# Plot Holes in World War II **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463 "2012-03-22T02:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/241 "2012-03-31T00:46:39Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > You must have missed the scenes in the follow-up series where he [got addicted to sleeping pills, but broke himself of the addiction by locking himself in a motel room for a week - without any medical assistance or supervision.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy#Post-war_illness) That’s less believable than a “Chuck Norris fact”. You would think that if anybody knew how addiction _really_ worked it would be Hollywood. But nooooo!!! And then they decided to bring back that whole “battle fatigue” storyline they scrapped in _The Great War_, and have him hold a gun to his wife’s head just to give him an imperfection! Right, like that makes him any more believable. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/242 "2012-03-31T00:56:05Z")
> [@LAV25](#): > > Actually, the different actors playing the vice president was an Easter Egg, the director had previously worked on “Doctor Who.” The whole joke backfired when the guy who played FDR quit in a pay dispute and they actually had to use VP character. There’s a real treat in store for fans who pay attention to the Cold War sequel. Two of those VP characters will fight it out in a Presidential campaign. I don’t want to spoil the ending, though. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/243 "2012-03-31T01:03:21Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/244 "2012-04-01T00:05:30Z")
I just want to say that this is one of the best thread that has ever been on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/245 "2012-04-01T00:41:19Z")
What if the story of WWII had been placed in the hands of a competent writer? …What would it look like? \*\*Ernest Hemingway \*\* It was very late and everyone had left the pool hall except a tiny young man who sat in the shadows the leaves of the old live oak tree made against the moonlight. The two waiters inside the pool hall knew that the tiny young man was a little drunk, and while he usually was quiet and kept to himself, they knew that if he became too drunk he would pull out his M1 Garand and popping flies from a hundred paces, so they kept watch on him. “He’s drunk,” one waiter said. “What do you care?” “He’s muttering about France.” “Leave him alone. He used to have malaria.” “He’ll stay all night. He should never have been awarded the Medal of Honor.” The tiny young man rapped on the table with his beer stein. The younger waiter went over to him. “What do you want?” The tiny young man looked at him. “Another Placidyl.” “You’ll be addicted,” the waiter said. The tiny young man looked at him. The waiter went away. “Look at his perfect teeth,” he said to his colleague. “There is nothing as nasty as a tiny young man. He’ll stay all night and I’ll never get any sleep.” The waiter took the bottle of Placidyl from the counter inside the hall and marched to the tiny young man’s table. He placed one pill on the table. “You should never have been awarded the Medal of Honor,” he said to the tiny young man. _With apologies to [Fingolfin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905)._ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/246 "2012-04-01T02:56:32Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > What if the story of WWII had been placed in the hands of a competent writer? Thread winner! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/247 "2012-04-02T01:53:43Z")
> [@Wolverine](#): > > They did try to incorporate some humor in The Deuce. Remember the episode with that [Polish bear](http://www.badassoftheweek.com/voytek.html) that was an official private in the army? The writers kept pushing it further and further. Instead of a simple wacky subplot, they destroyed my suspension of disbelief by adding ridiculous antics. The bear drinks beer. He smokes cigarettes. He wrestles his friends. He marches on two feet. He’s just like a human. :dubious: > > They completely lost me, however, when they had the bear start carrying ammunition. Everyone knows that wild animals run away from loud sounds, but here the bear is actually _contributing_? :rolleyes: It was too much for me. Well that’s just you not paying attention. Didn’t you notice that hilarious invasion of Greece bit set up the delay in Operation Barbarossa? If Duce isn’t a buffoon, Hitler beats Stalin. I could have done without the whole Crete thing. I mean, yes, let’s see what the British are doing, but did we really need to see them whenever they were fighting on the seas and the oceans? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/248 "2012-04-02T06:51:51Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Well that’s just you not paying attention. Didn’t you notice that hilarious invasion of Greece bit set up the delay in Operation Barbarossa? If Duce isn’t a buffoon, Hitler beats Stalin. I could have done without the whole Crete thing. I mean, yes, let’s see what the British are doing, but did we really need to see them whenever they were fighting on the seas and the oceans? Yeah, they dragged them into the Pacific story too. It’s not enough that we’ve seen them in France, in Norway, at Dunkirk, in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Blitz, their own night bombing campaign (and a right old tear-jerker that was - seems like every single mission they were coming back with one plane in ten shot down, and that was the routine ones), Greece, Crete and North Africa - now we’ve got to see them all over again in Singapore, Burma, and a bunch of other places, not forgetting the Japanese prison camps like Changi and the slave labour on the railway. Someone clearly liked writing for stiff-upper-lip types with this weird master/servant dynamic between the officers and other ranks. Fairly solid rumour has it they nearly got written into the Winter War too. I mean… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/249 "2012-04-02T06:56:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I did enjoy the various cameos by Hollywood actors – James Stewart as a general, Clark Gable as a fighter pilot. James Stewart is a colonel in the series; general in later sequels although he didn’t get much screen time in these. ---
