The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)

The Bridges at Toko Ri is Set during the Korean War, a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri is a 1954 film based on a novel by James Michener about a naval aviator assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges during the Korean War. It was made into a motion picture by Paramount Pictures and won the Special Effects Oscar at the 28th Academy Awards. It follows the book of the same title emphasizing the lives of the pilots and crew in the context of a war that seems remote to all except those who fight in it. The goal of the mission is set above everything else and the heroes perish as victims of fate. The novel and film are a composite of actual missions flown against bridges at Majon-ni and Changnim-Ni, North Korea, in the winter of 1951–1952, when Michener was a correspondent aboard the aircraft carriers Essex and Valley Forge, and with a pair of rescue missions on February 8, 1952, one of which involved the shoot-down of a plane off the Valley Forge. However, in the rescue incident referenced the downed airmen survived the crash and rescue attempt but were captured by North Korean soldiers. (At the time Michener believed the men to have been killed.)

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U.S. Navy Lieutenant Harry Brubaker (William Holden) is a pilot who previously fought during World War 2, went back to his civilian job as an attorney, and is now a recalled naval reservist further engaged in the Korean War flying jets from carriers. The film starts with him returning from a mission where his jet sustained battle damage and he has to ditch it into the bone chilling cold of the Sea of Japan.

Brubaker is about to freeze to death when a Navy rescue helicopter appears. The rescue helicopter that saves Brubaker is flown by an enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot (NAP), the eccentric Green top hat & green scarf wearing Chief Petty Officer Mike Forney (Mickey Rooney), with Forney's crewman AD2 Nestor Gamidge (Earl Holliman) jumping into the freezing water to hook Brubaker to the rescue harness.

Rear Admiral Tarrant (Fredric March), the carrier task force commander, lost his own son at the Battle of Midway during World War II and Brubaker’s manner and bearing brings back memories of his lost son. The admiral finds the pilot is tired of war and just wants to return to civilian life to be with his family and the legal career he left behind. Nevertheless, they both agree to the necessity of seeing this conflict through to its conclusion.


A new mission is set. The target is a group of bridges used by Communist forces. Commander Wayne Lee, the Commander of the Carrier Air Group ("CAG"), is dedicated to his men, but Tarrant would rather see him dedicated to his mission. He decides not to recommend promoting Lee to the rank of Captain for this reason.

Brubaker is told that his wife Nancy (Grace Kelly) and children arrived in Tokyo on an unexpected visit and he is given a three-day pass during a port visit. Their reunion is interrupted when Nestor shows up at their hotel asking Brubaker's help in bailing Forney out of the guardhouse after a brawl with another sailor. Nancy, anxious to have her husband back home, is terrified to discover the signs of a man ready to crack from combat fatigue. Nancy is deep into thoughts of being left a widow. Tarrant will try to support her, although he, too, remembers how his own daughter-in-law had almost turned insane after losing her husband, Tarrant's son.

Back to the carrier, Lee presents to his pilots the air photos taken from a low pass over Toko-Ri. The flak is extremely dense and the pilots have to fly very low into the banks of the river while receiving fire from all sides. Brubaker gets sick after this briefing and believes his days are numbered. He is ready to write a letter to Nancy predicting his own death. Lee tries to boost the pilot's morale by asking him to stay behind if he feels he cannot accomplish his mission. Brubaker vows to do his duty.

The initial attack is on a series of bridges. Lee organizes two formations, the second one to be led by Brubaker. The results from the first attack are incomplete, so he orders the second group led by Brubaker to attack. Brubaker's team dashes in low and completes the destruction of the last bridge. Lee then directs the air group to attack a secondary target, an ammunition dump. As Brubaker completes the run, his plane receives a hit that creates a fuel leak. Lee escorts Brubaker, guiding him back to the carrier, but the fuel loss will not allow Brubaker to overcome the last hill before the sea. He belly-lands onto a relatively flat area. The rescue helicopter and his faithful friends Mike and Nestor land close by to pick him up, but Chinese ground troops arrive and machine gun the helicopter, killing Nestor. Brubaker and Forney try to hide in a small ditch to defend themselves with carbines and pistols, but eventually are outnumbered and both are killed.

 

After getting confirmation from the US Army that the three Americans are killed, Admiral Tarrant is shattered by the news and demands an explanation. Lee retorts that despite the losses, the mission was a success. Tarrant sorrowfully must accept that Lee has "matured", recommending him for promotion. The film ends with Tarrant alone, wondering where Brubaker and all the others under his command could have found the bravery to do what is asked from them. The movie ends with a famous quote: "Where do we get such men?"

