In the August issue of Naval History, the editors presented readers with “Our Picks” of great World War II books and movies. Over the past weeks you have responded with Your Picks. The response was greater than expected. We received more than 50 emails and several dozen letters totaling more than 140 suggestions for each category. One reader, Roland C. Beisenstein of Mill Valley, California, even mailed us a list of 50 books.
Few readers took us to task for our choices, but almost all wondered how we could have left off their favorites.
Movies
Readers suggested 143 additions to our film list, but of those named, more than half pointed to just 15 films:
Nine Votes
Pursuit of the Graf Spee (Battle of the River Plate) (1957)
The Cruel Sea (1953)
Eight Votes
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Six Votes
The Gallant Hours (1960)
Five Votes
In Which We Serve (1943)
Midway (1976)
Task Force (1949)
Four Votes
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Command Decision (1948)
Three Votes
A Walk in the Sun (1946)
Away All Boats (1956)
Casablanca (1942)
Destination Tokyo (1943)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Books
Readers’ responses to our book lists were directly the opposite of that to our movie list. There was very little agreement among the 189 book picks, with 90% of the titles receiving only a single vote. Only three books were named by three readers, and eight were named by only two readers.
Three Votes
Flags of Our Fathers (2000), by James Bradley and Ron Powers
The Big E: The Story of the U.S.S. Enterprise (1962), by Edward P. Stafford
Panzer Leader (1952), by Heinz Guderian
Two Votes
And I Was There (1985), by Edwin T. Layton
Crusade In Europe (1948), by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad (1973), by William Craig
Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan (1955), by Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya
Panzer Commander (1989), by Hans von Luck
The Fleet the Gods Forgot (1982) by W.G. Winslow
The Last Stand of the Sailors (2004), by James D. Hornfischer
The Thousand Mile War (1969), by Brian Garfield
A sampling of the responses we received:
Three years ago a popular history publication featured an article with an author’s ten best war movies.
I noted that there were no Navy movies included. This oversight compelled me to compile a list of Navy films. That compilation is attached. It is no doubt incomplete, but at the end of the list you’ll find my top ten Navy movies.
Regards,
James Healy USS Irwin (DD-794)
Healy’s Top 10, with their stars
The Cruel Sea—Jack Hawkins (1953)
Bridges At Toko Ri—William Holden (1955)
The Sand Pebbles—Steve McQueen (1966)
The Caine Mutiny—Humphrey Bogart (1954)
Sailor of the King—Jeffrey Hunter (1953)
The Enemy Below—Robert Mitchum (1957)
Run Silent, Run Deep—Burt Lancaster (1958)
Mr. Roberts—-Henry Fonda (1955)
In Which We Serve—Noel Coward (1943)
Corvette K-225—Randolph Scott (1943)
[Ed. Note: We liked these also, however Bridges At Toko Ri and The Sand Pebbles didn’t make our list because they are not World War II movies.]
Too Good to Miss
Naval History had some good picks on World War 11, but how about the movie Task Force with Gary Cooper, and the books Mission Beyond Darkness by Lieutenant Commander J. Bryan and Captain [sic] Edward Ellsberg’s book on ship repair in the Red Sea (title escapes me) during World War II.
Respectfully, AO-1 Joseph M. Hession U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
[Commander Edward Ellsberg’s book is Under the Red Sea Sun. New York: Dodd, Mead &. Company, 1946.]
Foreign Movie Fan
Interesting list. But why not include the novel Das Boot (The Boat) as well as the film. The novel is wonderful, in my opinion. It’s a rare film that can capture the inner dialogues of any well-written novel.
A history that you might include is Enemy at the Gate: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig, and perhaps the film, which is based on only a small part of the book. The film has a “you are there” realism.
It might be useful, too, to include a statement that many of the films and novels in your list are based only loosely on historical fact (which doesn’t make them any less interesting, enjoyable, and even educational.)
Bob Ingraham
Due Consideration
As a student of World War II movies and novels, 1 believe you created a very creditable list for your best-of-the- best books and movies of that conflict. However, like all lists, there are some selections that others might disagree with, or feel came up short in “the best” category. I would suggest adding the following, realizing of course, that space was limited when the original list was published in the August issue of Naval History magazine:
Movies: The Cruel Sea. While you included the book, I also feel that as a movie it was quite well done. An excellent example of the unending tediousness, peril, and boredom of North Atlantic and Mediterranean convoy escort duty.
Books: Abandon Ship! by Richard Newcomb. A gristly, true story of men lost at sea after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. A tragic story of men forgotten, left to die in the open ocean, with only chance as their savior.
And, of course, under Service Histories,
Theodore Roscoe’s Destroyer Operations in World War II and Submarine Operations in World War II. Both excellent compilations of actions by the “small boys” and the “silent service.”
Again, all-in-all, your lists were well done.
I’m sure you will find that many others will have their favorites that you missed, but then that list could almost be a complete issue of Naval History unto itself.
D. L. Dyer Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
