Beach Red (1967)

[Neville]

 

This one is... peculiar. It's a WWII movie set in the Pacific front, and was directed by Cornel Wilde, who also stars in it.

I can't say it's exactly a good film (more on that later), but it can't be denied it did had an influence in two recent WWII movies, "Saving private Ryan" and "The thin red line".

As in "Private...", the color palette seems somehow muted, and enphasis is put on how the rigours of combat affect soldiers, both physically (it's a rather bloody film, it even goes as far as to show bodies dismembered and burned beyond recognition) and psychologically.

And as in "The thin red line", Wilde tries to show us, now and then, what goes inside the heads of the American soldiers. This is achieved by inserts of non-related images and voice overs.

The problem with this it's that this kind of rupture of the narrative, which has become rather common from the 90s onwards, was rare on those days, and Wilde feels the urge to emphatise that those images are not real, by employing all kinds of repetitive tricks like exagerated zooms, freeze frames and so on. The inserts themselves are not too many in variety, and this, together with their constant use, tend to make them rather annoying. Anyway, I should admit that they are an original idea, and had they been used with some more sublety and judgement Wilde may have been hailed as a pioneer.

As for the movie itself, it's pretty good. Wilde's camerawork is rather pedestrian, but it serves the story well, as it stresses the ruggedness of warfare and life in the front. I'd be willing to say it's a great movie, but with those damn inserts here and there... I don't know. At least it's way better than many earlier films set in the Pacific front of WWII, such as "Sands of Iwo Jima" or "Battle Cry".   

[BoyScoutKevin]

"Beach Red" produced by actor Cornel Wilde, who I believe was one of the first actors of the sound era to set up his own production company to produce his own films.

Two of his other films, which I've seen, which someone may enjoy are "Lancelot and Guinevere" and especially "The Naked Prey." I'd say though, for movies that were made in the '60s, they are certainly more graphically violent then most films made at that time.

[Neville]

I decided to watch "The naked prey" shortly afterwards, and found it a much better movie. I'm starting to think his problem here is that he was given more than he could swallow.

Still, I agree with what you say. His camerawork and use of violence are decades ahead of his time.