The War Lover

Although this is one of my McQueen favorites, the movie itself is flawed.

The film does not stand on its own merit. Rather it assumes the viewer has read the original novel, by John Hersey, upon which it was based. Since many of the important aspects of the book are assumed, the film contains gaps and jerks in its sequencing and total focus.

However, if you like period pieces, the uniforms and flight gear are terrific. And except for one really bad special effects sequence (anyone who saw this movie knows I'm talking about the burning parachute which looks like what it is- a burning handkerchief) the aerial sequences, both war footage and interior close up action shots, are detailed and believable.

McQueen clearly captures the character of Buzz Rickson ( Buzz Marrow in the book), an A#1, narcissistic SOB. A great line is: "I risk the crew's life every time I take them off the ground, don't I...sir?" The pause between "don't I" and "sir" tells the whole story. This guy deftly walks the line between being totally professional and totally insubordinate.

All in all, a great flick.

Unlike a number of those who have reviewed this film, I have never read John Hersey's novel. (Indeed, I only knew Hersey as the author of "Hiroshima" and did not realise that he was also a novelist). I caught it by chance because it was on television when I took a day off work last week, and decided to watch because it was a Steve McQueen film I had not seen before or even heard of. (McQueen is one of my favourite actors).

The use of black-and-white film in the cinema survived for rather longer in Britain than it did in America, largely because colour television did not arrive in Britain until the end of the sixties, several years after it came to America. I have heard it suggested that "The War Lover" was made in black-and-white to allow the filmmakers to insert actual newsreel footage rather than recreating aerial dogfights as was done in a number of later films. The use of monochrome, however, is also a clue to the filmmakers' intentions. Even in Britain it would have been unusual for an action-adventure film to be made in black-and-white in the early sixties, and "The War Lover", although it is set against the background of the World War Two Allied bombing campaign against Germany, is not really an action picture along the lines of, say, "The Guns of Navarone" or "Where Eagles Dare". The aerial combat scenes, even if they are genuine, are less thrilling than those in later films such as "The Battle of Britain" or "Memphis Belle", or even an earlier one such as "The Dambusters". "The War Lover" is really a character study, a human drama of the sort for which the British cinema was still routinely using black-and-white at this period.

Although the film was made in Britain by a British director, it is about the US Army Air Force rather than the RAF and the two leading roles are played by American actors. McQueen plays bomber pilot Captain Buzz Rickson, the "War Lover" of the title. Rickson is a brilliant pilot but is regarded with suspicion by his superiors because of his arrogant, insubordinate attitude. On one raid against the German submarine base at Kiel he blatantly disregards orders to abandon the mission because of bad weather, leads the aircraft under his command through a gap in the clouds, and succeeds in hitting the target. The men under his command, especially his co-pilot Lieutenant Ed Bolland, have mixed feelings about him.

Bolland, played by Robert Wagner, is the other main character in the drama. Unlike Rickson, he is the conformist, by-the-book, type of officer. He has an idealistic belief in the rightness of the Allied cause, which means that he hates war but loves what he is fighting for. He suspects, however, that Rickson is indifferent to the cause he is fighting for but comes dangerously close to loving war for its own sake. Nevertheless, he chooses to carry on flying with Rickson, whose flying skills he admires, even giving up the chance of promotion when he is offered command of his own plane. (To complicate matters still further, both men are in love with the same girl, Daphne). The difference between the two men's characters is best summed up by the exchange between them when Rickson accuses Bolland of being afraid to die. Bolland admits that he is, but counters that Rickson is afraid to live.

What gives this film its force is not so much the changing fortunes of war but rather the changing dynamics of the triangular relationship between Rickson, Bolland and Daphne. Daphne is played by the lovely Shirley Anne Field, who was one of the rising stars of the British cinema in the late fifties and early sixties but seemed to fade away later. Perhaps this was because the British cinema itself seemed to be fading away in the seventies, and because she never really adapted to Hollywood. Incidentally, her cut-glass accent, which one reviewer took exception to, would have been historically correct for an upper-class young woman in the forties. (I was also interested to see a young Michael Crawford as an American flyer). McQueen is particularly good as Rickson, one of his few unsympathetic roles but also one of his best. (In later films McQueen generally managed to keep the audience's sympathy, even when his character was on the wrong side of the law, as in "The Thomas Crown Affair"). McQueen receives good support from Wagner and Field, and while "The War Lover" may not be a particularly gripping war adventure (except perhaps for its tragic climax), it is certainly gripping when seen as a human drama. 7/10

