Midway (1976)

Several months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States launched an attack on Japan.  The bombing did minimal damage, but demonstrated that the homeland was not safe from American reprisals.  As such, Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mfune) was allowed to proceed with a daring attack.  With a vast fleet that included 4 aircraft carriers, he set out for Midway Island.

In Hawaii, Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston) confronted intelligence specialist Commander Joe Rochefort.  Joe suspected the Japs were up to something.  Even though he could only decipher 10% of the communiques, he had a hunch that they were moving on Midway.  False report about a water filtration system confirmed it.  Or was this an elaborate ruse by the Japs.  Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) trusted Rochefort's hunch and dispatched the remaining carriers - Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown - to Midway.  Now that the battle map is setup and the players have been introduced, it was time to detail the events.

After some melodrama between Garth, his aviator son (Edward Albert), and his Japanese finance (Christina Kokubo), the movie becomes a dramatized documentary on the battle.  Each fleet sending scout planes to locate the other, bombers unescorted by fighters are wiped from the sky, unprotected carriers are sunk, and Midway Island is bombed.  Thought Garth is the main character, the story is not told from his perspective.  There is Admiral Spruance (Glenn Ford) commanding Task Force 16 (which comprised Enterprise & Hornet), a command he received on account of Admiral Halsey (Robert Mitchum) suffering from shingles.  Admiral Fletcher (Robert Webber) commands Task Force 17, which only had one carrier, the Yorktown.  The Yorktown had been seriously damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea and really should have been in port for repairs, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Of course, there is Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii who gets regular reports on how things are going.

There are entirely too many characters.  The number of noteworthy stars is impressive.  James Coburn gets a cameo as a naysayer to Nimitz's strategy.  Robert Wagner is Admiral Nimitz's chief of staff.  Tom Selleck is an unnamed officer on Midway.  Dabney Coleman is an officer on one of the carriers.  Cliff Robertson, Monte Markham, Christopher George, Steve Kanaly, and Erik Estrada are pilots.  Pat Morita - best remembered as Mr. Miagi - plays a Japanese admiral.

Just okay.  A good thumbnail sketch of the Battle of Midway, the battle that turned the Pacific War in the United States' favor.

The Mountain Men (1980)

Bill Tyler (Charlton Heston) is a trapper in the Rocky Mountains in the late 1830s and has an impressive collection of beaver pelts that he plans to sell at the next Rendezvous; Rendezvous was an annual event, usually in Wyoming, where the trappers could sell their pelts to fur companies and purchase goods.  On the way, he runs into an old friend, Henry Frapp (Brian Keith).  Frapp is escorting Nathan Wyeth (John Glover), to the Rendezvous.  Enroute, the trio have an encounter with Crow Indians and a battle with Blackfoot Indians.  In the ruckus, Bill finds himself with a squaw, Running Moon (Victoria Racimo).  Heavy Eagle (Stephen Macht) is determined to reclaim Running Moon and kill Tyler.  Though Tyler tries to return to his trapping, Blackfoot warriors are constantly on his tail.

The movie has plentiful cursing and quite a bit of violence, especially considering the era in which it was made.  This doesn't seem like an R-rated film, but the plentiful profanity, frequent violence, and occasional nudity would merit it.  By modern standards, it's pretty tame.  Though the main storyline follows Tyler and Heavy Eagle's quarrel over Running Moon, the more interesting part is the comradery of Bill and Henry.  Brian Keith is terrific as a cheerful yet grumbly mountain man, an excellent foil for Charlton Heston's cantankerous loner.  Their banter was the best part of the movie.  The plot reminded me a lot of Jeremiah Johnson: mountain man gets into a feud with an Indian tribe.

The cinematography benefits from the mountainous setting.  Doubtless, the Wyoming scenery was magnificent on the big screen but is still pretty impressive on the small screen.  Some of the shots with the Tetons in the background were outstanding, overshadowing the actors in the foreground.

As far as the history, it's very good.  There are some small qualms (e.g., the casting of all white actors for the Indians) but the time period is well-represented.  Indeed, the days of beaver trapping were on the way out because of the popularity of silk.  The wagon trains were just getting started for the Oregon territory though the trail was not yet blazed by John C Fremont.  Tyler's miraculous escape by hiding in a beaver lodge really happened, though it was John Colter (1770-1813) who did it.

Just okay.

Khartoum (1966)

While leading an Egyptian army against the force of the Mahdi in Sudan, British soldier Colonel William Hicks was killed.  The English newspapers reported this as a British defeat, though only a handful of the officers were actually British.  Something must be done.  Prime Minister William Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) elects to send General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) to evacuate Khartoum before it should be sacked by the Mahdi's forces.  Gordon is renowned for leading a Chinese army during the Tai-Ping Rebellion and for ending the slave trade in Khartoum.  He is also known to be a loose cannon who doesn't follow orders.  Colonel Stewart (Richard Johnson) is provided as second in command for Gordon and also a spy for Gladstone.  No sooner has Gordon arrived in Sudan than he confronts the Mahdi (Laurence Olivier) to determine what drives the man.  The Mahdi views himself as a figure of religious prophecy, the "Expected One" who will unite Islam.  Gordon, who is himself a religious man, sees that there can be no reasoning with the Mahdi.  Somehow, Gordon must convince Gladstone to send an army to relieve Khartoum before the Mahdi slaughters everyone.  Can he lure a British Army to rescue him and thereby rescue Khartoum?  He sets out to see.