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To Catch a Thief

Starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
John Robie is a one-time cat burglar, now reformed and living a blameless life in a plush villa. When a fresh set of burglaries rocks the Riviera all bearing the hallmark of Robie's own robberies, he is the natural suspect. Robie sets out to catch the new burglar himself, mainly to prove his innocence. He is aided by an American heiress, who initially is convinced that he is actually guilty. The title of the movie is derived from the proverb "Set a thief to catch a thief"

This was Alfred Hitchcock's first of five films in the widescreen process VistaVision. To Catch a Thief is unique in that it is the only Hitchcock film released by Paramount that is still owned and controlled by Paramount. The others were sold to Hitchcock in the early 1960s and are currently distributed by Universal Studios, which also owns most of Paramount's pre-1950 sound library (this library was purchased by MCA in 1957, and incorporated into the Universal library in 1962 after MCA bought Universal); the exception to the "reversion to Hitchcock" rule was Psycho, which Universal bought directly from Paramount in 1968.

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Full Synopsis;
John Robie (Cary Grant) is a notorious but retired jewel thief or "cat burglar," nicknamed "The Cat," who now tends to his vineyards in the South of France. A series of robberies that closely resemble his style leads the police to believe that the Cat is up to his old tricks again. They come to arrest him, and he adeptly gives them the slip.

He immediately seeks refuge with his old gang from his days in the French Resistance, a group of ex-cons whose patriotic work led to grants of parole that depend on keeping their noses clean. Bertani, Foussard, and the others are all under a cloud while the Cat is at large, and they blame Robie. Still, when the police arrive at Bertanis restaurant, Foussards daughter Danielle (Brigitte Auber) spirits her old flame to safety.

Robie enlists the aid of an insurance man of Bertani's acquaintance, H. H. Hughson (John Williams), in order to prove his innocence. Robie's plan is to catch the new cat burglar in the act. To do this, he obtains a list of the most expensive jewels on the Riviera from the reluctant Hughson. The first names on the list are Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her daughter Francie (Grace Kelly). Robie strikes up acquaintance with them -- one met with delight by Jessie, a pretense of modesty with Francie, and claws-baring jealousy from Danielle.



Francie is not afraid of a little fun. Although she sees through Robies cover as an American industrialist, the considerable charms of this thief are worth catching. She dangles before him her jewels, teases him with steamy tales of rooftop escapades, exposes herself as a feline of a special breed: an accomplice who might share his passion and be available to his sordid desires. Fireworks fill the night and can even be seen in the sky.

That night, Jessie's jewels are stolen, and Francie suddenly feels that Robie has taken advantage of her. He narrowly evades the clutches of the police and goes back on the lam.

He stakes out a house where he believes the new burglar will strike and is violently attacked. In the ensuing struggle he kills the attacker. Its Foussard, Bertani's wine steward.



The police chief is satisfied that Foussard was the jewel thief, but, as Robie points out to him in the presence of the abashed Hughson, this would have been impossible: Foussard had a prosthetic leg and couldn't possibly climb on rooftops.

After Robie is ejected from Foussards funeral, Francie apologizes and confesses her love for him. They agree to attend a masquerade ball the coming weekend.

At the ball, Francie is resplendent in a gold gown, Robie unrecognizable behind the mask of a Moor. The police hover nearby, ready to arrest Robie at the drop of a hat. When Jessie asks the Moor to go get her "heart pills," Robies voice tips off his identity to the authorities. Upon his return the police wait out Francie and the Moor as they dance the night away. Upstairs, the cat burglar strikes, cleaning out many a jewel box. Finally, Francie and the Moor go to her room, and the mask is removed: its Hughson, switched in to conceal Robies exit.

On the rooftop Robie lurks. His patience is finally rewarded when he is joined by another figure in black. But just as his pursuit begins, the police throw a spotlight on him. Again he flees and shots ring out, but he manages to corner his foe with jewels in hand. Unmasked, his nemesis turns out not to be a man after all. Danielle is "The Cat," and she confesses that shes been working for her father and Bertani.

Robie speeds back to his vineyards, and Francie races after to convince him that he needs a woman around. He agrees but seems less than thrilled about including her mother

Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. In To Catch a Thief he can be seen (10 minutes into the film) as a bus passenger sitting next to Grant, whom Grant turns to look at.

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