22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Memorial Day and the Best Movies of Our Lives
On Memorial Day we have a duty to remember. Part of how we remember is through film. Its makers should be thanked for capturing war's valor and loss.
World War II got the great movies, scores of them. There are acknowledged classics—'The Bridge on the River Kwai,' directed by David Lean, with a long-uncredited screenplay by the blacklisted Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson. 'From Here to Eternity,' from the James Jones novel, directed by Fred Zinnemann. Everyone of a certain age has personal favorites. Among mine, 'They Were Expendable,' produced in 1945, directed by John Ford and starring the Duke, John Wayne.
