The War Lover
Encyclopedia
The War Lover is a 1962 British black-and-white war film
directed by Philip Leacock
and written by Howard Koch
loosely based on the 1959 novel, The War Lover by John Hersey
, altering the names of characters and events but retaining its basic framework. It stars Steve McQueen
, Robert Wagner
, Shirley Anne Field
, Ed Bishop
and features a young Michael Crawford
.
The war itself is not the most important element of the film. Instead it focuses on the character of Buzz Rickson (McQueen) and his determination to serve himself and get what he wants – in the process antagonizing everyone.
) is an arrogant B-17 pilot stationed in England during World War II. When a bombing mission is aborted because clouds obscure all potential targets, Rickson ignores the order to turn around, dives under the clouds and completes the job, at the cost of one of the bombers in his squadron and its entire crew. Rickson revels in the fighting and destruction; when he is assigned to drop propaganda leaflets, he makes his displeasure felt by buzzing the airfield. His commanding officer tolerates his repeated insubordination because he is the best pilot in the bomber group. Even so, when he asks the flight surgeon
his opinion, the latter is uncertain whether Rickson is a hero or a psychopath. However, Rickson's crew trusts his great flying skill, especially his co-pilot Lieutenant Ed Bolland (Robert Wagner
).
Between missions, Rickson and Bolland meet a woman, Daphne Caldwell (Shirley Anne Field
). Though she is attracted to both pilots, she quickly finds out what kind of man Rickson is and chooses Bolland. They soon begin sleeping together. She falls in love with him, though she suspects he will leave her behind and return to America at the end of his tour of duty.
Meanwhile, Bolland becomes increasingly disillusioned with Rickson, his arrogance, and his callousness. Rickson pressures his navigator, Second Lieutenant Marty Lynch (Gary Cockrell), into transferring to another aircraft because he questions his orders and behavior. Soon afterwards, family man Lynch is killed in combat. His friend Bolland takes it hard and blames Rickson.
Then, when the crew is near the end of the required 25 missions, Rickson makes a move on Daphne, visiting her in her flat after Bolland heads back to the base. Rickson plans to embark on a second tour of duty, while his rival goes home. Daphne rejects his forceful advances, (unlike the novel) but Rickson tries to make Bolland think otherwise.
Finally, on a bombing mission, the B-17 is badly shot up and one crew member, Sgt. Sailen (Michael Crawford
), dies of wounds. It limps back over the English Channel
and the rest of the crew bails out. Rickson then pushes the unsuspecting Bolland out of the plane and tries to nurse the bomber back to base by himself, only to crash into the cliffs of Dover.
Actor Warren Beatty
turned down the role of Rickson. This was Michael Crawford's fourth film role. Crawford later became famous for playing the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber
's Phantom of the Opera.
in Hertfordshire
, RAF Manston
in Kent
, around Cambridgeshire
, and at Shepperton Studios
in Surrey
.
Three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers formed the main aerial component in the film and were composed of one B-17G and two postwar PB-1W Coast Guard rescue aircraft located in the United States. After extensive modifications, the three warbirds flew the arduous trans-Atlantic crossing to England. Martin Caidin
, who would later write the novels on which the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man
and the movie Marooned
were based, was one of the pilots who flew the B-17s for the film. Caidin chronicled the adventures of the crossing in the book Everything But The Flack.
The War Lover was shot in 1961 and released in the United States on 25 October 1962. The film opened in London in June 1963. Some short but rare footage of actual air combat is included – especially the attacking Messerschmitt Bf 109
G armed with 20 mm cannons firing at the B-17s. The film also makes use of the crash landing footage from Twelve O'Clock High
.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Philip Leacock
Philip Leacock
Philip David Charles Leacock was an English television and film director and producer. His brother was documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock.-Career:...
and written by Howard Koch
Howard Koch (screenwriter)
Howard E. Koch was an American playwright and screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Early Years:...
loosely based on the 1959 novel, The War Lover by John Hersey
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
, altering the names of characters and events but retaining its basic framework. It stars Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
, Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
, Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.-Early Life:...
, Ed Bishop
Ed Bishop
Ed Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
and features a young Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
.
The war itself is not the most important element of the film. Instead it focuses on the character of Buzz Rickson (McQueen) and his determination to serve himself and get what he wants – in the process antagonizing everyone.
