Hanover Street (1978) Novelization

Amid war-shattered London, three extraordinary people play out their lives in a haunting novel of love, passion and violence...Halloran, the reckless American bomber whose fiery affair with the Englishwoman gave him something to live for. Sellinger, the mild-mannered British agent who risked his live trying to prove himself to his wife. Margaret, the woman they both loved. Beautiful, brave, unforgettable--she was torn by her desire for the two men.

***

Written by Maureen Gregson, based upon a screenplay by Peter Hyams.  This is a good novelization for a film that has a good cast—Harrison Ford, Christopher Plummer and Lesley-Anne Down—and a great music score by John Barry. The screenplay by director Peter Hyams is the weak link here, with some major plot points poorly handled. There is also a tonal problem with the film, as it wobbles unsatisfactorily between old-fashioned love story and action film. 

Still, the film is not uninteresting. Harrison Ford shows glimpses of the action star he would become.  The bombing raid sequences are well done via miniatures.  The film obviously had a big budget and it looks like it all made it on the screen.  Despite its faults, it still makes us care about the lead characters.

The novelization fleshes out much more than the movie can, and as a result the story plays out more naturally. We learn more about everyone, and war-time London is described with reasonable realism. The script's big issues are still weak here--Harrison Ford snapping on his final flight still seems awfully unmotivated, for instance--but I ended up liking the novel more than the film. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Midway (1976) Novelization

Written by Donald S. Sanford.  Based on the 1976 film written by Donald S. Sanford and directed by Jack Smight. It starred Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Colburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner and Edward Albert.

Once again, I've devoted time to an old novelization based on nostalgia. I have strong memories of watching this film on TV back in the late 70's. Growing up it was always on TV so over the years I watched it many times. Is it a good movie? Well, it's a decent movie, let's leave it at that. Imagined as a World War II movie with a star-studded cast a la THE LONGEST DAY or A BRIDGE TOO FAR, it is mostly populated by stock players from the Universal TV family. Still, we do get Charlton Heston, Robert Mitchum and Henry Fonda.

The story is inherently interesting: it depicts THE pivotal sea battle between the Allies and Japan in the Pacific. The loss was devastating to the Japanese, and although they soldiered on, the losses they incurred in this battle ensured their eventual defeat, nuclear bomb or no. There is high drama with leaders being decisive and taking chances and the overall power of the battle comes across well.  What's more, the personalities of the people involved come through. Fonda's portrayal of Admiral Nimitz effectively conveys the enormous risk he took directing the remains of the U.S. Navy to Midway, more or less putting Hawaii at risk in the process.

There is a fictional plot involving Heston and his son that is less interesting, but it also serves as a way to bring up how American of Japanese descent were imprisoned after Pearl Harbor.  Everybody tries hard for the most part, and the complex story is told in a clear fashion.

What is a definite mood killer, however, is the bland work of just about all of the TV actors. Some of the Japanese characters use their normal American accents and the mixture between them and, say, Toshiro Mifune's broken English is jarring at times.

Almost all of the battle footage is vintage World War II footage. This works surprisingly well in fact, but the decision to use footage like that was based on how much it would cost to produce acceptable visual effects. The penny-pinching isn't horrible, but not because they had the film's best interest at heart. And this is ultimately the knock against MIDWAY—it is a decidedly low rent "big" movie.

Still, I like it and will continue to watch it.

This novelization was written by the listed author of the screenplay. He obviously knows his stuff and the book, minus the subplot with Charlton Heston and Edward Albert, is a pretty accurate retelling of the events.  It is clear, however, that his screenplay was worked on by others as the final film has more humor than is in the book.

Excerpt:

Along "battleship row" at Pearl Harbor, the jagged outlines of the sunken vessels thrust their accusing fingers out of the bay, a grim reminder to a once complacent, overconfident nation. The easygoing camaraderie of its officer corps, characterized by Admiral Yamamoto as a socializing elite too preoccupied with their clubs to give serious attention to the war, had disappeared.

