Five Came Back

Just finished watching"Five came back", a truly remarkable mini series about five of the top Hollywood directors who put their careers on hold, and quite possibly ending them to join the military and record World War Two as it happened. Cannot recommend this enough and really is a must see. The stories are riveting, the footage they filmed is amazing, captured on the front line or while flying combat missions in bombers deep into Germany. These film makers have made some of my all time favourite movies, from Frank Capra's It's a wonderful life, John Ford's the Searchers, William Wylers Ben Hur, John Hustons The man who would be King, George Stevens Gunga Din and Shane. All fantastic films but they don't compare to the footage they filmed during their service in WW2. "Five came back" is a breathtaking piece of film making showing the deep and lasting impact the war had on these film makers and also on those they filmed.

Today I binged watched this magnificent documentary, after becoming intrigued with interviews of the writer, Mark Harris, and one of the narrators, Steven Spielberg (who's production company - Amblin TV) also produced it, on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross and David Bianculli.

The five directors chronicled, Frank Capra, George Stevens, John Ford, John Huston, and William Wyler, all of which have been among the most highly regarded and influential directors, in this lifelong student of films, memory.

Talk about the greatest generation, I can not recall being so moved by their stories of their participation in WWII, since the last time I watched one of their fine films. I have so much more appreciation of those films, knowing now what I have learned from this series!

Thank you Mr. Spielberg, for bringing this to the world, in your ongoing efforts to tell the story of how this war has changed the course of human history. My hope is that this documentary, now available on Netflix, will be viewed by millions, and help to remind us, and inform others, of what America was once all about. I really think that this important and Oscar-worthy series, should be required viewing in our educational institutions.

Those of us who have studied film academically know that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels both appreciated movies and also understood their great persuasive power as propaganda. This 2017 made-for-Netflix docuseries, narrated by the incomparable Meryl Streep, is about how five cinematic masters of the WWII era (Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, George Stevens and William Wyler) enrolled in the U. S. Armed Services in order to help us win the "propaganda war" against, among others, fantastic German films such as "Triumph of the Will" by the great Leni Riefenstahl. (Frank Capra famously said after seeing "Trumph of the Will": Oh boy, that's it! We're going to lose this damned war!

To help tell this compelling true story of great patriotism and personal sacrifice, five masters of contemporary film (Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Greengrass, Lawrence Kasdan, Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro) speak extensively about what had needed to be done back in the 1940s and why those first five Oscar-winning directors were without hesitation or equivocation the five men to do it. Just fascinating! I give this 3-part revealing docuseries a rare (for me) 9/10 stars.

During World War 2 several movie directors joined the US armed forces, making documentary films of the war. These included five of the greatest directors, not just of that era, but of all time: Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler and George Stevens. They had a great impact on the war, and the war had an impact on them, not only during the conflict but in their subsequent cinematic careers.

Superb documentary series. The five directors covered in the series are legends of cinema. By the ends of their careers they would, between them, win 14 Oscars and be nominated 50 times (Capra 2 wins, 6 nominations, Ford 4/6, Huston 2/15, Wyler 3/14, Stevens 3/9). Between then they would ultimately direct six Best Picture Oscar winners (It Happened One Night, You Can't Take It With You, How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Ben Hur).

However, from 1942 to 1945 most of their time was spent helping the war effort, directing some brilliant, relevant and inspiring documentaries. These were not shot from behind a desk but out in the thick of it - Ford was wounded at the Battle of Midway, a cameraman of Wyler's was killed in aerial combat while filming The Memphis Belle and Wyler himself lost his hearing while filming the film Thunderbolt.

This documentary series shows well how the five of them contributed, often having to fight and manipulate their own War Department to have their films released, or, at least, not tampered with. The personal sacrifices, mentioned previously are also well documented.

Most emotionally, the effects of the war on the five of them are examined. They all came back changed men, including in their movie-making styles and careers.

The interviews with five present-day directors - Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Paul Greengrass, Guillermo Del Toro and Laurence Kasdan - help frame the contributions of the five and translate their work for us to understand.

Good narration by Meryl Streep, adding the right amount of gravitas to proceedings.

Great documentary on five extraordinary film-makers. Makes for emotional watching for any lover of the silver screen.

If you are a film buff and also a WWII history geek, you truly owe it to yourself to watch this short documentary series about five filmmakers who went in to document the war. I have no idea how I've lived this long without seeing this or even hearing about it. Absolutely amazing story with a great documentary structure, splicing interviews with five of today's biggest filmmakers, war footage, making-of footage, and bits of old interviews of the filmmakers at hand.