Monty and Burt

Rating: 9/10 (4 December 2016)

This is a bit of a soap opera prior to the events of Pearl Harbor. Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift are the stars here. The romance is intense as it will always be in a military setting. What we all know is coming is a morning in December when Japanese planes made their way to the Hawaiian Islands, setting things in motion for the U.S. to enter the second world war. The special effects as the stupefied residents see the planes overhead are gut wrenching. What I remember most the incredible distress and lack of a plan as the bombs are dropping. The isolationist mentality has some strengths, but it can also create a vulnerability that is devastating. One can have weapons to retaliate, but there'd better be a method to deliver them.