Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Stand by all Networks (1942)
Plot Summary
That's a pretty good summation of what was a slightly better than average World War II propaganda type film. I won't go into great detail but there is one HUGE plot hole/contrivance that nearly sinks the movie as Ben wants the government to take action against saboteurs etc etc but when he finds out the names of those involved in the spy/saboteur ring rather than give the information to the government he wants to blab all about it on the radio which would tip off said saboteurs. Actually, that has a bit of a prophetic ring to it when it comes to the journalism profession because many people feel that journalists often go for the big scoop often to the detriment of government/national security.
What this film does well in it's short 1 hr+ running time is keep the action going so despite some not so great acting the whole proceeding has great gusto. The guy that plays Ben Fallon really comes off as a bit of a punk though as he's like a bull in a china shop with his wanting to be a great crusader for the American Way. There's also a scene where he basically calls Frances Prescott a whore by insinuating she only got her job by sleeping around with the boss! When she runs away in disgust he's all confused as to why she'd do that....The man came off as a total boor.
The mystery of who the saboteur is was pretty easy to solve even for someone who can be a bit dense like me so in that sense there wasn't great mystery but as I said before the movie moves at a fast pace. There is also some good comedic bits with Fallon's personal secretary who's helping him on the case. She looked like a frumpier version of Ann Miller if you can imagine that.
Anywho, it's a good time waster and was a double edged warning in that it tried to wake up an isolationist America to the idea that the war would come to them but also a warning of people becoming so paranoid of saboteurs and the like that all it takes is a list of names to make innocent people seem like traitors to the nation a la the Red Scare of the 1950s.
2 stars
Stand by all Networks (1942)
Plot Summary
n 1941, before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Ben Fallon (John Beal), radio reporter and commentator, constantly uncovers evidence of spy-ring sabotage to the discomfiture of the police and the government. Ben is interested in Lela Cramer (Margaret Hayes), amateur flyer working for the radio station Ben broadcasts for and, at the request of Grant Neally (Pierre Watkin), his boss, asks Lela to give a job to Frances Prescott (Florence Rice). After several U.S. ships are torpedoed by German submarines, a few miles out in the Atlantic close to New York City, Ben begins to suspect a station employee may be feeding information to the Nazi agents.
What this film does well in it's short 1 hr+ running time is keep the action going so despite some not so great acting the whole proceeding has great gusto. The guy that plays Ben Fallon really comes off as a bit of a punk though as he's like a bull in a china shop with his wanting to be a great crusader for the American Way. There's also a scene where he basically calls Frances Prescott a whore by insinuating she only got her job by sleeping around with the boss! When she runs away in disgust he's all confused as to why she'd do that....The man came off as a total boor.
The mystery of who the saboteur is was pretty easy to solve even for someone who can be a bit dense like me so in that sense there wasn't great mystery but as I said before the movie moves at a fast pace. There is also some good comedic bits with Fallon's personal secretary who's helping him on the case. She looked like a frumpier version of Ann Miller if you can imagine that.
Anywho, it's a good time waster and was a double edged warning in that it tried to wake up an isolationist America to the idea that the war would come to them but also a warning of people becoming so paranoid of saboteurs and the like that all it takes is a list of names to make innocent people seem like traitors to the nation a la the Red Scare of the 1950s.
2 stars
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