Screen Directors Playhouse: Day Is Done (1955)
** (out of 4)
Second episode in the Screen Directors Playhouse series has Frank Borzage doing the direction. The film takes place during the Korean War as a tough Master Sgt. (Rory Calhoun) gets to know a new soldier (Bobby Driscoll) and it turns out the two have a love for music. They end up finding a bugle on a dead soldier and they plan on using it to help the other men through the hard times. I'm sure there was a lot of heart intended for this episode but sadly the end result is rather boring. You're going to find a couple strong performances and technically the film is fine but I think the screenplay is just so lacking that it really destroys everything good that's going on. The biggest problem is that the speech about the bugle is just so over-the-top that you really can't take it too serious. I also thought it was a rather ordinary and unoriginal way to show the Master Sgt. as a jerk and yet he finally breaks through with this passion. The entire story structure was leading up to a predictable ending but I will admit that it was mildly effective. What the movie does have going for it are a couple very strong performances with Calhoun leading the way. Even though we didn't need yet another tough Sgt,, the actor at least gives it his all and really makes you believe everything you're seeing. Calhoun certainly captured the toughness of the character without a problem. I thought Driscoll was also very effective in the way he shows how naive and scared this new soldier way. The two actors are quite good together and they certainly raise the level of the story. Borzage does a nice job with the visuals and the good looking battle scenes are certainly a plus but you just wish something better had been written around them.
** (out of 4)
Second episode in the Screen Directors Playhouse series has Frank Borzage doing the direction. The film takes place during the Korean War as a tough Master Sgt. (Rory Calhoun) gets to know a new soldier (Bobby Driscoll) and it turns out the two have a love for music. They end up finding a bugle on a dead soldier and they plan on using it to help the other men through the hard times. I'm sure there was a lot of heart intended for this episode but sadly the end result is rather boring. You're going to find a couple strong performances and technically the film is fine but I think the screenplay is just so lacking that it really destroys everything good that's going on. The biggest problem is that the speech about the bugle is just so over-the-top that you really can't take it too serious. I also thought it was a rather ordinary and unoriginal way to show the Master Sgt. as a jerk and yet he finally breaks through with this passion. The entire story structure was leading up to a predictable ending but I will admit that it was mildly effective. What the movie does have going for it are a couple very strong performances with Calhoun leading the way. Even though we didn't need yet another tough Sgt,, the actor at least gives it his all and really makes you believe everything you're seeing. Calhoun certainly captured the toughness of the character without a problem. I thought Driscoll was also very effective in the way he shows how naive and scared this new soldier way. The two actors are quite good together and they certainly raise the level of the story. Borzage does a nice job with the visuals and the good looking battle scenes are certainly a plus but you just wish something better had been written around them.