A new man had taken over CINCPAC Headquarters. He was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, recently appointed Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Commander in Chief Pacific Ocean Area. His first task had been to tighten ship.

Uniforms, now, were smarter and more aggressively correct. Salutes were edged with an overt display of discipline. There was a sense of direction, an air of urgency. The wounded giant was stirring and gathering his strength.

The navy-gray jeep sped through the simmering heat-waves which rose from the hot asphalt, its radio antenna whipping the air as it headed toward the huge concrete blockhouse. From the radio came the nasal twang of America's dean of newsmen, H. V. Kaltenborn.

"Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle led the raid with a force of sixteen B-25's and an all-volunteer crew of airmen. Most of the planes carried three five hundred-pound demolition bombs and single incendiary clusters which were dropped on oil stores, factory areas, and on some of the military installations of Tokyo. A few planes went on to make minor strikes on Kyoto, Yokohama, and Nagoya, with one bomb hitting the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo.

"News of the raid has had a most heartening effect on American morale and the morale of our allies, while at the same time constituting a blow to the prestige of the Japanese."

Captain Matt Garth was at the wheel, a tall, angular man in his late forties, with a sharp, aquiline face and piercing blue eyes. His shoulders were squarely set, his waist kept slim by daily exercise. There was a look about him that, while not quite hostile, seemed to indicate an intolerance of human frailty, and more---an acute dislike for what he liked to call muddy thinking.

He was in a furious temper now. He snapped off the radio, swung the wheel hard over, and skidded to a stop at the blockhouse. Outside the ten-foot-high, barbed-wire-topped chain-link fence which encircled the blockhouse was a small guard station. It was manned by a young Marine lieutenant and two enlisted men. They were armed with tommy guns and were grinning as they watched Matt Garth climb out of the jeep and approach them.

Kelly's Heroes (1970) Novelization

KELLY'S HEROES
By Burt Hirschfield
Based on the screenplay by Troy Kennedy-Martin
1970

In World War II, during the period following the breakout at St. Lo and the Liberation of Paris, the Third U.S. Anny made its fighting dash to Germany's Rhine River. In the vanguard of the Third Army were numerous reconnaissance companies. These Armored Cavalry units moved with the situation, probing, fighting and developing contact with the enemy far beyond the main body. Their tactics were as unpredictable as the front, which was, to say the least, fluid. Such a company---and its equally unpredictable personnel---is the subject of this story; a story of a somewhat questionable mission that aimed to deny to the German Army a huge treasure trove of more bombs and bullets, and at the same time to provide aid, comfort, and a large slice of wealth to a group of wild, enterprising G.I.'s.

The Warriors ... Kelly's Warriors ...

***

When KELLY's HEROES was released by MGM in 1970, it was not quite the film that the filmmakers intended. The original screenplay was a big sprawling story that was decidedly anti-war. However, after filming, the story was altered to both reduce the running time and to homogenize the final product. A hippy-dippy pop tune was imposed over the bulk of the main titles, for instance. The song helped make the film more of a straight "war comedy" instead of what it was intended to be—a thoughtful, anti-war message film (with action). It was also a cheap ploy to make as much money as possible from the film. MGM was in poor financial shape at the time and was desperate to release something that would bring money in.

The producer removed over twenty minutes of material to bring the running time down. It was at this point that the film was retitled to KELLY'S HEROES. It was known as THE WARRIORS during filming, and then briefly as KELLY'S WARRIORS.

This novelization is based on the original screenplay, which includes elements cut before filming, as well as the producer's trims. Because it is based on the original script, this novelization retains the anti-war elements. They are not overt or preachy, but rather presented organically—these are battered men who have lost faith in what they are doing. The novelization includes the backstory that fleshes out how lost the men are. The movie is decent, but I think I enjoyed reading this more.

