First off let me say that politically I consider myself a moderate. These days I tend to lean a bit to the left, but I still like a good John Wayne film. I'm a bit too young to remember Vietnam, I LOVE old movies, of ALL genres, from the 1920s through the 1960s, and have spent over three quarters of my life studying film. Oh, I'm also female which probably influences my opinions here. That said, I just finished watching this film on TCM an hour ago and reading pages of reviews here, both pro and con. I thought the film was a good adventure film with a good cast. Louis B. Mayer once said, "If a story makes me cry, I know it's good." Going by that standard, The Green Berets is a good film. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but Hutton's death and the ending with little boy looking for him brought tears to my eyes. Actually the scene where the kid's dog died brought tears to my eyes--not the dog's death exactly, but the bit between Hutton and the boy where Hutton says to the boy that the dog was all he had in the world and the boy replies, "And you." I also liked the bits with David Janssen and the little girl. I thought that Hutton, Janssen, Aldo Ray, Raymond St Jacques, and George Takei all did a nice job. And on the lighter side, I liked the line "Provo's Privy--it does sing."
Review of The Green Berets
