The Victors (1963) Has Hollywood Youth On The March
Grim business of war for a mostly young cast at cusp of what should have been major stardom for each, though only George Peppard came close to brass rings, and you could argue as to how tight his grasp would be. For several, it was either this or beach blanket bingo-ing. For instance, how gritty could you make a teen idol and still have him idolized? Some of these boys were on a back end of major studio push, so were ready for anything, others would graduate off TV and hopefully into features large as The Victors. All knew, or should have, that the old star machine was ground to nubs by ’63, at least a Gold Age way of doing things, so work took on do-or-die aspect not a case when home lots always had a next assignment on deck. Each of Victors ensemble gets focus, then a fade, Vincent Edwards, for instance, come and gone within a first thirty minutes of three hours the show almost is. Carl Foreman wrote and directs, making much of essential corruption of war, his indictment of our side near equal to what he metes to the enemy. John Wayne once said he was glad to have "run that commie Foreman out of the country." I bet seeing The Victors stiffened Duke's resolve, in event he bothered watching. There's more than whiff of The Longest Day, Foreman ticking off one-by-one boys drowned in muck and mud of combat. You could still sell WWII biggies in 1963 for veterans of actual conflict leaving their TV's to buy admission. Guys who'd fought were always curious as to how realistic war depictions would be. The Victors is all over Euro maps and goes too long, but is admirable for intent and ambition, a march easier made with Sony's HD Movie Channel playing it in HD.
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