It also includes whole scenes and characters that don't exist in the final film. Doing a little digging, I think the following summary is correct:

The team encounters a mother and daughter while en route to the town with the gold. The daughter becomes a love interest for the Clint Eastwood character. I don't believe these scenes were ever filmed. Ingrid Pitt was apparently cast as one of these characters and she has said in interviews that her role was eliminated right before shooting started.

I found this description of scenes that were apparently filmed and cut here (based on the Cinema Retro "Special Edition" on the film):

• First scene cut: "Oddball and his unit pack up camp and the local village girls are running around half naked." (Photos of the sequences were used in the film's publicity.)

• Two sequences of Kelly and his men in the barn, waiting for Oddball's unit:

• A conversation between Kelly and Big Joe (wherein we learn why Kelly was made the scapegoat for the attack that resulted in his demotion)

• The platoon decides they don't want to continue with the mission; Gutkowski threatens Kelly at gunpoint, but Big Joe and Crapgame side with Kelly and everything turns out A-OK

• The platoon encounters a group of German soldiers and naked girls swimming in a pool (John Landis remembered this scene)(filmed at Kaminca Park on the banks of the River Danube, in Novi Sad)

• "During the attack on the town, production designer Jon Barry had a cameo as a British airman hiding from the Germans, and there was a scene with Kelly, Oddball and Big Joe discussing tactics while standing on an abandoned Tiger tank."

• When Kelly and co. drive off at the end, a bunch of soldiers (including John Landis) shout at them that they are headed in the wrong direction.

Excerpt:

Kelly considered Oddball without enthusiasm. Oddball held the glance for as long as he could, then looked away. He indicated the exit. For the first time, Kelly became aware of music playing somewhere outside. He started for the doorway, looked back. The girl had come around in front of the files. She was naked and perfect. Kelly wet his mouth.

"You like that?" Oddball said hopefully.

"Just thinking back," Kelly said.

"And?" Crapgame said.

"And I remembered," Kelly answered, heading for the stairs. "Every last detail."

Outside, in the glare of the sun, Kelly allowed a moment or two for his eyes to adjust. Then he saw the dancers, three men stripped to the waist, dancing Greek-style. Like Oddball, Iron Crosses dangled from around their necks. They moved in an ever-narrowing circle around a young girl who sat cross-legged on the ground, a euphoric expression on her lovely young face. In her hand she held a bayonet and there was a steel helmet on her head. Otherwise, she was naked.

Beyond the dancers, were the rest of Oddball's crew. In various stages of dress and undress, the men lay with naked girls on the grass eating grapes and drinking some of the local wine from a barrel, which was perched strategically on one of the Sherman tanks. The girls, Kelly noticed with interest, were very young, very pretty, very healthy.

A few men were busy dismantling the gleaming high-explosive shells used by the Sherman's guns with absolute unconcern for the danger involved. Kelly watched one man as he emptied one of the capsules, then filled it with a quantity of very bright paint.

Kelly looked back at Oddball. He shrugged, mouth turned in that deceptive smile. "These are the boys," he murmured.

"And those are the tanks," Kelly added, his disapproval evident.

Oddball's eyes flickered to the crusted, scabrous lumps of armor that seemed too dirty and rusted to move. "Yeah." He nodded wisely. "You are noting the dirt and the rust? We like to give the impression that we just come out of action and are in need of a period of rest and reorganization. 'That way nobody bothers us."

Oddball moved forward, past the naked girls and their friends, leaped onto the first tank and struggled to open the two rusted hatch covers. At last he succeeded and a flash of sunlight glittered off the gleaming chrome and silvered surfaces of the engines. Kelly wanted to see for himself. Thirty cylinders of the five Chrysler motors sat pristinely on their beds, polished and modified as if they were on display in the showroom of a dealer.

"I'm impressed," Kelly said.

"Notice, please," Oddball said, "that the machinery is in good working order. It has in fact been improved on by our mechanical genius, here---Moriarty. A man with the muffin face and the loose gait of a punch-drunk fighter joined them, grinning, head bobbing loosely. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, yeah."