I was watching the John Wayne movie In Harm’s Way on AMC the other night. It was chugging along, nice cast, nice acting…then all of the sudden Kirk Douglas, for no real reason, decided to RAPE the fiance of John Wayne’s son. She later got pregnant and committed suicide, while Kirk Douglas heoricly went on a suicide mission to report the location of the Japanese fleet.
Excuse me? What the hell was that rape scene doing there? And are we supposed to think he was a HERO for sacrificing himself? The scene had absolutely no place in the movie, as far as I’m concerned. It was really unsettling.
Fun stuff about the movie:
the woman from The Day the Earth Stood Still was in it - the one that actually said “Klaatu Barada Niktu.”
the kid from Shane was in it as John Wayne’s son.
Archie Bunker, the bad guy from The Stepford Wives, Katharine Ross’ friend from the Stepford Wives, Slim Pickens and George Kennedy were all in it when they were really young.
I recognized the girl that got raped too, but I don’t remember what else she was in.
If you remember the start of the movie, Kirk’s wife was cheating on him, and was shot up by the Japanese on Dec. 7th with Hugh O’Brian (I can’t rememeber if he was a Marine aviator or Army Air Corps - either way it’s a shame they both phased out their dress whites). This resulted in Kirk having “issues” When we first see him, he’s too hungover to show up for officers call, but when the ship is attacked he turns into “hell on wheels” (that was Robert Mitchum’s son as the fainting sailor who made that observation).
So later when Kirk is at the beach party with Brandon De Wilde’s girlfriend, and she flirts with him even though being attached, they have a mean look cross Kirk’s face as his anger at his dead wife comes up. Again he shows his two extremes - he viciously rapes the girl, then bravely sacrifices his life (but only after he learns she’s committed suicide - he wasn’t remorseful for the rape itself, he just knew he was up shit’s creek anyway, so why not make himself useful)
OK Silthy Tove - I see that he was despondent over his wife’s death…but rape?? It seemed so nonchalant that I thought the movie ground to a halt. I guess that’s one of those “different time” things. (That was a great look that crossed his face at the beach - I though “Uh-oh, something not good is going to happen…”)
Thanks for the Robert Mitchum’s son call - I KNEW he looked familiar but I couldn’t place him!!
Yes, but (a) not everyone has seen every movie ever made and (b) the SDMB frowns on putting spoilers in thread titles. Also, I don’t see this as a big classic movie, such that EVERYONE knows the ins and outs of its plot (Citizen Kane, Psycho, and The Empire Strikes Back are the big “classic spoiler” examples that come to mind).
Well, (1) if anybody would know that, I would, don’tcha think? and (2) he did get her, but he chose to dump her. Very different.
Scarlett, queen of the two-part reply today, apparently
Heh heh - I didn’t even notice your name when I picked that one.
I’ll ask the Moderators to change the title if that’s truly the rule here - It honestly didn’t occur to me that the title would be an issue for a movie this old.
No offense, Dude, but if you didn’t see it coming, then it’s possible others wouldn’t either, eh? It may be a 30-year old movie, but it’s not exactly one that’s become cultural shorthand the way GWTW has.
There may be some who are visiting the film for the first time; does that mean you need to be hyper-cautious about every film, even 30-year old ones? No. But keeping it out of the title is just good form.
Yes, yes, OK, I have aleady asked for the title to get changed. FTR I did read that sticky and I did consider it, but seeing as how there’s another thread called “Blade Runner Rape” and that movie is 20 years newer than mine, I saw no problem.
Surely you can see the difference between “Blade Runner rape” and your thread title. The former implies there is a rape of some sort in the movie Blade Runner. Your title does everything but roll the end credits and sell popcorn at the concession stand.
I’ve never seen Blade Runner, but the rape scene in this movie is a small part of it. The movie goes on for another hour or so after that. Actually, that’s one of the reasons it was so unsettlng - all the other characters sort of shrugged and moved on with their lives.