No Substitute for Victory

This would truly be the most hilarious film ever made if it wasn't so tragic. In this 70 minute blast-from-the-past, John Wayne uses everyone from Hitler to Stalin to liberal college professors (gasp!) in an attempt to persuade America not to give up on what was surely one of the most awful, despicable wars ever fought.

Everything Big Duke Wayne says in this right-wing agit-pop has been thoroughly disproved by history but that shouldn't keep you from loving his mouth-frothing reactionary madness.

What's amazing is that W. Bush literally re-iterated the Duke's view during his presidency when he famously said that the real lesson of Vietnam was that the US didn't go FAR ENOUGH!!! In reality, that was probably the only lesson the American-Vietnam War DIDN'T teach us.

Cringe-inducing. Watch it and cry.

When I was looking for things to watch on my Amazon Fire, I was surprised to find this very obscure documentary from 1971 which starred John Wayne. And, as a retired US History teacher, I did find it interesting....though flawed.

Wayne hosts the film and introduces a variety of people sharing his views on how the Vietnam War should be fought. One thing about the war that is often forgotten is that although it was unpopular in later years, much of this was due to HOW the war was being fought and many were not against the US being at war but the politicians' running of the war. This is a big part of the show...pushing for politicians to stop micromanaging the war and let the men fight an all-out war. This aspect of the film is interesting and if fought this way, the war MIGHT have been won by the US and South Vietnam. Apart from this aspect of the film, I did find that the film never questioned why the US went to war there in the first place and some of the history lesson given by Lowell Thomas was suspect...such as him calling Lenin 'Vladimir' (a common mistake...but he was NO Vlad). I also was surprised when he mentioned that Charles Lingburgh was a war hawk in WWII...which was completely untrue. Lindburgh was actually pro-Hitler in the 1930s and only became pro-war after the US was attacked.

So is it any good? It's okay...and, oddly enough, the worst part about it was Wayne's poor delivery of his lines. It also didn't help that there were CONSTANT refrains from the song "The Ballad of the Green Berets"...to the point of inducing nausea. As far as a history lesson, while not always accurate, it did provide an interesting insight into how the war might have been successfully fought. Overall, a film most people probably wouldn't watch in the first place, but at least the history teacher in me found a few things to like.

John Wayne narrates the lion's share of this documentary released in 1970 that has a specific purpose, i.e., to shift the opinion of the public to favour support of the U. S. war against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong during a time when America's cultural atmosphere was strongly antagonistic towards this country's involvement; unhappily for the individuals selected to offer their viewpoints, such as Generals Mark Clark and Albert Wedemeyer, journalist Lowell Thomas, and others, they stare straight into the camera's eye as they haltingly read their lines, detracting from their shared message, one that certainly includes salient points relative to politician interference with and control of our armed forces' efforts and the subsequent demoralization of servicemen; a yet greater reason for the production's eventual failure to persuade is its twisted view of historical events, replete with inaccuracy despite inclusion of captivating footage; in sum, an interesting cinematic document of a dramatic period in our nation's history.

It's easy to dismiss this propaganda film as right-wing rhetoric because of its pro-military view on fighting an unpopular war. John Wayne was a fervent rightist and believer in the fundamentals of a Constitional Republic. That is--besides being a movie superstar. Mr. Wayne's narrative acts as a sort of lead-in to military leaders who comment about the facts of the warfare and politics of Vietnam as they see them, and the consequences of fighting a war they felt Congress didn't have the will to win. Plus there's mention of the 'Liberal Press' not helping matters much by how they report the news. Sound familiar? "If it bleeds it leads" is still prevalent in the media. Many of the arguments in this film could be shifted to what's going on in the war against terrorism. Could be that the tenets of modern warfare have commonalities in any case when it comes to the defense of freedom. Highlights include archival scenes of air attacks, refugees ritualising with their dead, and a whole spectrum of war-torn Vietnam with the American's being fundamentally the good guys. Whether you agree with this film or not, it's a great curio for propaganda film buffs and can be found for typically a dollar in a cheap DVD bin. The film transfer and sound quality are passable for a color film from 1970. Bonus: Check out John Wayne's bad toupee!

I've been a big fan of the Duke since my Dad used to show me his movies when I was younger. The Green Berets has always been one of my favorites. This movie is the perfect real life companion to that movie. And the Roan Group just put out a new edition which combines new interviews with the original 1970 footage. There's a senator from California named Dana Rohrabacher, who was a big supporter of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s (or so it seems from the countless pictures of him with Reagan on his office walls), Major General John Singlaub, and Tony Blankley, who edits for the Washington Times and is a TV commentator. Pretty interesting perspectives. The Duke would be proud.