Evening star., 1952-11-21

This probably explains everyt
ture; at least it provides the readi
finger. Miss Mccall cannot have
lived with soldiers from basic
training in Oklahoma and fought
with them to the gates of Berlin.
Any one who did. or even bothered
to read the late Ernie Pyle, knows
that neither soldiers nor wars are
remotely like Miss Mccall insists
in Republics latest saga of SOL
diering.
The harsh truth about the ex-
periences of a National Guard
regiment of the Southwest which
she describes is that they become
downright preposterous at times.
It is highly unlikely that the
fighting guardsmen from Green
hill, Okla, will thank her for the
shower of pretty cliches and i'm
possible condolences in which she
garlands them in "Thunderbirds. !"
They know. even if she does not.
that there have been no such
fighting men as these since King
Arthur; or probably not even
Boy Scout troop.
X X
aThunderbirds," whose opening
attracted quite a collection of mil
itary celebrities. starts with the
highest intentions. A solemn fore
ward says that the film is a me-
mortal to the National Guard
troops of Oklahoma. Arizona, Col
Orado and New Mexico who were
indicted as a division into the
Army in 1910.
Central representatives of these
in the film are a boyish pair played
by John Derek and John Barry
more, jr. These two are Green
hill buddieS, both in love with the
same girl. The only thing they
love more, the script implies, isl
soldering which they begin to
do on a large and serious scale
when their unit is added to the
Regular Army.
In camp. the spirit Of the group.
whose members grew up together,
is much what it might be if Green
hill were playing basketball with
Germany instead of fighting a.
war with the NaziS. A tough
sergeant from the Regular Army
bumps into the solid wall of
Greenhill's soldiers morale but he
bounces right off again on his ear.
He is replaced by noble. mys-
terious type of top kick who be-
comes as much a pal of the group
as if he had been the football
coach at Greenhill High School,
Before it reaches North Africa
to prove it's bravery, the Thunder
bird" division as Miss Mccall de-
scribes it has proved several other
things. One is that it is the club
biest military outfit of World War
II, another that it is the most
polite that ever donned a uniform.
It's members are always thanking
one another for the most negligible
of attentions or favors. an example,
which soon reduces its more rug
ged individualists to the crowds
refined code q
** y I'd
The record which Miss Mccall
followed in at least broad outline
shows the "Thunderbirds" were a.
fighting outfit. They got into
things in 1912 in North Africa,
went to Sicily, landed at Salerno,
Anzio and many another impos-
sible beachhead and finally fought
across France into Germany.
This fighting is illustrated with
excerpts Of actual battle from the
Defense Departments huge film
library. 1t gives "Thunderbirds" its
spotty intervals of authenticity.
This realism collapses in vir-
tually every other scene of the
flctional area of the film. AS. for
instance, the one in which Buddies
Derek and Barrymore get word
from the girl that she has chosen
the latter and. within few min
utes, Derek finds a replacement
dream girl. Another shattering of
the arm of coincidence is involved
in the announcement of the mys-
terious top sergeant. He turns out
to be the father of Barrymore, a
dishonorably discharged officer of
World War I who has been in
hiding for Is years, waiting for a
chance to redeem his honor.
x \
To select a single aspect of
'Thunderbirds" as doing the grav-
est injustice to the brave men
with whom it deals may be an un-
WL> ~l WL@~