Classic Movies for Your Memorial Day Weekend Viewing

Here in the U.S. it’s Memorial Day weekend. It’s called other things in other countries and is set aside at other times of the year. It’s a day we remember all the people who sacrificed their lives in the various wars as well as members of our families who have passed on. 

It’s always good to remember those we loved who are no longer with us no matter who they were or how they died. It’s also good to remember the horrors of war and how it affects people so that we can, hopefully, decide to end all wars. 

Since Barry and I have been married, we often choose movies to watch that fit the holiday. Our Christmas movie list is extremely long, and there are a few we enjoy watching on the 4th of July. Sometimes we also watch a few on Memorial Day weekend. I thought I might share four or five of our favorites with you. I choose movies, based on what the characters go through and what they learn during the course of the story. In that way I can learn something too. The classic movies I chose to share with you today take place during WW II. I think these classic movies still have messages we can learn from today.

The first is, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Director, William Wyler, Starring, Myrna Loy, Fredrick March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, and Virginia Mayo.This movie is one of the first, if not the first, to show the effects of war on three veterans and their families as they try to adjust to civilian life after the end of WW II. 

The basic question is, how do the returning veterans, their families, and even the nation move on from such a terrible war? It won 7 Academy Awards, two of them for Harold Russell playing the same roll. He was an actual veteran, non-actor who lost his hands in a training accident. His performance is riveting. The story also depicts what we now call PTSD, when Dana Andrews character has terrible nightmares remembering a tragic incident when the plane, in which he was a bombarder, was hit and men died. When they get home, the veterans are not always treated with respect as many people in the country desire to get back to the way things were before the war. But the thing that makes this movie timeless are the relationships and how unconditional love can help the men and their families heal.

The next is, The Great Escape (1963) Director, John Sturges, Starring, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, and Donald Pleasance. This movie is based on real events and the book by Paul Brickhill, who recounts his experiences helping with the escape. Many, if not most of the actors in this movie were veterans of the war and some even spent time in prisoner of war camps run by both the Nazis and the Allies. 

In this movie, allied prisoners of war, are gathered at a new camp. Most of them are there because they have made multiple escape attempts from various camps. The Germans are convinced if they put them all together they will be able to control the prisoners better. They were wrong. Immediately, “the organization” plans to get several hundred men out to wreak havoc and make the Germans expend resources chasing them down. With this plan in mind, they build three tunnels just in case one is discovered. In the end about 70 or 75 men escaped. Unfortunately, 50 were murdered by the Germans. This story is inspiring because the men in the camp find a way to maintain their dignity in spite of becoming prisoners who are treated badly.

The next is, The Guns of Navarone. Director, J. Lee Thompson. Starring, Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker, and James Darren. Though this movie is based on a real place with strategic importance, Navarone was a fictional location. 

This movie was written as an anti-war story but most people do not understand it as such. I think the anti-war aspect of the film is evident in the moral dilemmas the characters go through as they attempt to complete their mission to destroy the huge battery of guns that defend the deepest port in that region of Greece. One important example of this is the relationship between Anthony Quinn and Gregory Peck’s character. Quinn’s family was killed because of something that happened when he and Peck were on a mission together. Quinn blames Peck for the death of his family, and swears to kill him when the war is over. However, when two women involved in the Greek Underground join the mission, Quinn finds love again. His heart is softened. He realizes that revenge damages the soul. The bigger message is that war damages the soul as well.  

The last movie I want to share with you is, Casablanca, (1942). This is probably the most famous movie on my list because it was like lightning in a bottle. When filming began, the script was not finished. Yet it is one of the most iconic movies of all time. It is a definitively anti-Nazi movie, filmed before the U.S. joined the war. 

When I showed this film in my Dramatic Structure class, the students loved it. One of my young students told me sometime later that he went out and bought it right away so he could go back and study it. 

The director was Michael Curtiz. It starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Conrad Veidt. Many of the actors who played the Nazis and patrons of Rick’s Cafe, were in fact, German Jews who had escaped the Nazis. This makes the scene when the characters are singing dueling French and German anthems so emotionally compelling. The actors’ tears were real as the French anthem wins the day. Conrad Veidt, who plays Major Heinrich Strasser, was a famous actor in Germany. He was openly anti-Nazi and escaped to protect himself and his Jewish wife when he got word they had been targeted for assassination. Throughout his career in Hollywood, he insisted on playing Nazis to show how evil they were.

This movie takes place in Casablanca, a stopping off place for refugees who want to flee to England, or the United States. As they were filming, many of the stars thought the dialogue was corny and the story was not believable. And yet, for some reason it touches audiences in a profound way because it asks and answers the question “Which is more important, personal happiness or saving the world from tyranny?” The situation may be dated, but that question is still relevant. I think another reason the movie is still so popular is because it leaves us with the feeling that love in all it’s forms is the most important thing in the world. My take on that is that love is the only thing that can defeat evil.

The photo above is a door in Casablanca.

So, this is a weekend to celebrate those who have died that we loved. I am convinced that love lives on. I’m grateful for my parents and ancestors who enriched my life with so much love that I get to carry it in my heart every day. Who are you remembering this weekend?

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. Thanks for following, liking, and commenting on my posts.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2024

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