Fighting On Film: Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)

Set the mainsail and sharpen your cutlasses, this week we’re taking on a technicolour swashbuckler set during the Napoleonic Wars. Starring Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo, Raoul Walsh’s 1951 adaptation of some of C.S. Forester’s classic seafaring novels is stirring stuff! Join us as we unpack this early adaptation of three of Forester’s renowned Horatio Hornblower books.

This week’s film was selected by the Fighting On Film Supporting Cast, each month we offer a selection of choices for our Patreon supporters to choose from, if you’d like to support the show and help us pick films find out more here.

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

If you enjoy the podcast then please check out our Patreon here. Be sure to follow Fighting On Film on Twitter @FightingOnFilm, on Facebook and don’t forget to check out www.fightingonfilm.com.

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: Sea of Sand (1958)

Join us as we clamber aboard our trucks and ready the Vickers Guns as we prepare for a raid behind enemy lines with 1958’s ‘Sea of Sand‘. A classic British war film with a solid cast including Richard Attenborough, John Gregson, Michael Craig, Percy Herbert and Barry Foster. Guy Green directs this fictionalised depiction of a Long Range Desert Group raid ahead of the Second Battle of El Alamein.

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: Show & Tell #6: Pearl Harbour & Spearhead

Join us for the sixth edition of our Show & Tell series were we discuss films and programs we’ve been watching recently. In this edition we talk about 2001’s Pearl Harbour (sure to feature in a full length episode in the future) and Spearhead (1978-81) a British TV show following the fictional Wessex Rangers in Northern Ireland and West Germany.

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: The Dirty Dozen: Fatal Mission (1988)

Tasked with stopping a group of high ranking Germans setting up a 4th Reich the Dirty Dozen jump into action, one last time. This week we round out Dirty Dozen December with the last of the franchise’s films, 1988’s ‘Fatal Mission‘. With much of the production crew, including director Lee H. Katzin. Telly Savalas returns as Major Wright but a number of other characters from the previous film are recast.

This week’s episode is dedicated to everyone who donated to our charity fundraiser for Crisis, we’re thrilled to say we raised £323 for the charity. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who donated to take part in the raffle.

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987)

This week Dirty Dozen December continues and the stakes ramp as we discus 1987’s ‘The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission‘ where we join Telly Savalas and his new Dozen as they attack a German chemical weapons plant! Filmed in Yugoslavia and directed by Lee H. Katzin the film stars Savalas as Major Wright, the new commander of the Dozen and Ernest Borgnine, Vince Edwards, Bo Svenson, Randall “Tex” Cobb, Gary Graham, Paul Picerni, Emmanuelle Meyssignac and Wolf Kahler returns again, as an entirely different character Colonel Krieger.

And don’t forget you can get your special, limited edition Dirty Dozen December t-shirts now too!

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

If you enjoy the podcast then please check out our Patreon here. Be sure to follow Fighting On Film on Twitter @FightingOnFilm, on Facebook and don’t forget to check out www.fightingonfilm.com.

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985)

We continue Dirty Dozen December with the 1985 TV-movie sequel ‘The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission‘, Lee Marvin, Richard Jaeckel & Ernest Borgnine return with a brand new dozen of hardened criminals (including Wolf Kahler, Larry Wilcox, Ricco Ross & Gavan O’Herlihy) with a mission to save… Hitler. Directed by veteran director Andrew V. McLaglen the film has its ups and downs but Lee Marvin puts in an enjoyable performance.

And don’t forget you can get your special, limited edition Dirty Dozen December t-shirts now too!

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Thanks for listening!

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

This week we embark on Dirty Dozen December with a special guest, Lee Marvin’s biographer Dwayne Epstein. Naturally we start this month long exploration of the four Dirty Dozen films with the first and best of them – 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, directed by Robert Aldrich. With Dwayne’s help we look at the making of what has become an iconic war film of the era with defining performances from a strong cast including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Robert Webber and Donald Sutherland. Grab your Grease Guns we’re headed for the chateau!

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: It Happened Here (1964)

In 1940 Britain was overrun and became just another country occupied by Nazi Germany. At least that’s what happened in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo’s 1964 film ‘It Happened Here’. The film follows Pauline, a nurse as she is forced to choose between resistance and collaboration. Made over 8 years by two exceptionally young filmmakers ‘It Happened Here’ is an impressive and thought provoking film.

In this week’s episode we examine one of the most ambitious amateur films of its era and delve into the fascinating production, performances and story of ‘It Happened Here’.

Warning – this episode includes discussion of fascism, the Holocaust and euthanasia in relation to the plot of the film.

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Thanks for listening!

Fighting On Film: 303 Squadron (2018)

This week we examine a Polish film 303 Squadron (Dywizjon 303) with Jennifer Grant, a postgraduate researcher focusing on the Polish Armed Forces in the West during the Second World War. With Jenny as our wingman we discussed the nuances and missed opportunities of this film which follows the exploits of the RAF’s first operation fighter squadron made up of Polish pilots. Immortalised first in 1969’s The Battle of Britain and also revisited in another 2018 film Hurricane, 303 Squadron has a fascinating history but we ask the question – does this film do them justice?

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

Fighting On Film: Cold War British Army Training Films – Soviet Encounter & Fighting In Woods

Grab your SLR and LAW 80 and jump in the back of the FV432, the Soviet 3rd Shock Army is on the advance! This week we dive into a pair of British Army training films Fighting In Woods (1982) and Soviet Encounter (1983) with Dr. Kenton White – an expert on the Cold War British Army. These well-made films show a potential (and somewhat optimistic) scenario of how the British Army would have fought the Warsaw Pact if the Cold War had ever gone hot!