The War Lover (1962)

Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Once they arm his B-17 "The Body" with bombs they become Buzz Rickson's (Steve McQueen) and he will allow no abuse to come to them until he reaches target even if it involves disobeying orders. Rickson is a war lover, emotionally dead on the ground, unless competing for his co-pilot's (Robert Wagner) girlfriend, but it is in the air over enemy targets is where he finds his real ecstasy. Arrogant, fearless, cynical, courageous, his crew knows he's short a full deck but it is the fearlessness that they bank on to get them back home.As in any film it appears (12 OClock High, Catch 22) the B-17 is the star, making its way through the flak in imposing formation, the crew in the chaotic interior trying to jell as they fight off German Messerschmitts. Using actual footage War Lover in the air is an intense watch especially with Rickson at the controls. On the ground things tend to get dull with Wagner and a dull Sally Ann Field playing out a mawkish romance to perhaps distract from the well cast McQueen's psycho hero. But it is McQueen's Rickson and his battered B-17 that give The War Lover the thrust that it has.

Considered a somewhat shallow adaptation of a John Hershey novel, this film follows the exploits of two American air force officers and friends in England during WWII. McQueen is an edgy, risk-taking Captain while Wagner is a more solemn and respectful Lieutenant. McQueen is consistently scrutinized by his superiors for his questionable decisions on air missions and Wagner frequently defends him until he starts to wonder if McQueen is doing what he does for the wrong reasons and in a way that is harmful too others, including himself. Meanwhile, Wagner has fallen for a refined English girl (Field) who seems to harbor her own fascination with McQueen. By the time of a massive air strike involving more than a thousand flyers, McQueen and Wagner's tension has reached the boiling point, though they may not survive the mission to settle it. McQueen, in a role that suits his rebel personality and misfit background, does a good job with his role, despite the occasional tendency towards overacting. His screen charisma is evident, however, throughout. Wagner is very good as well, though his acting style is almost completely different than McQueen's. His laconic, understated approach is a nice counterpoint to McQueen's more passionate and manic presence. Field comes off as pleasant, but remote, with a manner of speaking that never sounds completely human or real. (She sounds quite a bit like the bored, brainwashed wife in Trauffaut's "Fahrenheit 451.") Virtually everyone her character mentions having been close to was killed in the war, so it's a wonder that either McQueen or Wagner would want anything to do with her! She is appealing to a degree, but perhaps not arresting enough to inspire the sort of passion for her demonstrated by the men in the film. Musical comedy star Crawford has an early role, improbably (and unconvincingly) cast as a young American flyer. He cannot mask his accent. It's neat, however, to see him interacting with McQueen, who takes on an almost fatherly affection for him. It's a British-made film about Americans (and featuring quite a few Canadian actors in it) that doesn't always strike the right sensibility, but which paints a moderately compelling picture of the circumstances. The use of some authentic machinery and detailed military gear, as well as some arrestingly staged air battle sequences help hold viewer interest. Occasionally, a rotten special effect (notably a parachute scene) or a rear-projection shot that spoils the otherwise decent location filming springs forth to kick the audience out of the moment. Fans of McQueen will want to see his solid, anti-heroic work in an early leading role and fans of Wagner should be pleased as well, but others may find it a little choppy and unspectacular.

"The War Lover" isn't the greatest movie ever made, but it has some very good elements. The scenes of airmen inside B-17 bombers are excellent, with very good views of flight uniforms, equipment, flying instruments and the cramped conditions. The fearful aspects of aerial combat are also shown quite effectively. Some of the sound effects are muffled, but the general experience of flying on bombing missions over enemy territory is well portrayed.Steve McQueen gives an excellent performance. While his character "Buzz" Rickson is often arrogant and amoral, McQueen is mesmerizing. He also nicely shows how Rickson has moments of compassion towards others. Its good to see a character like Rickson depicted in a way that's not completely black-and-white. Robert Wagner does a very good job as McQueen's co-pilot, a man with more decency and quiet character than Rickson, but who is also flawed like all of us. Unfortunately, while Shirley Anne Field is beautiful and shows some charm, she does a poor job of acting."The War Lover" is especially good at showing the toll of war, and how men of various characters and backgrounds are thrown together in the military. And it is very frank about the sexual promiscuity that is often a part of war. While the movie effectively shows these things, it does so in ways that are not as explicit as many movies of today might do.The editing of "The War Lover" is quite poor at times, with a choppy quality, and minor characters sometimes pop up here and there in a confusing way. Overall, though, the film is very worthwhile for viewers who are interested in character studies and war movies.

Nice action piece, with some nice period detail of what it was probably like being a US bomber pilot in the US in the war. While not the movie mainly focuses on the the relationship between the three main characters, it also focuses on Buzz's character, a vaguely psychotic bomber pilot.Motivations and the lives on the bomber crew are shown, I quite liked the setting and the portrayal of these guys. The relationship between Buss, Boland and Daphne is a tad clichéd...and really seems to be one of those war movies that are spoiled because it was felt there was a need to fit a romance into it.Lots of great footage of bombers, including some amazing footage of a bomber landing on its belly with no undercarriage, and some low level stunt stuff that has to be played with a good sound system. However some of the effects are a tad dodgy, and all the Luftwaffe fighter footage is obvious grainy stock footage..shame that they went to the trouble to use real US bombers, but couldn't get hold of a few Messercshmidts!