For Memorial Day, TCM is showing two John Sturges movies back to back. Bad Day at Black Rock, and the inspiration for TV’s Hogan’s Heroes (with a nod to Stalag 17), The Great Escape, which is still playing as I write this.
Something that stands out immediately in both movies is how artificial the sets and costumes are. For all the attention to detail put into the productions, their overall appearance is much too clean and new, as was typical in movies of the time. The hotel in Black Rock was made to seem old and worn, but it’s sitting on a freshly poured concrete foundation. The German POW camp in Escape is said in the story to be new, but nevertheless there is a Disney-esque fakeness to it, even inside of the tunnel as it’s being dug.
On Facebook, I’m seeing posts about the price paid for freedom by American soldiers who died in the service of their country. I certainly agree with honoring those who died in military service, but since WWII, depending on the conflict their deaths may not necessarily have helped to keep Americans free. Most recently, invading Afghanistan after 9/11 was definitely justified in my view, but redirecting and expanding the conflict into Iraq — George Bush Jr. finishing the job his dad declined to do — was a monumental mistake.
