Screaming Eagles

As a movie, as a story, this flops. Such a terribly performed and written movie. It's as though someone woke up, said, "hey, let's do a tribute for D-Day, we will feature a unit from the 101st, and who do we have hanging around the studio?" Then, a secretary walks out the door, finds a few folks loafing about and points out, "You, you, you, and you all. Wanna make a movie? Here's your lines, now go do it." And, in one day it was done. Oh, let's add some WW2 footage to the stock, backlot scenery for realism. Just a poorly done movie in all regards. The whole Tom Tyron chomping on a cigar is right out of a comic book.

Screaming Eagles is the story of a company that dropped into France hours before the dawn of D-Day and what happened to them. If you saw The Longest Day and remember the characters of Robert Ryan and John Wayne you know what the total mission of the 101st Airborne Division was. This film could probably be edited right into The Longest Day, but for the presence of Tom Tryon who starred here and was also one of the many stars in The Longest Day.

Jan Merlin plays the Lieutenant in charge of Dog company and just before zero hour for them, Private Tryon gets himself stinking drunk as soldiers are wont to do on occasion. But this wasn't the time for it and the rest of the squad reluctantly takes him along.

Of course Tryon pulls himself together and comes through for his unit as you would expect he would in this film. The odyssey of this company is the subject of the film. Very few make it through to link up with the rest of 101st Airborne.

Merlin spouting all kinds of philosophical dicta was out of place in a war film of this kind. And quite frankly in the real world Tryon would have been sent to the stockade and court marshaled. Then maybe he might have gotten to the continent later in the war.

Former Miss France Jacqueline Beer makes an appearance in Screaming Eagles as a French farm girl who helps our GIs.

The film is an Allied Artists Production and shot on the cheap. Still it is entertaining and exciting in spots and the battle sequences are well done. War film fans might like it.

In June 1944, the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne is stationed in England. Mason is the outcast after his drunken rampage. They are dropped into Normandy on D-Day to take an important bridge. They are soon lost in the chaos. They capture German soldiers with French girl Marianne doing the translating.

The action style is pretty old fashion. It's about a dozen B-actors and the only one I recognize is Robert Blake. Some of the plot is questionable. It takes away from the realism. Of course, the action is not always the most real. This is a simple old fashion war movie. The scale is not that grand. Most of the characters are non-dimensional. The most infuriating is that the soldiers talk too loudly and too often in enemy territories. It's in line with most B level war movies.

One interesting thing about watching multi-character movies is the increased chance of spotting future stars. War movies are good for doing that especially. In this movie, several minor actors became bigger stars. Another highlight of this movie are the use of script devices that add energy to the plot. Imagine being blind behind enemy lines. Or become frustrated with language barriers to the point of using creativity to overcome that hindrance. It is worth a look.

Filmed on a sound stage for the most part. If Saving Private Ryan is a 10 star, this pitiful movie gets 1 star. They lost me when the Lieutenant came in the quonset hut wearing a shiny leather A-2 jacket. The replacements showing up in dress uniforms. I will give them credit for the double buttoned cargo pocketed paratrooper jackets. But in real life these troopers shaved their heads except for a mohawk, and the pitiful Lt had long blonde hair. No wonder audiences gave up films for television in the 1950s.