09 Apr The Winds of War
(1983) When The Winds of War mini-series hit our television sets in 1983, it was a huge success. There were seven episodes spread out over eight days for a grand total of 883 minutes! I remember watching them all, and that was before I was able to set up my U-Verse to record!
Just a couple months ago, I was reminded that The Winds of War was not on my movie list. A reader by the name of Laura had gone through my (appalling long) WWII Movies page and emailed me, “I was surprised not to find the two marvelous TV series The Winds of War and War and Remembrance in your list! They are based on the excellent books by the same titles by Herman Wouk.”
Laura inspired me.
I found The Winds of War on Netflix and watched all seven episodes in one week. I am sure I enjoyed it in 1983, but I promise you I enjoyed it more now. It was a great review of what was happening in Europe in those final years leading up to World War II. Author Herman Wouk even wrote the script.
The major stars included Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, Peter Graves, Polly Bergan and Victoria Tennant. Mitchum plays Naval Commander “Pug” Henry who seems to be everywhere and right in the center of what was happening leading up to Pearl Harbor. His love interest, Pamela Tudsbury was played by Victoria Tennant, (and I thought) way too young for Mitchum. My first instinct was that the character was inspired by Pamela Churchill Harriman, Winston’s one time daughter-in-law.
Ali MacGraw, as the Jewish niece of a historian living in Italy, falls in love with Pug’s son, younger than she and played by Jan-Michael Vincent. I had forgotten what a hunk he was and was sad to learn that his personal life in the years afterward was filled with trauma, primarily self-inflicted.
As for War and Remembrance, I watched a few clips on YouTube. It aired in 1988 as another miniseries of twelve episodes, a total of 1620 minutes! Actress Jane Seymour replaced Ali MacGraw, and although I don’t remember watching the series when it was first broadcast I am sure I would miss MacGraw in the role as the Jewish mother sent to a concentration camp. Many of the other actors returned for the rest of the action.
All in all, very much enjoyed, thanks to Laura!
The Winds of War at amazon.com
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