(looking at later movies) Or Pershing or Patton.
Von Ryan’s Express
In the OP, but worthy of a second mention.
Enemy At The Gates, with its efficient Russian sex.
I really love 36 Hours with James Garner and Rod Taylor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057809/
It’s about a very clever Nazi plan to learn the secrets of D-Day by making an American officer believe that the war is over and he has amnesia.
It’s one-of-a-kind (or was till they made a TV remake about a decade ago)
I wouldn’t call Mr. Roberts stupid. The film depicted something quite real - the unhappiness of those performing essential, but non-glamorous duties. In WWII, hundreds of thousands signed up to serve their country, and no doubt many were happy to serve in dull, safe jobs. Others, however, wanted to be right in the thick of things.
Note that, at the end of the movie,
Mr. Roberts was transferred to a combat position, and was very quickly killed in action.
Not a stupid film at all.
However
[spoiler] the second letter Ens. Pulver reads to the crew says he was killed by a kamakazi while drinking coffee with other officers in the wardroom.
There weren’t any sneak kamakazi attacks. They would have been at general quarters (“battle stations”), not sitting in the wardroom[/spoiler]
Hell Is for Heroes, featuring Bob Newhart in his movie debut.
Although there really was a Devil’s Brigade, the movie took some liberties with the story.
An under-appreciated classic: Beach Red (don’t let the mediocre score at IMDB put you off - it’s a great war, really anti-war, movie)
Not a classic, but not too bad: Memphis Belle
I know you said “non-historical”, but The Great Escape took so many liberties with the facts, that it might better be considered fiction.
An associate of mine pointed out that James Garner picks out a German plane to steal that they can start themselves without a battery cart or whatever is required.
Hell in the Pacific with Lee Marvin
“Some” liberties is an understatement. Still, it did illustrate one of the more unique units of the war. The Brigade’s Memorial Highway (Alberta Highway 4, joining US Interstate 15 at Coutts AB/Sweetgrass MT) goes through the town where I live. And at least they got Cliff Robertson’s part right; he played a distant cousin of mine.
My contribution to the thread: Hornet’s Nest, with Rock Hudson, from 1970. A commando unit is assigned to blow up a German dam, but few survive the parachute drop behind enemy lines. The remaining ones work with local partisans to fulfil the objective.
“Decision before Dawn” 1951 starring Richard Basehart and Oskar Werner
“Battleground” 1949 staring Van Johnson
“Attack!” 1956 starring Eddie Albert and Jack Palance
I don’t know how docudrama it is but there’s a 1957 Polish film about the Warsaw Uprising called “Kanal” that is excellent.
Worst scene ever in a World War II movie: Laurence Olivier as a French-Canadian trapper singing “Frere Jacques” in “49th Parallel”
Do the first three Indiana Jones films count? Maybe not, since they took place during the Inter-War period rather than World War II proper.
How about The Keep
WWII - check
Action - check
Non Historical - check
Stoopid - check
Unfortunately, you also specified good -
The incident shown is actually not too far from what is described in Paul Brickhill’s book – a couple of escaping POWs did get a plane set to go, and then the real pilot came by, thought they were the Ground Crew who’d started his plane, and gratefully took off. There wasn’t anything they could do (you didn’t go around assaulting them like Steve McQueen did in the film. If they caught you afterwards, they’d shoot you for that). They got caught when they went back into the hanger to get things to start the next plane.
No American scrounger or blind Forger, though.
I’ll debate the lack of historicity, though – although it deviated from reality (especially anything that has Steve McQueen in it), it’s still pretty close to reality, and they had actual POWs as advisors, so thinfgs in the book really do look they way they did in reality – I’ve seen the photos and drawings.
If you want whoilesale departure from reality in an escape movie, watch the TV movie The Birdmen.
The Birdmen (TV Movie 1971) - IMDb
It’s not historical (although the writers of the original play were POWs) and it’s not an absurd action-adventure, but I’ll second Stalag 17 for this thread.
that sounds like the one good episode of Entreprise that I liked… so… I’m guessing those writers stole it from this movie.
No, Enterprise swiped it from a Mission: Impossible episode, and I vaguely remember other Trek episodes stealing it as well.
I have a soft spot for “In Harm’s Way”.