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Lewis Milestone
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===Move to 20th Century Fox=== Milestone moved to [[20th Century Fox]] where he made three films: ''[[Halls of Montezuma (film)|Halls of Montezuma]]'' (1951), ''[[Kangaroo (1952 film)|Kangaroo]]'' (1952) and ''[[Les Misérables (1952 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1952).<ref>Canham, 1974 pp. 99–100</ref> ''Halls of Montezuma'', which was released in January 1951, reflects the [[Cold War]] imperatives that informed Hollywood films during the [[Korean War]]. The story, which was written by [[Michael Blankfort]] with Milestone as uncredited co-screenwriter,<ref>Arnold, 2003 TCM: Milestone on taking screenwriting credits: "'I seldom did' he said."</ref> concerns an attack by US Marines on a Japanese-held island during World War II, and focuses on the heroic suffering experienced by one patrol in its effort to locate a Japanese rocket-launching bunker.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 171: "Milestone{{nbsp}}... worked with [Blankfort on the screenplay], and it seems likely [Milestone's] own brand of liberal realism influenced the work{{nbsp}}... there are many interesting correspondences with [his 1930 film] All Quiet on the Western Front" and "it concerns a Marine landing on a [Japanese held] Pacific island" that resembles the [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] attack in 1945 "but it was produced during the Korean War."</ref> Milestone's dual themes celebrate both Marine combat heroics, juxtaposed with an examination of psychological damage to the soldiers who participate in the "horrors" of modern warfare, including the torture of enemy combatants.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 170: "the marines fight because they are on the side of right, 'On God's side' [reflecting] the [[Cold War]] vision of the American position{{nbsp}}... [the film's] ultimate thematic thrust{{nbsp}}... obviously resembles many of the mindlessly self-congratulatory war films of the 1950s" and "for all its disconcerting patriotic entertainment values, [the film] also has moments of real insight into the horrors of war" and p. 170: The letter of a dead Marine is discovered by his comrades: "'war is too horrible for human beings'{{nbsp}}... the letter itself contains the film's thematic core"<br />Crowther, 1951 NYT: "A remarkably real and agonizing demonstration of the horribleness of war, with particular reference to its impact upon the men who have to fight it on the ground" and "the passionate theme of the whole drama is cried out in a dead man's words toward the end: 'War is too horrible for human beings!'" and "Psychoses of fear and hate are mingled dramatically among the men, and their distaste for taking prisoners becomes a motivating factor in the plot"<br />Canham, 1974 p. 99: "the film is marred by concessions to sentimentality, such as the reading of the Lord's Prayer by [[Karl Malden]] before the final battle."</ref> Milestone denied ''Halls of Montezuma'' addressed his "personal beliefs" on the nature of war; he agreed to direct the movie as a financial expedient.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 169: "Milestone dismisses the film as a potboiler" and Milestone: "'It was really just a job, not a true opportunity to state my personal beliefs about war{{nbsp}}... I was collecting some money I needed very badly'"</ref> ''Halls of Montezuma'' recalls some elements of Milestone's 1930 anti-war classic ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. The film's cast, like the earlier film, was selected from relatively unknown actors, their "complex and believable" characterizations revealing the contrasts between hardened veterans and green recruits. The cinematic handling of battle scenes is also reminiscent of the 1930 movie, where Marines deploy from their landing crafts and advance on open terrain under enemy fire.<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 99: "Flashbacks fill in the civilian lives and problems of the characters, and are quite well integrated"<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 170: "For the most part the characters are complex and believable, not the cardboard cutouts of similar films" and pp. 171–172: "there are many interesting correspondences with ''All Quiet on the Western Front''" and "the ploy also resembles Milestone's [1930] classic"</ref> Milestone reverts to the formulaic war movie with a standard "[[Give 'em Hell, Harry!|Give 'em Hell]]" climax, accompanied by the strains of the [[Marine Hymn]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 173: "the final half-hour, the film deteriorates into a rather standard adventure movie"</ref> The film is commonly cited as representing the onset of a purported decline in his talents or his exploitation by the studios.