Sir Basil Hudson-Landry
White Christmas
Schmaltzy to the extreme, Fifties Hollywood with a vengeance, and a wholly sanitized depiction of WW II Lite (or was it...?), it's still my favorite Christmas movie. Though I used one of my standard pinup bodies and faces on "Dark December", I didn't want her scantily-clad because of the seriousness of the sentiment. "White Christmas", though, so trivializes it all that I don't think my little bimbos could possibly make it worse.
But, like I wondered above, did "White Christmas" completely whitewash the war?
The patch on the combat cutie's shoulder is that of the 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard. I did that for two reasons. First, I'm a native Texan, so state pride played a part, but, more importantly, I've always wondered if there was a connection between the 36th and this movie.
In the movie, tough but avuncular General Tom Waverly is relieved of command by a by-the-book stickler and later, when they discover he's fallen on hard times, guys from his old outfit pitch in to help him out. Bing Crosby's Bob Wallace makes mention of Anzio and a visit by Mark Clark, so you know the outfit served in Italy and southern France.
Tough but avuncular General Fred L. Walker was relieved of command of the 36th ID after it suffered horrendous casualties in an ill-advised attempt to cross the Rapido River and outflank Monte Cassino--an attack Walker protested vigorously and led reluctanly, knowing only a miracle could have saved it from being a disaster. There was predjudice against National Guard units on the part of the Regular Army, and though he was a regular himself, Walker was thought to have been "too soft" on his National Guard officers (in other words, he wasn't firing them to make slots for regulars). There were always rumors that the attack and his relief from command were the West Pointers' vengeance for his heresy. After the war, a number of former officers who had become prominent in civilian life, in an effort to redeem Walker's reputation, forced a Congressional investigation into the Rapido assault.
I've never read or heard anything that would lead me to believe the writers of this movie were influenced by the story of General Walker and the 36th, but I've always wondered if they might not have drawn a bit of inspiration from it.
White Christmas
Schmaltzy to the extreme, Fifties Hollywood with a vengeance, and a wholly sanitized depiction of WW II Lite (or was it...?), it's still my favorite Christmas movie. Though I used one of my standard pinup bodies and faces on "Dark December", I didn't want her scantily-clad because of the seriousness of the sentiment. "White Christmas", though, so trivializes it all that I don't think my little bimbos could possibly make it worse.
But, like I wondered above, did "White Christmas" completely whitewash the war?
The patch on the combat cutie's shoulder is that of the 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard. I did that for two reasons. First, I'm a native Texan, so state pride played a part, but, more importantly, I've always wondered if there was a connection between the 36th and this movie.
In the movie, tough but avuncular General Tom Waverly is relieved of command by a by-the-book stickler and later, when they discover he's fallen on hard times, guys from his old outfit pitch in to help him out. Bing Crosby's Bob Wallace makes mention of Anzio and a visit by Mark Clark, so you know the outfit served in Italy and southern France.
Tough but avuncular General Fred L. Walker was relieved of command of the 36th ID after it suffered horrendous casualties in an ill-advised attempt to cross the Rapido River and outflank Monte Cassino--an attack Walker protested vigorously and led reluctanly, knowing only a miracle could have saved it from being a disaster. There was predjudice against National Guard units on the part of the Regular Army, and though he was a regular himself, Walker was thought to have been "too soft" on his National Guard officers (in other words, he wasn't firing them to make slots for regulars). There were always rumors that the attack and his relief from command were the West Pointers' vengeance for his heresy. After the war, a number of former officers who had become prominent in civilian life, in an effort to redeem Walker's reputation, forced a Congressional investigation into the Rapido assault.
I've never read or heard anything that would lead me to believe the writers of this movie were influenced by the story of General Walker and the 36th, but I've always wondered if they might not have drawn a bit of inspiration from it.