THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Melville Shavelson
SCREENWRITER: Melville Shavelson
FILM STARS: Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, Gordon Jackson, Topol, Rod Dana, Michael Douglas.
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: Ted Berkman
TYPE: Biography
PUBLISHER: Pocket Books
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1966
COUNTRY: USA
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1966
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: War, Drama
WORDS: I didn’t see this film till quite late in the piece. In my teens, pre-internet days, I would check and cross reference books to list films of my favourite actors (IMDB has made the world easier) and, then, I assumed that John Wayne was the star … well he would “cast a giant shadow” wouldn’t he? Alas, no. He did a cameo as a favour (as did Frank and Yul) to Kirk Douglas who was emotionally (and financially) invested in the film (actually John Wayne’s company, Batjak, also invested in the film). The biography is about Mickey Marcus, Manhattan born, Jewish, a West Point graduate, a United States Army colonel, and later Israel’s first General, who advised the Israeli military during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
It’s a big budget war film with lots of action and lots of romance. Director and producer Melville Shavelson (who mainly did comedies), was also emotionally invested in the film and apparently found the film making a bumpy ride. He wrote a memoir on the same “How to Make a Jewish Movie” (1971).
LINKS
TRAILER
MUSIC
The theme by Elmer Bernstein
The Love theme / Theme song sung by Vince Hill
I haven’t seen the movie, but I can say that Mickey Marcus was an interesting guy. He played an important role in organising the Nuremberg war crimes trials.
Out of curiosity, did Kirk identify as Jewish? I can’t remember him playing any other Jewish characters, but I am probably wrong about that.
Yes, definitely identified as Jewish … though in his bios “The Ragman’s Son” and “Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning” he suggests he came back to Judaism later (in the latter one after 1991). I wont disagree with him though he did play Jews in (apart from Cast a Giant Shadow) The Juggler (1953) (the first Hollywood feature to be filmed in the newly established state of Israel), and Remembrance of Love (1982) so I assume he distinguishes between identifying as Jewish (by race) and embracing the religion (which is perhaps a little more complex than the standard practicing / non practicing given that Judaism is both a race and a religion).