Birthday Blitz: Battle Cry (dir. Raoul Walsh, 1955)

Day 2, Movie 2 – Battle Cry – Five Things My Dad Loves About Battle Cry

I watched Battle Cry because my dad told me to. Sort of. On father’s day, I asked my dad to share his five favorite movies. He neglected to include Battle Cry out of his fear that is may bore me. Somehow he knows that Leon Uris is not my cup of tea. (This probably stems from the time he told me to read Exodus when I was 15. I got about 20 pages into it, when I gave up and told him, “I’ll just watch the movie. It has Paul Newman.”)

So, given my general eye-rolling that comes to anything Leon Uris, I asked my dad again: What are five things you like about Battle Cry?” After he told me. “I don’t remember the movie. Wait. I remember the movie,” this conversation, filled with interjections from my family, is what followed:

Joe’s reason #1: “Story”

Battle Cry follows a US Marine Corps unit from boot camp to combat during World War II. Van Heflin stars Major Sam “High Pockets” Huxley, who leads the unit through battles in Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Saipan. Aldo Ray, Tab Hunter, and Anne Francis co-star.

Joe’s Reason #2: “Action scenes.”

It’s a World War II movie. You can probably figure out what those scenes entail.

Joe’s Reason #3:

Sister: You should say strong characters.
Dad: Yeah, strong characters.

Random conversation between my parents:
Dad: Maybe a surprise ending?
Mom: Joe, it’s a World War II movie. I don’t think it has a twist ending.

Joe’s Reason #4: “Partly set in Australia.” (He only said this because an Australian was in a room.)

Joe’s Reason #5: “Superior acting. He loses a leg!”

Postscript from Joe after he Googled the movie: “I gave you a bad description. It’s set in New Zealand.”

This post is part of my Birthday Blitz Marathon.