|
Post by crawdaddo on Mar 20, 2011 22:26:13 GMT -6
Oh Diane, you have made me laugh......
|
|
|
Post by Diane Merkel on Mar 21, 2011 12:46:43 GMT -6
Good! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 23, 2011 3:55:31 GMT -6
Hi, at the end of the movie, was that Tom Custer firing a repeating rifle at the hostiles ?, was this is own weapon or had he picked it up off a dead Indian, even so it looks like he was mowing them down, he must have caused more casualties then Reno's men. Regards Ian.
|
|
|
Post by quincannon on Jun 23, 2011 8:12:56 GMT -6
Ian: In all likelyhood it was a personal weapon that was being depicted. Several of the officers had them. I don't know if TC did or not.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 23, 2011 9:27:46 GMT -6
Thanks Quincannon, I think the movie on the whole was good, the only thing they left out was when Custer got driven back from the river, it gave no mention of Keogh or any other Companies actions on the other parts of the Battle, I know its time and money, but these sections would have made the Battle scene more acurate and more enjoyable, I wonder if anyone else has thought of making a proper film of the Battle, these days they can do excellent stuff with computer wizardry (similar to 300) and get it right (well near to anyway. Regards Ian.
|
|
|
Post by quincannon on Jun 23, 2011 9:36:32 GMT -6
Ian: I thought what they did in the movie was quite good considering that the Battle Ridge portion by necessity must be compressed. I think the idea was they were trying to tell as complete a story as possible, so they get the idea of what happened across to the viewer, but they still had to pick up the Reno/Benteen portion to complete the picture. I think it was certainly more accurate than anything else I have seen, and I don't think if the battle on the ridge had lasted any longer in the movie, it would have told the story any better to the large majority of viewers, present company excepted. Who knows what hit the cutting room floor.
|
|
|
Post by El Crab on Jun 23, 2011 11:21:33 GMT -6
Tom Custer reportedly carried a Springfield Officer's Model.
I don't know if any officers carried repeating arms. The only repeater I've heard of that was carried by anyone in Custer's battalion would be Mark Kellogg's Spencer. If anyone else carried repeating arms, it'd be news to me.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 27, 2011 7:25:11 GMT -6
The Rosebud fight sounds like a good topic for a film, I have just googled it and I was amazed at the way the Indians fought the Troopers and almost beat them with sound tactics. Regards Ian.
|
|
|
Post by quincannon on Jun 27, 2011 16:48:08 GMT -6
Ian: There was a movie based somewhat on the Rosebud made sometime in the 50's. I can't remember the name or who was in it. It may be one of those films that lies buried in some vault waiting to be discovered. I do remember for a boy of ten there was a lot of action and it was in color. Great stuff when all the TV's were black and white and kids still went to the movies on Saturday with a quarter in their pockets to cover all expenses.
There was also a fairly good but fictionalized version of Dien Bien Phu too. Another that has droped from sight and memory. I do remember the name though "Jump Into Hell" and I hope it shows up on Turner Classic Movies before I am to old to see.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 28, 2011 5:49:04 GMT -6
I have two on disc, which I will watch this weekend, The Glory Guys and A Distant Trumpet.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 28, 2011 6:11:31 GMT -6
Quincannon I will also look out for the film about Dien Bien Phu, its a subject I know little about and would love to see it, was it the French mistake to defend such an area or a great feat of military genius by the Viet minh to haul all there heavy weapons over rough jungle and make an assault, I wonder if this was indirectly the cause of the Vietnam war (Sacra Bleu I hope there is no French members on this site or I will be in trouble). Regards Ian.
|
|
|
Post by quincannon on Jun 28, 2011 8:32:27 GMT -6
Ian: The Glory Guys is rubbish with one saving grace. It gives a somewhat good rendition of the Reno valley fight. A Distant Trumpet was an excellent book, but the film was no better than a low OK. Could have been very good with a different cast, and John Ford direction.
DBP was both. The genesis of DBP went back to the earlier effort (not as large in scope) at Na San. The French thought they could bring Giap to battle in an open stand up fight far away from Giap's bases in the north. I don't think they thought for a moment that Giap would be able to do what he did. One of your fellow countrymen Martin Windrow has a great book on the subject Into the Valley, and Bernard Fall's classic Hell in a Very Small Place stands the test of time as well. I highly regard both of them.
As to the causes. I think it was a leftover of the Truman Doctrine of the late 1940's. From the vantage of hindsight we should probably have left it alone. But that is hindsight. At the time we concluded it to be clear and present danger. Time has a way of revealing what we perhaps should have done. Fred commented just the other day about his mom being against the war, evidently very early when Fred was in country. You can't get to angry at a mom for that, but maybe she saw things that were not generally in view, ahead of her time. All that changed in 68, when a good part of our country concluded that what we were accomplishing was not worth the price. All in all it is not always the side that wins all the battles that ends up winning the war.
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 28, 2011 9:54:52 GMT -6
True Quincannon, maybe if the French had done what the British had done and given up colonial rule it may have stabilized the region, but going on what still goes on in the region today, it may have made no difference. Regards Ian.
|
|
|
Post by quincannon on Jun 28, 2011 13:06:20 GMT -6
Ian: I mispoke. The Windrow book is called "The Last Valley"
|
|
|
Post by Yan Taylor on Jun 29, 2011 5:09:47 GMT -6
Hi Quincannon, I like Windrows books I have few myself, I will have to keep an eye for the last valley. Regards Ian.
|
|