Review of Once an Eagle

Partial spoiler. I've been attached to it since it was new (it and "Captains and the Kings", which were both parts of a revolving set of miniseries), but partly for lopsided reasons. As great as the actors in general were, I think Cliff Potts was especially good as Courtney Massingale, making him the villain, but (until you see the last parts, or maybe that one scene with the daughter) impossible to HATE. (He played a slightly similar role in "Silent Running" - he was one of the three men in the first parts who teased Bruce Dern constantly, but his character was never really nasty.) One thing the story DIDN'T do was hammer home the subject of Courtney's impotence, instead of reminding you here and there. Of course, I'm sure it made a connection between that and his ambition, but, if so, it was really allowed to speak for itself. (I can only imagine the pushy way it would probably be SPELLED OUT to an audience, if it were made NOW.) So, until the horrible thing he does to those soldiers (or the other horrible part with his daughter), he's much more of a TRAGIC character, and Cliff Potts really put that across. And there was also Clu Gulager, who was very believable as the vicious character Merrick. And, among all the supporting actors, there was Lynda Day George, who (before Jane Seymour got this label) seemed to be in one miniseries after another. Anyway, it was one of the first miniseries, but also one of the best.