oldguybc

Wow... another "FURY" and "TRY & GET ME"... people have been trying to make something out of this story for years... I know three people who were there and witnessed the whole thing... this is the 3rd or 4th movie that has been made of this incident, plus at least three books written about it that I know of. Robert Conot, the guy who wrote "Judgement at Nuremberg" did a semi-fictional account of the Harts kidnapping & lynching called "Ministers of Vengeance" that never went anywhere. There are some that say the family paid a lot of bucks so that it wouldn't go anywhere, probably due to Conot's portrayal of the family members (think Peyton Place) but you'd have to ask someone from L Hart & Son, Inc. about that & I doubt you'd ever get an answer. What I am sure of is this... that "4 guys in a car" theory is absolute bullshit! They had nothing to do with the facts of the case, that has been proved, but some dingbat reporter got hold of that story and tried to make something out of it. Read the HarryFarrell book, "Swift Justice" too, it was somewhat accurate but still only got about half of the facts straight. One of my friends 95 years young & sharp as a tack, was a student at Santa Clara during this time.Some guy got up at a rally, a friend or roommate of Brooke Hart,he believes, and just incited the crowd of 700 to 1000 students to an absolute frenzy while the Jesuit brothers all stood in back smiling with their arms folded, nodding in approval as the screams of the mob echoed for miles... "KILL THEM! LYNCH THE MURDERERS!" TheCalifornia national guard regiment barracked at the Presidio in SF, or state militia as it was known back then, was dispatched that morning from San Francisco but took a 6- hour coffee break at Murphy's Corners (Sunnyvale today) and didn't arrive until the wee small hours of the next morning, by then Thurmond had been cut down & re- hung inside the building... he had to be taken back outside & re- strung so the newspapers could get all the pictures. My friend says he was one of over 6,000 men is attendance, by his count. He said it took his mother a month to wash the tear gas & smoky smell off his clothes. Josef Goebbels used the film and pictures shot that day in his anti-American spiel.

First saw this movie in a top run theater in downtown Seattle in 1966 and, although long enough to warrant two (2!) intermissions, it was well worth the over three hour length. Have never seen a more gripping end to any movie in my life. Curious about a couple of awards... there is no mention of either Richard Crenna or Richard Attenborough, didn't they win Oscars for their performances, or were at least nominated? Seems to me they did... do not remember Mako even being nominated, although he certainly well deserved a nomination. Have this movie on DVD now & watched it just the other night, still good although not as good as in wide screen theater, especially the scenes of the gunboat on the river and the unforgettable final shootout at the mission (fort?). The movie actually covers a period in American military history that certain people would like to forget, that of imperialistic power plays brought about by a philosophy of "keeping up with the British, French & Spanish in the far east", a lot of the older Chinese still remember this period with great disdain. Steve McQueen's best & greatest role, without a doubt... Richard Crenna, Richard Attenborough and Candace Bergen were also fantastic and the story line was both believable and attention riveting. Movies with engine room scenes like this one along with "The Enemy Below", "Das Boot", "Tora Tora Tora", even "Titanic" have a certain fascination with an audience that allows them sometimes to be longer than usual. In conclusion I believe this movie should rate higher than the 7.5 given it by IMDb,

This is a one-of-a-kind thing, a sight gag gone berserk. Loved Tim Conway for years in McHale & with Carol B, Harvey & Vicki, this is like the icing on the cake. If for anything just to bring him together with the late Vincent Schiavelli for this short little ditty which did as much for golf pros of America as anything with the possible exception of Tiger (golf instruction increased a whopping 17% within three months of the release of this video, but the following is probably one of the all- time best rim shots... "Leonard, why don't you consider getting to bed a little early tonight? You wouldn't want to miss a visit from the IQ fairy."