A Guy Named Joe: 1943 War Romance, Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson.
Marc Horton Plot Synopsis: Tracy is a WWII flyboy. Improbably, Dunne is also a pilot. They're in love. Tracy dies on a bombing raid. Dunne feels bad. Johnson's a fresh recruit. Dunne falls in love. Tracy's ghost hovers over her.
Notables: Breakthrough film for Van Johnson, who became one of the Top 5 box office draws in the '40s. Production was interrupted by Johnson's car accident that left him with a plate in his head. Steven Spielberg remade it as Always in 1989. The original filmed ending had Dunne dying on her own bombing raid, but the Production Code said that implied she committed suicide, so a happier ending was shot.
Politically Incorrect Movie Review: If Van Johnson, who died Dec. 12, was a top box office draw, a lot of grandmas must have been going to the movies in the 40s.
8 years ago
4 comments:
They have a Van Johnson film festival on TCM right now. I saw parts of one that Van Johnson played one of the pilots in the early bombing raid over Japan. It was 30 Seconds over Tokyo. Spencer Tracy was in that one too, except it was a cameo as the leader of the raid. It was pretty hokey by today's standards, but everyone acts so jovially in the WWII war movies, like it was being a 9-to-5 stock clerk. Those types also appear in Vietnam war movies, but they're the ones killed in the first 15 minutes (Platoon). Virtually all the soldiers in Iraq war I and II films are sullen and morose, like they have PTSD long before they got into any action.
As for the remake, Always, it might even be more hokey than this one. I mean, how would/could Holly Hunter go for a moronic mutt like Richard Dreyfus?
Funny, Her Indoors and I were discussing that "happy soldier" thing during that same run of Van Johnson films. These movies must have gone a long way to getting aw-shucks chicken farmers to sign up.
Jeebus, it must have been a rude awakening.
Well, WWII vets were happier because they didn't shovel chicken shit.
How many Gulf vets came from farms with chickens? Not much. I rest my case. No chicken shit = happiness. I actually think Anthony Robbins mentioned that in his last visit to Edmonton.
I coulda told you that no chicken shit = happiness. And saved you the $500, or whatever Robbins charges. But my wisdom didn't make Barry Melrose the successful NHL coach he is today so, oh, wait....
And whatever happened to Fran Tarkenton?
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