War hero who inspired Steve McQueen role dies at 102

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 3/27/06

[painter]

My wife dated him many years ago.

Is your wife someone famous?

[stormer]

I've always thought it interesting that some members of the cast of "The Great Escape" had been POWs during the war. Donald Pleasence was in a German camp, Hannes Messemer in a Soviet, and Til Kiwe and Hans Reisner in a US camp. I wonder what kinds of stories they would tell each other and how their experiences went into the crafting of the film.

[concrete is my business]

Steve McQueen is one of my favorite actors.

I really enjoyed him in "The Sandpipers"

Forgive me but I have one very small criticism for you Cementjungle.

Cement is the name of the powder that goes into making concrete.

The jungle is actually made of concrete.

[gunner03]

I thought "Sand Pebbles and "Cinderella Liberty" was great.

[Keith]

My recollection was that there was a theory at that time that some cancers could be cured with a coffee enema...

I'm not kidding...

[fieldmarshaldj]

You're probably remembering Michael Landon's final appearance on Johnny Carson where he discussed that treatment he was taking for his cancer. Carson, and the audience, was a bit bemused by Landon's talking about "coffee enemas" (I think even Landon was chuckling about it).

[concrete is my business]

Correction: The Steve McQueen movie is called "The Sand Pebbles", not "The Sandpipers".

IIRC, he plays a US sailor caught up in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion and Candace Bergman plays a missionary whom he must rescue.

[stumpy]

And I saw that as part of a "double feature" with the film "Hawaii" in Iwakuni, Japan during July 1967. Movies started near midnight, and didn't get over till the sun was coming up.

Made the M.P.'s and Shore Patrol upset because my tiny unit on temporary duty in Iwakuni were the only ones with all night liberty. Everybody else (including M.P.'s and Shore Patrol) had "Cinderalla Liberty" and had to be back on base by midnight. Ha. Used to drink in the "Lancers Inn" till closing and escort the female employees home while the shore patrol watched enviously.

Will never forget Satchiko, Tomiko and the owners.

[DeweyCA]

I read the book, "The Great Escape." The movie is a condensation of the real story and characters, but I was surprised by how accurately it followed the actual events, as portrayed in the book. Another movie that closely followed actual events was "Patton." Again, I read the book that the movie was based on, "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" and it was surprisingly close.

[M1911A1]

Interesting post. It is also interesting that the passing of the man neutral becomes a starting point for a discussion of the movie.

"The Great Escape" is one of my favorite flicks, yet this for me is a reminder of how powerful the media can be in the public perception of military events. Recently I read that Saddam liked to watch "Blackhawk Down" to bolster his belief that the US didn't have the stomach for the casualties that would be required to topple his regime.

It makes me wonder what the MSM portrayal of my war will be as time goes by. I doubt that Hollywood will be as supportive of the efforts of the soldiers in Iraq as they were with the POWs of "The Great Escape".

[M1911A1]

"neutral" in the above was meant to be "naturally".

Sometimes even spell check stumps me.

[Cementjungle]

My recollection was that there was a theory at that time that some cancers could be cured with a coffee enema...

That´s what he was going to TJ for.

Also, a few years ago another friend was going for shark fin injections. Those of course did nothing as well. Lots of scams out there for the hopefull.

[infowarrior]

I thought "Sand Pebbles and "Cinderella Liberty" was great.

"The Sand Pebbles" was perhaps one of his best, though "The Great Escape" comes in a close second...

the infowarrior