as the over-the-hill combatants are three of Hollywood's best character actors: Simon Oakland, Tom Drake and William Phipps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Joining Saunders (Vic Morrow) on a mission to destroy a German radar installation are two new men: Sgt. Rawlings (H.M. Wynant), a radar expert, and Marchand (Mark Richman), an important member of the French resistance. Everyone's role in the mission is clearly defined: Marchand is to guide the two Americans to the installation, and Saunders and Rawlings are to sabotage the place. But there's a slight hitch: Marchand isn't the real Marchand at all, but instead a Nazi lieutenant in disguise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Deep in enemy territory, Saunders (Vic Morrow) and the squad come across a stranded Special Services jazz combo. In his efforts to escort the musicians back to safety, Saunders is stymied by the mercurial behavior of bandleader Bernie (Dan Duryea), who seems eager and willing to surrender to the Germans at the first opportunity. New Orleans-born squad member Caje (Pierre Jalbert) has a terrific line about the eccentricities of jazzmen in this episode, which features strong performances by a young Dennis Hopper and by celebrated Hollywood dialect coach Robert Easton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Kirby (Jack Hogan) is accosted by two American GIs, Roberts (Nick Adams) and Driskoll (Roger Perry)--one of whom takes a shot at him. All three men are subsequently taken prisoner by British corporal Tommy Behan (Gavin MacLeod), who is convinced that they are German infiltrators. To be sure, there is a German spy in the vicinity...and Kirby begins to suspect that the "ringer" is Behan himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his squad are assigned to help engineer officer Captain Cole (James Daly) find a suitable location to build a bridge. At the same time, Cole's son Jack (James MacArthur), a war correspondent, has arrived in hopes of mending a long-standing rift between himself and his father. The situation comes to a head when the principal characters are trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by Germans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
A wounded Littlejohn (Dick Peabody) awakens to find that he's been kidnapped by four scruffy French children. As a means of survival, the enterprising youngsters intend to "sell" Littlejohn to the highest bidder, just as they've done with several other American and German prisoners in the past. Despite its title, this is not a "cute" episode by any means: the scene in which one of the children grabs a gun and kills an intruder is one of the most harrowing in the series' history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Forced to deny backup to another squad under heavy fire, Saunders (Vic Morrow) is subsequently confronted by the squad's sole survivor, Pvt. Pete Marsini (Tom Simcox). Despite his hatred for Saunders, Marsini agrees to lead him back to the bridge where his squad was wiped out in order to finish a vital reconnaissance mission. Things take an ironic turn when Saunders is trapped under a heavy iron pipe--placing his life in the hands of the resentful (and potentially vengeful) Marsini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Establishing an observation post in an abandoned French convent, Saunders (Vic Morrow) discovers that the place has not been entirely evacuated. Gitty (Andrea Darvi), one of the convent girls, has remained behind to search for her father (Paul Busch), a German soldier. With grim determination, Saunders tries to bring himself to tell Gitty that her daddy is dead--and that he himself was forced to kill him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
The only survivors of a night patrol in enemy territory are Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) and a nervous young private named Wilder (played by Brandon DeWilde of Shane and Hud) fame). Having sustained a bad shoulder wound, Hanley is of little help when Wilder suddenly gets caught in quicksand. Worse still, the terrified private threatens to betray Hanley to the surrounding Germans in a desperate effort to save himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In the final episode of Combat, frequent series guest star Robert Duvall makes a return appearance, this time as a French resistance fighter named Michel. Saunders takes Michel along on a vital reconnaissance mission--little suspecting that the "Frenchman" is actually an American deserter in disguise. The truth is revealed at the worst possible time, as Saunders and the squad prepare brace themselves against a relentless German assault. Also in the cast is singer Claudine Longet,then the wife of entertainer Andy Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Kirby (Jack Hogan) and Littlejohn (Dick Peabody) volunteer as relief drivers for a "Red Ball Express" squadron headed by an overbearing sergeant (Claude Akins). In an extended sequence reminiscent of the French "new wave" classic The Wages of Fear, the two soldiers find themselves maneuvering a truck loaded with explosives through a gauntlet of German snipers. (Incidentally, the fact that many of the Red Ball Express drivers in WW2 were African-American is barely touched upon in this episode). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