**Author:** ![Rahne\_McCloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rahne\_McCloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rahne_McCloud)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/250 "2012-04-02T07:37:20Z")
My Dad had a bit part playing a radio operator in the episode dealing with Iwo Jima and Guam. He told us the worst part of th filming was the fake explosions and gun fire going on for what seemed like months, then coming home with a bad case of “jungle rot” on his legs. It just turned out to be he was allergic to the fake blood. ---
**Author:** ![DearestDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@DearestDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DearestDane)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/251 "2012-04-02T14:35:01Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And don’t get me started about how stupid was to have Italy to switch sides 4 times during the conflict! They tried to attract those millions of soccer fans who are convinced that Italians are a bunch of cheats. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/252 "2012-04-02T15:11:36Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Yeah, they dragged them into the Pacific story too. It’s not enough that we’ve seen them in France, in Norway, at Dunkirk, in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Blitz, their own night bombing campaign (and a right old tear-jerker that was - seems like every single mission they were coming back with one plane in ten shot down, and that was the routine ones), Greece, Crete and North Africa - now we’ve got to see them all over again in Singapore, Burma, and a bunch of other places, not forgetting the Japanese prison camps like Changi and the slave labour on the railway. Someone clearly liked writing for stiff-upper-lip types with this weird master/servant dynamic between the officers and other ranks. Fairly solid rumour has it they nearly got written into the Winter War too. I mean… :smack: I suspect that Burma subplot was some sort of veiled political commentary. I mean that Aung San character, the Japanese quisling who switches sides right before the end of the war? That name doesn’t sound familiar? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/253 "2012-04-02T15:14:23Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > James Stewart is a colonel in the series; general in later sequels although he didn’t get much screen time in these. I’m also reminded of the stunt casting of Ted Williams as a fighter pilot. It seems like a cynical ploy to bring in Red Sox fans. Evidently, though, it worked, since they did the exact same thing in the Korea sequel and even paired him with the eventual star of **The Space Program.** There were also some annoying pandering in the “Home Front” sequences. A one-armed baseball player? That breaks any suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/254 "2012-04-02T16:43:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A one-armed baseball player? That breaks any suspension of disbelief. Not entirely unbelievable. In real life there’s Jim Abbott. Not only did he only have one hand, BUT he came to the major leagues never having pitched in the minors AND he threw a no-hitter. The one-arm baseball player character isn’t nearly as improbable as the baseball player-spy character. Or, for that matter, the actress and composer who turn out to be inventors or the eccentric millionaire who builds the world’s larget airplane out of plywood. One sports-related flaw I didn’t like, though. Remember how they decided to premier the Day of Infamy story right in the middle of a football game? Football wasn’t nearly as big a sport back then as baseball. I would have launched it a few weeks earlier, and used the World Series as the platform. That would also have made the Bob Feller cameo more meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![LAV25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@LAV25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAV25)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/255 "2012-04-02T21:46:31Z")
Or how about how they tried to press the [reset button](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_button_technique) on the whole French colonies thing? That played so poorly with test audiences in Asia that they had to launch several more spinoff series just to write their way out! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/256 "2012-04-03T04:13:31Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > For your first point, though, one of the most pathetic examples was Chiang Kai-shek, whom they wrote out of the main series but gave him his own show as sort of a consolation prize, titled _Ihla Formosa (My Beautiful Island)_ . Sad, as he kept on plotting his comeback and never got it through his head he was no longer a big star. The latter show never amounted to much during his run, but there was a revival of interest and some fresh storylines once Chiang’s character was finally killed off. Just to nominate this as a major contender for Dopername/content juxtapositrion of the decade! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/257 "2012-04-03T07:54:23Z")
Thanks! Two acknowledgments in one thread, I’m honored! ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/258 "2012-04-03T15:21:20Z")
On the other hand, look at the stuff they considered putting into the series but cut or de-empahsized as being too preposterous. If they had included giant [aircraft carriers built of ice and sawdust](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete) battling it out in the arctic with cruise missiles and jet aircraft while Hitler thrust the Spear of Destiny at the sky, it would have been just too over the top. Overall it was a pretty good show, really ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/259 "2012-04-03T17:28:16Z")
They slipped the odd one in, though. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panjandrum) giant rocket-propelled wheel-bomb made a brief appearance in an episode or two, but it really belonged in a [TV comedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_and_Round_Went_the_Great_Big_Wheel). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463/260 "2012-04-04T16:03:25Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > What if the story of WWII had been placed in the hands of a competent writer? > …What would it look like? > > \*\*Ernest Hemingway > > \ > > _With apologies to [Fingolfin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905)._ Competent writer, my ass. They let him help write the Italian part of World War One, and look at what a plotless, depressing, pointless snafu _that_ became. I will never figure out how they managed to convince the producers to greenlight a sequel! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-world-war-ii/616463.md?page=14)