<ref>Whitely, 2020: "After ''Halls of Montezuma'' (1950) Milestone's movie career began to trail off and he never again reached his earlier heights{{nbsp}}.... After ''Halls of Montezuma'' he did no work for a year" and "In the postwar period his career was undoubtedly affected by the McCarthy Communist witch-hunts. In 1949, he was blacklisted for his left wing associations of the 1930s.<br />Millichap, 1981 pp. 168–169: "Halls of Montezuma is one of Milestone's most underrated efforts. The movie is rarely discussed, and when it is mentioned at all, it serves critics as an example of either the declining powers or the commercial co-option of the director during the 1950s."</ref> After completing ''Halls of Montezuma'', 20th Century Fox, the studio sent Milestone to Australia to use funds limited to reinvestment in that country. Based on this consideration, Milestone filmed ''[[Kangaroo (1952 film)|Kangaroo]]'' (1952),<ref>Whitely, 2020: In the early 1950s he made "several low budget failures, such as 'They Who Dare' in 1954"</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 175: "the director's development paralleled Hollywood history as he tried his hand at television, foreign productions and earlier [film] classics. None of these films really require close analysis"</ref> which film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] termed an "antipodal Western". According to film critic Joseph Millichap (1981), Milestone struggled with the studio was over "the utterly ridiculous script, a collection of Western ''clichés'' transposed from the American plains to the Australian outback".<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 99: "the ploy resembled a routine Western format"<br />Crowther, 1952 NYT: "antipodal", quoted in Millichap, 1981 p. 176</ref> Milestone attempted to evade the poor literary vehicle by concentrating on "the landscape, flora and fauna" of the Australian outback at the expense of dialogue. The [[Technicolor]] cinematography by [[Charles G. Clarke]] achieved a documentary-like quality, incorporating Milestone's hallmark panning and tracking methods.<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 100: "Milestone's handling of the material was interesting to the extent of carrying sound and lack of dialogue to extremes, but the standard of playing was below par."</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 176: See here for camerawork, comparisons to [[John Ford]] and [[Howard Hawks]] depictions of the American West. And Burdened with a "hapless plot" Kangaroo "proves to be only another [of Milestone's] interesting failures."<br />Higham, 1974 pp. 130–131: "first rate action scenes [including] a cattle stampede [that emulates] [[Harry Watt]]'s [[The Overlanders (film)|The Overlanders]] [and] "once again demonstrated that, as a master of natural environments, Milestone was second to none".</ref> It has been argued that Milestone's changes to the script hurt the film.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|access-date=20 February 2025|date=20 February 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stories-kangaroo/|title=Wrecking Australian Stories: Kangaroo}}</ref> For the last of his three pictures at 20th Century Fox, Milestone delivered ''[[Les Misérables (1952 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1952), a 104-minute version of [[Victor Hugo]]'s [[Les Misérables|eponymous romance novel]] (1862). Fox producers provided the project with their contracted actors including [[Michael Rennie]], [[Debra Paget]], [[Robert Newton]] and [[Sylvia Sidney]], and lavish production support. According to Canham (1974), the script by [[Richard Murphy (screenwriter)|Richard Murphy]] "telescopes all the novel's famous set-pieces into this cliché-ridden" abbreviated adaptation.<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 100: "Fox loaded his next film [''Les Misérables''] with contract players, but Milestone was dealing with an indifferent script{{nbsp}}... lavish sets and model work helped capture the feeling of the piece"</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 176–177: "Casting does not aid Milestone's effort" and see p. 176 for "cliche-ridden" comment.</ref> In a 1968 interview with film historians Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg, Milestone said of his approach during the filming of ''Les Miserables,'' "Oh, for Chrissake, it was just a job; I'll do it and get it over with". According to Millichap (1981), "that he did little with [Hugo's] literary classic{{nbsp}}... seems to indicate the waning of Milestone's creative energies".<ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 176–177: See p. 177 for quote And p. 176: "The final print bears every evidence of this attitude".</ref>
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