The naked and the dead (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The naked and the dead |
| Original title | The Naked and the Dead |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language |
English Japanese |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 130 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Raoul Walsh |
| script |
Denis Sanders Terry Sanders |
| production | Paul Gregory |
| music | Bernard Herrmann |
| camera | Joseph LaShelle |
| cut | Arthur P. Schmidt |
| occupation | |
| |
The Naked and the Dead is an American war film from the year 1958 . Raoul Walsh directed the film for RKO Pictures based on the novel of the same name by Norman Mailer .
action
Lieutenant Hearn serves as an aide to General Cummings, who sees the lieutenant more as a friend and son. The general is of the opinion that responsible officers should arouse fear in their people in order to strengthen discipline. Hearn, on the other hand, believes that soldiers should have respect for one another, regardless of rank.
Hearn is made commander of a platoon that is sent on a dangerous scouting mission. The unit's original commander, Sergeant Croft, must now serve under Hearn. The sergeant is known for his toughness and cruelty. While Hearn has idealistic demands on his soldiers, Croft wants to win under all circumstances.
Hearn learns of the enormous strength of the Japanese armed forces and wants to abort the mission. However, Croft can convince him that the number of enemies is not that high after all. The US soldiers suffer losses in various skirmishes, several soldiers are killed, and Hearn is wounded. While Hearn is brought back on a stretcher by some soldiers, Croft moves on with the rest of the men. The mission is a success, the soldiers can provide valuable information to headquarters. But Croft was killed on the mission.
The return of the other group is difficult. The idea of leaving Hearn behind in order to escape faster is dropped. The men decide to carry their commander on. The survivors, including Hearn, make it back to headquarters. Here Hearn tells the general that the men carried him out of love, not fear.
criticism
The lexicon of international films wrote: “Mailer's novel, in which American troops attempt to conquer a Japanese-occupied island in the Pacific under the most terrible atrocities, wanted to illustrate that the US army had been infected by the spirit of the fascist enemy. This radical accusation has been erased by the film adaptation and limited to a halfway self-critical description of the rude soldier's life in the war. Very professional in terms of craftsmanship and performance. "
The film magazine Cinema wrote: “The film version of the bestseller shows - surprisingly open for the time - inhuman command hierarchies, superiors in love with power and soldiers sacrificed as cannon fodder. Conclusion: A shocking plea for pacifism "
background
The film premiered on August 6, 1958 in New York. In Germany it was released on September 24, 1959.
The film was shot in Panama .
Issues of the Hollywood Reporter , Daily Variety, and Los Angeles Times reported that producer Paul Gregory, along with his partner, circus owner William Goldman , had an option to film the novel. The budget was $ 3 million. Robert Mitchum would star , Charles Laughton would direct, Lloyd Nolan would play General Cummings. Laughton was also supposed to write the script. The brothers Denis and Terry Sanders were designated as production assistants for Laughton. In December 1955 it was announced that Laughton's script was about 300 pages long and provided seven male leading roles.
In January 1956, it was reported that Paul Gregory was leaving production and William Goldman was planning to continue. Laughton, who directed Hunter's Night for Gregory in 1955 , told Goldman that it would take a year to trim his script to a filmable length. This time lag, along with the financial loss of The Hunter's Night , resulted in Goldman and Gregory ending their collaboration with Laughton. The Sanders brothers revised the script. During the filming in Panama, 250 US soldiers, who belonged to the contingent for the protection of the then Panama Canal Protection Zone, were used as extras. Hawaiians were cast for the roles of Japanese soldiers.
Walsh's work has some differences from Mailer's first novel. Some of the situations described in the novel were omitted because, according to Walsh, they were already embedded in other films. The female characters only appear in flashbacks. The biggest change, however, affects the end of the movie. In the novel, the idealist Hearn dies and the tough Croft survives.
Web links
- The Naked and the Dead in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The naked and the dead. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Critique of Cinema
- ↑ Information at TCM (English)