Steve McQueen plays a really screwed up bomber pilot, Buzz. Unlike most of these guys, Buzz LIKES that there's a war and finds the whole thing exciting and even fun! This doesn't bother his men during much of the film...he's very, very good at what he does and seems to lead a charmed existence. However, as the film progresses, it becomes obvious to several of the men that he really is a sociopath....a loner who likes to destroy things and has contempt for women. Nothing seems to get to him at all...until his last mission.

In contrast, there's his co-pilot, Bo (Robert Wagner). As the film progresses, the two have a falling out and in many ways, they are different. However, he's no angel either when it comes to women. Handsome and likable, like Buzz, he's a bit of a user. But he does not love war and can't wait to go home.

This film did a great job of fooling the viewer. According to IMDb, there were only three B-17s used in the film...and they made it seem like a lot more. Additionally, MOST of the aerial sequences are pretty good and the stock footage they used was better than normal in most cases (though the stuff later in the film wasn't nearly as good). There were only two serious problems I noticed (and I am a stickler for these details) were scenes where a plane exploded, as they were obviously just cheap models and could have been done better. There also was a BRIEF clip of a supposedly German fighter plane attacking at 94 minutes into the film...and it's actually an American P-38.

In many ways, the film is an interesting portrait of the folks who flew the missions. I am pretty sure a reasonable number must have been like Bo and Buzz...and such attitudes must have proved helpful in war...and certainly NOT during peace time! Not a great film like "12 O'Clock High" (probably the best film about WWII bombers) but very good nevertheless.

In the great Oscar winning best picture Patton, Karl Malden as Omar Bradley explains the difference between himself and George C. Scott. Malden is a professional soldier trained to do a job, whereas Scott just lives for the action because he loves it. That's what Steve McQueen is as a hotshot bomber pilot who has a crew of Karl Maldens who just want to do a job and get home alive.

Oddly enough a year after The War Lover came out Steve McQueen would play another hotshot pilot in The Great Escape. A pilot who's been grounded and temporarily enjoying enemy hospitality. I wonder how the two McQueens from The War Lover and The Great Escape might have viewed each other.

McQueen's co-pilot Robert Wagner dislikes McQueen's living on the edge style though he knows this guy has the skill to back up his brag and has done so. But things could be going further south in their relationship as McQueen makes a play for proper British woman Shirley Anne Field whom Wagner likes as well.

It's an interesting role that McQueen has and he pulls it off. He's not a nice person, but you can't help rooting for him. Especially in that last close run thing he attempts at the close of the film.

The War Lover is a good war picture and will satisfy the fans of Steve McQueen who are still legion in this world.

Aviation author Martin Caiden (his books were the basis for the film "Marooned" and the t.v show "The Six Million Dollar Man") published a book entitled "Everything But The Flak" that detailed the efforts to revive three Navy PB-1 Flying Forts and the ensuing flight adventure of moving them across the Atlantic to England for the making of "The War Lover" which is a "must read" for those interested in the making of this film. He accompanied the flight crews and although his larger-than-life account of their hijinks (rumbling with Soviets in the airport in Greenland, being locked up by Interpol in Portugal on suspicion of smuggling illicit warplanes - after all these three B-17s had active gun turrets) must be taken with a grain of salt, the guy sure could spin a great yarn! The book is probably WAY out of print but is well worth seeking out as it gives some idea of the difficulty of reactivating three WW II bombers years before the warbird revival got underway. Unfortunately, due to import/export duties in England in the early 1960s, Columbia Pictures scrapped two of the three Fortresses after filming was completed and only one has survived, used for promotion of the film before being passed onto other hands.

The movie itself has lots of B-17 action of the planes taxiing around the airfield prior to mission take-off that is frequently edited out for television broadcast to save time for commercials or to fit into a specific airtime envelope. If it airs uncut, notice the patchy paint on the Fortress noses as three airframes portray a much larger squadron, with nose art changed several times.

Mark Sublette, Falls Church, Virginia