Gigantic, lumbering TV mini-series written by Herman Wouk, and based on his book. Robert Mitchum stars as a Naval attache that gets shuttled around the various hot spots of Europe in the early parts of WWII. The story starts a few weeks before Germany invades Poland, and ends with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The other main characters include Mitchum's wife (Polly Bergen), who is having an affair with an atomic engineer (Peter Graves). Mitchum himself is having romantic feelings for a young British woman he has met (Victoria Tennant). Their three children are also featured: Madeline (Lisa Eilbacher), who wants to work in commercial radio; Warren (Ben Murphy), who has followed his father into the Navy; and particularly Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent), an amiable layabout who has fallen in love with a Jewish girl (Ali MacGraw) in Rome. MacGraw's father (John Houseman) is a famous author, and she is also wooed by Leslie (David Dukes), an employee of the U.S. State Department. Chaim Topol as a Czech Jew who witnesses German atrocities, Jeremy Kemp as a German general, and Ralph Bellamy as FDR round out the cast.
Filled with many other recognizable faces from TV and films of the past, the cast keeps you interested even when the script doesn't. The script is reasonably well done, though, so that isn't much of a problem. Those interested in the vagaries of the international diplomacy leading up to the European theater of WWII will find much to chew on here. The performances are adequate for the most part, although the actors playing Hitler and Churchill are a bit over the top. At around 14 hours and 45 minutes, this is quite an undertaking, but I had always wanted to see it, and I watch anything with Mitchum in it at least once.
Filled with many other recognizable faces from TV and films of the past, the cast keeps you interested even when the script doesn't. The script is reasonably well done, though, so that isn't much of a problem. Those interested in the vagaries of the international diplomacy leading up to the European theater of WWII will find much to chew on here. The performances are adequate for the most part, although the actors playing Hitler and Churchill are a bit over the top. At around 14 hours and 45 minutes, this is quite an undertaking, but I had always wanted to see it, and I watch anything with Mitchum in it at least once.