I like War movies. I like the ones about the hopelessness, the unquestionable horror of it all and the powerful bonds formed between fellow soldiers under fire, the ones shot to have the gritty, “moist” look of a documentary and a quiet, introspective piano and strings score, like Letters from Iwo Jima and Saving Private Ryan.
On the other hand, I also like the ones that are about The Dirty Dozen, or Kelly’s Heroes.
Captain America: The First Avengers will be out in two and a half months. It was previously described as Raiders of the Last Ark meets Saving Private Ryan, though it recently looks like the emphasis on Raiders. Some aren’t quite pleased was that, and would prefer it if there was an emphasis on Ryan, or if it was full on Saving Private Ryan, with Cap as a brooding officer who curses and kills prolifically and goes to battle against the SS.
To each their own, but I don’t think either direction is quite right, though the Raiders direction makes far more sense. But if you ask me, and even if you don’t I’ll tell you anyway, an ideal Captain America movie would attempt to evoke the WWII adventure films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, kind of like Inglourious Basterds did, but not as much.
So here is my dream Captain America movie. It would’ve been made circa 1966-67 and it would have been
Directed by
Brian G. Hutton, an American actor and director who gave up making movies to be a plumber in the ‘80s, but not before making two of my favorite movies ever, i>Kelly’s Heroes and Where Eagles Dare.
As for the script, it would’ve been
Written by
Alistair MacLean, a Scottish novelist and WWII vet who wrote Force 10 from Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, both of which were made into successful films.
Starring
Sir Laurence Olivier (1906 – 1989) as
Dr. Abraham Erskine. Considered one of the greatest actors of our time. He is know for is trilogy of Academy Award nominated Shakespearean Adaptations in which he both starred and directed. He had a great catalogue of memorable roles in such memorable films as
Rebecca,
Wuthering Heights,
The Marathon Man and
The Boys from Brazil.
Diana Rigg (b. 1938) as
Peggy Carter. Star of
The Avengers (no, not that one. The BBC spy series) and undeniable symbol of the 1960s. She also starred as Bond girl turned Bond wife Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Richard Beymer (b. 1938) as
Buck Barnes. Beymer is known for appearing in
West Side Story as well as playing a paratrooper in the 1962 D-Day epic,
The Longest Day.
Lee Marvin (1924 – 1987) as
Chester Philips. Marvin is my favorite tough-guy actors of all time, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for
Cat Ballou, and is an actual WWII vet to boot. He is best known for appearing in
The Dirty Dozen,
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and
Emperor of the North Pole.
John Gavin (b. 1931) as
Howard Stark. Gavin is best known for playing Janet Lehigh’s lover in Alfred Hitchcock’s
Psycho and Julius Caesar in Stanley Kubrick’s
Spartacus.
James Mason (1909 – 1984) as the
Red Skull. Mason is a legendary British actor and three time Academy Award nominee, known for playing brooding anti-heroes. His best known roles include playing Captain Nemo in the 1954 adaptation of Jules Verne’s
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as well as Field Marshall Erwin Rommel in
The Dessert Fox and
The Dessert Rats.
Robert Redford (b. 1936) as
Steve Rogers. Redford starred in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
The Sting and
All The President’s Men. As a director, his accolades include winning two Academy Awards, one of which for directing
Ordinary People.
As for the soundtrack, it would be
Composed by
Ennio Morricone, a prolific Italian composer who has composed for over Five-goddamned-hundred TV and film productions.
The Untouchables?
Once Upon a Time in the West?
Once Upon a Time in America? The
Dollars trilogy? Morricone wrote and conducted the music to all that. Nuff said.