Plot
In 1943, Captain Buzz Rickson (Steve McQueenSteve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
) is an arrogant B-17 pilot stationed in England during World War II. When a bombing mission is aborted because clouds obscure all potential targets, Rickson ignores the order to turn around, dives under the clouds and completes the job, at the cost of one of the bombers in his squadron and its entire crew. Rickson revels in the fighting and destruction; when he is assigned to drop propaganda leaflets, he makes his displeasure felt by buzzing the airfield. His commanding officer tolerates his repeated insubordination because he is the best pilot in the bomber group. Even so, when he asks the flight surgeon
Flight surgeon
A flight surgeon is a military medical officer assigned to duties in the clinical field variously known as aviation medicine, aerospace medicine, or flight medicine...
his opinion, the latter is uncertain whether Rickson is a hero or a psychopath. However, Rickson's crew trusts his great flying skill, especially his co-pilot Lieutenant Ed Bolland (Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
).
Between missions, Rickson and Bolland meet a woman, Daphne Caldwell (Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.-Early Life:...
). Though she is attracted to both pilots, she quickly finds out what kind of man Rickson is and chooses Bolland. They soon begin sleeping together. She falls in love with him, though she suspects he will leave her behind and return to America at the end of his tour of duty.
Meanwhile, Bolland becomes increasingly disillusioned with Rickson, his arrogance, and his callousness. Rickson pressures his navigator, Second Lieutenant Marty Lynch (Gary Cockrell), into transferring to another aircraft because he questions his orders and behavior. Soon afterwards, family man Lynch is killed in combat. His friend Bolland takes it hard and blames Rickson.
Then, when the crew is near the end of the required 25 missions, Rickson makes a move on Daphne, visiting her in her flat after Bolland heads back to the base. Rickson plans to embark on a second tour of duty, while his rival goes home. Daphne rejects his forceful advances, (unlike the novel) but Rickson tries to make Bolland think otherwise.
Finally, on a bombing mission, the B-17 is badly shot up and one crew member, Sgt. Sailen (Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
), dies of wounds. It limps back over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and the rest of the crew bails out. Rickson then pushes the unsuspecting Bolland out of the plane and tries to nurse the bomber back to base by himself, only to crash into the cliffs of Dover.
Cast
- Steve McQueenSteve McQueenTerrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
as Captain Buzz Rickson - Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
as Lieutenant Ed Boland - Shirley Anne FieldShirley Anne FieldShirley Anne Field is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.-Early Life:...
as Daphne Caldwell - Gary Cockrell as Second Lieutenant Marty Lynch
- Michael CrawfordMichael CrawfordMichael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
as Sergeant Junior Sailen, a member of Rickson's crew.
Actor Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
turned down the role of Rickson. This was Michael Crawford's fourth film role. Crawford later became famous for playing the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Phantom of the Opera.
Production
The War Lover was filmed in England at RAF BovingdonRAF Bovingdon
RAF Bovingdon was a Royal Air Force station, located to the west of Bovingdon, two and a half miles south of Hemel Hempstead and two and a half miles south east of Berkhamsted, in Hertfordshire, UK....
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, RAF Manston
RAF Manston
RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre , following on from a long...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, around Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, and at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers formed the main aerial component in the film and were composed of one B-17G and two postwar PB-1W Coast Guard rescue aircraft located in the United States. After extensive modifications, the three warbirds flew the arduous trans-Atlantic crossing to England. Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation.Caidin wrote more than 50 books, including Samurai!, Black Thursday, Thunderbolt!, Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38, Zero!, The Ragged, Rugged Warriors, A Torch to the Enemy and many other works of military history...
, who would later write the novels on which the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
and the movie Marooned
Marooned (film)
Marooned is a 1969 American film directed by John Sturges and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman....
were based, was one of the pilots who flew the B-17s for the film. Caidin chronicled the adventures of the crossing in the book Everything But The Flack.
The War Lover was shot in 1961 and released in the United States on 25 October 1962. The film opened in London in June 1963. Some short but rare footage of actual air combat is included – especially the attacking Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
G armed with 20 mm cannons firing at the B-17s. The film also makes use of the crash landing footage from Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
.
External links
- http://www.pbase.com/easystreet/notes_on_the_filming| Filming The War Lover
- Channel4 (UK) review