06 Jun Breakthrough
Breakthrough, WWII movie starring John Agar
(1950) Breakthrough was one of the first movies to come out about the Allied invasion in Normandy sixty-eight years ago today. It followed an army platoon from its training in England on through the landings on the beach and then breaking through the hedgerows.
It’s not easy to watch a movie about D-Day is it? Half way through you’ve gotten to know the men (most of them boys, really) and then all you want to do is hit “stop” when one of them gets hurt.
This may not have been the best movie about D-Day, but on the anniversary I’m glad I watched it. There was a lot of authentic film footage (I didn’t realize it at the time … something like 30% of the movie) so for the audiences in 1950 who had lived through it, I’ll bet it was an emotional hour and a half.
The lead roles were played by David Brian, John Agar, and Frank Lovejoy. They were all good I thought, but I was curious about John Agar. Where did I know him from?
John Agar served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and in 1945 he married Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple? How did he meet her? Well, he was the older brother of one of her classmates. So when she was 17 years old the very famous Shirley Temple married a 24 year old sergeant just back from the war. The marriage didn’t last long. During the filming of Breakthrough, Agar was going through a divorce. It probably wasn’t easy being Mr. Shirley Temple.
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