Product: MacArthur (1977)
Rating: 3.0
Enjoyable, but a flawed portrait of MacArthur
Gregory Peck does his customary stellar job in this very enjoyable movie about General Douglas MacArthur. The film spans the time frame from the onset of World War II and the fall of the Phillipines (of which MacArthur was military commander) through the relief of General MacArthur in the midst of the Korean War. The movie is notably true to history in all respects that I could determine, and deserves kudos for that.In my opinion the film is flawed because it goes out of its way to portray MacArthur in an unfavorable light. It ridicules his skillful use of public relations, and presents MacArthur as a demagogue and as a somewhat shallow, manipulative, and downright political General. The troops' dislike of MacArthur is overplayed--other great generals were not always popular with their men, but the fact is that MacArthur and his strategy of bypassing Japanese strong points ("island hopping") worked, and saved countless American and Allied lives. While there is perhaps some truth to the notion that MacArthur was obsessed with his image to the American people, the fact is that the country needed heros in the dark days following Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt knew it and served up Patton and MacArthur, and MacArthur knew it too. In the early days of American involvement in the war, guts and morale were about all the country had going for it.The movie deserves praise for its portrayal of MacArthur's handling of the Korean War. I don't recall ever seeing a more insightful or accurate dramatic portrayal of what happened in this underexamined war, and the movie gives MacArthur credit for his boldness and genius, and at the same time, in a fair and evenhanded way, the film explains why President Truman saw fit to relieve MacArthur. This action was appropriate although unfortunate, and the film handles this episode fairly, in my opinion.The movie "Patton" is probably the model for how a movie should portray the life story of a great American general. compared against "Patton" this film does not measure up. Nevertheless, this film is well worth seeing and owning despite its flaws.