Reflections on Classic War Films and Iconic Actors

by Fr. John Granato  |  02/23/2025  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

I recently watched four movies that are centered on World War II. They are all classics: The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Guns of Navarone, From Here to Eternity, and The Caine Mutiny. It was the first time I watched The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck, but the other three movies I have seen several times. I do enjoy war movies or movies that have a war as a backdrop, especially World War II, but I also have a fondness for Vietnam War era movies as well.

Out of the four I recently watched, The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, and Fred MacMurray, and From Here to Eternity with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra, are a reminder of how phenomenal not only movie making was in the 1950s, but also the acting. Lancaster and Bogart especially had a strong screen presence in all of their movies. Lancaster continued with a string of great performances into the late 1980s, culminating in Field of Dreams in 1989.

Being a classic film buff, I would say that the WWII classic Casablanca is Bogart’s best performance, although he made many other fantastic movies. Lancaster is more difficult to pick, but I would argue for Elmer Gantry, Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May, or From Here to Eternity. However, my personal favorite Lancaster movie is Sorry, Wrong Number. Montgomery Clift’s best movie role, for me, is Red River with John Wayne. Gregory Peck is another actor that is difficult to pick just one role. I am partial to Westerns as well as war movies, so The Big Country would have to be near the top of that list. But he was absolutely sinister in The Boys from Brazil.

William Holden and Alec Guinness are the two stars in The Bridge on the River Kwai. I love Holden in Stalag 17, of course, but he also excels in The Wild Bunch and the adult comedy by Blake Edwards, S.O.B. Alec Guinness had many interesting movies, and he won the Best Actor for the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, but he will forever be known for a role that he hated, Ben “Obi-Wan” Kenobi.

If I had to pick the decade with my most favorite movies, it would be the 50s, followed by the 40s, the 70s, the 60s, the 30s, the 80s, the 90s, then the early 2000s. With so many classic movies, I find it very difficult to watch what they call movies these last fifteen years. There might be good movies by some really good directors and actors, but my preference would be to watch the classics. And winter is a great time to sit in the living room with a cup of tea to watch these classic movies.

God bless,