Heston is good as Gordon.  His accent doesn't seem out of place, which is strange as he is the lone American in the film.  Heston exudes charisma and command.  When he and the Mahdi talk, it is Heston who steals the scene rather than the legendary Olivier.  By contrast, Laurence Olivier is weird as the Mahdi.  His blackface is off-putting.  Yes, this was a common thing at the time, but it has not aged well.  Ralph Richardson is terrific.  His Gladstone is a politician, able to connive to his benefit, but also frequently exasperated when plans go awry.  Of course, Richardson is always a joy, whatever role he happens to play.  Nigel Green appears as General Wolsley, an old friend of Gordon's and the man sent to rescue him.  Sadly, there isn't a lot for Green to do in the role.

The movie is an epic.  It has the opening overture, an intermission, and an end score.  Stylistically, this movie fits with movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago.  This isn't mere popcorn fun, this is grandiose filmmaking.  Recommended.

Secret of the Incas (1954)

Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) is a tour guide in Cusco, Peru.  He hangs out at the airport to spot likely marks for his tour.  However, it turns out that Harry is just biding his time, waiting for a private plane he can use to enact a heist.  When Elena (Nicole Maurey) arrives in Cusco, Harry's plans get underway.  Elena is a defector who wants to get to the United States.  The man pursuing her has a private plane!  Harry uses Elena as bait to get the plane then flies it to Machu Picchu.

Sometime before our story begins, Harry acquired a piece of rock that indicated where a golden treasure was hidden, but he needed a way to abscond with the loot once he dug it from its tomb.  That's the plane.  Now that he is at Machu Picchu, there are complications.  An archeologist, Stanley Moorehead (Robert Young), is excavating the very tomb that Harry planned to rob!  Worse still, Ed Morgan (Thomas Mitchell) has followed Harry from Cusco and intends to take a share of the loot, at gunpoint.  Can Harry get the golden starburst from the tomb and escape Machu Picchu with it?  Does he take Elena with him or leave her behind?

There are parts of this that felt like an Indiana Jones adventure.  Harry has a talent for languages, speaking both Spanish and Quechua.  He wears a leather jacket, khaki trousers, and a fedora, and he's armed with a revolver.  He plans to extract treasure from a tomb.  Then there is the presence of an archeologist and a reflecting light that shows where the treasure is hidden.  It looks a lot like both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg watched this movie and got some ideas.  Is it coincidence that Raiders of the Lost Ark opens in Peru?

On the other hand, the action is quite limited.  The location shooting is cool but most of the movie is clearly on sound stages.  Harry is not a particularly likable character.  Robert Young's part is so small as to be hardly worthwhile.  His love-at-first-sight routine with Elena is silly.  That a notable Peruvian singer - Yma Sumac - was cast meant that several opportunities for her to sing needed to be included.  Meh.

There is a great and exciting adventure to be had here but the execution is just so-so.

Major Dundee (1965)

It is 1864 in New Mexico.  Major Amos Dundee (Charleton Heston) and his column have come upon the site of a massacre.  Sierra Charriba, an Apache chief, has been terrorizing the countryside.  Dundee decides that he must track down the Apache and recover the children that were abducted.  With the Civil War in full swing, troops to counter Charriba are limited.  However, there are Confederate prisoners-of-war available; Captain Ben Tyreen (Richard Harris), a one-time friend of Dundee, is among them.  Dundee sets out with a mix of the fort garrison soldiers, Confederate prisoners, volunteer criminals, and civilian volunteers to chase the Apache through Mexico.  On this odyssey, they are ambushed, fight among themselves, battle the French forces in Mexico, find love, get drunk, fiesta, experience loss, and battle the Apache.

In addition to Heston and Harris, James Coburn plays Sam Potts, a one-armed scout, Brock Peters is Sgt. Aesop, the leader of the colored troops, and Jim Hutton is Lt. Graham of the artillery.  Lt. Ryan (Michael Anderson Jr.) provides narration throughout the movie as he records the events in his diary.  The events start in October 1864 and the final scene takes place in April 1865, after the Civil War had ended though they don't know it.

The movie is a hodgepodge with too many characters and too much going on.  Where this complexity would be great in a book or a miniseries, it is distracting in a movie.  According to IMDb, the script was still a work in progress during shooting and Sam Peckinpah was mostly drunk to where Heston was required to do a fair amount of the directing.

There is a gem to be had in this story and with these characters, but Peckinpah and Heston failed to find it.  Mediocre.