MacArthur

The general proposes landing at Leyte Beach "on the island of Luzon" in the movie.

Leyte Beach, where the general made his famous landing in 1944, is not on Luzon but on the southern island of Leyte, some 500 miles southeast of the point the general indicates on the map.

In fact, he is pointing to Lingayen Gulf, which is on Luzon, but is not where his first attack will be.

It is where the Japanese staged their amphibious landing in December, 1941 (that eventually pushed down the island to Bataan, Manila, and Corregidor Island), and is where the U.

forces came ashore in early January, 1945, after the first landings on Leyte in October, 1944.

In the beginning of the film (and also in a briefer moment later), there are Japanese planes bombing soldiers on the field.

However, you can see no bombs carried under the planes, nor being dropped from them - just a swoop of the plane and an explosion on the ground to coincide.

A Vietnam War-era F-4 Phantom fighter (first flown in 1958 and first operational in 1962) is seen (in stock footage) dropping napalm during the Inchon landing in 1950.

The map used MacArthur's 1950 invasion of Korea was a post-Korean War map showing the 1953 Demarcation line vs.

the 38th parallel line that separated the two Koreas.

During the surrender aboard the USS Missouri, among the quick cuts to onlooking sailors, one sailor is clearly wearing modern, 1970s-style glasses.

On board the USS MISSOURI, before and during the surrender ceremony, Admiral Nimitz is depicted wearing four stars, one rank below General of the Army MacArthur.

In fact, he had been promoted to Fleet Admiral, a five-star rank, the previous December 19, and was equal in rank to MacArthur.

MacArthur had also been promoted to 5 star rank, General of the Army on December 18, one day before Nimitz.

When MacArthur is notified about the start of the Korean War he is watching _Winchester '73 (1950)_ (qv).

The war started on June 25, 1950 and the movie was released on July 12, 1950.

In the invasion scene of the return to the Phillipines, the soldiers storming the beach are dressed as U.

Marines were in WWII in the South Pacific.

The invasion was an all Army show and soldiers did not routinely wear camouflage helmet covers nor leggings.

This was probably done to match up actual combat footage since the Navy and Marine Corps filmed a great deal of combat footage in color.

The film clip of the atomic bomb exploding in the film is obviously meant to represent either the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki (or perhaps even the first bomb test at Los Alamos).

Yet the film clip used shows a United States bomb test over the ocean and these US ocean tests did not take place until well after WWII had ended.

In the exterior shot of the airplane flying MacArthur to Hawaii, the side of the airplane reads "UNITED STATES AIR FORCE".

The U.

Air Force was not created until after the war, in 1947.

When MacArthur has his car stop to let the Soviet military officer out, the rear projection footage behind suddenly stops moving, so that leaves on a bush which had been visibly blowing in the breeze abruptly freeze in place.

When the general is going to the PT boat, the jeep he is riding in is a M38.

This jeep was not used until 1949-1952.

In the movie, MacArthur's aide tells the General that Pres.

Roosevelt has awarded him the Medal of Honor.

The President cannot do that; he may recommend someone for the Medal, but it is awarded only by Act of Congress.

Later, MacArthur announces that he has received the "Congressional Medal of Honor".

This is an expression used only by uninformed civilians.

It is, simply, the "Medal of Honor".

MacArthur's father was a recipient, MacArthur was very aware of military award protocols and a stickler for details, he would not make such a mistake.

General George C.

Kenney, MacArthur's new air commander, arrives in a B-17 bomber which is painted in a camouflage pattern never used by American aircraft during World War II.

Shortly after MacArthur's escape from the Philippines in the spring of 1942, he complains that the President and the Chiefs of Staff are not sending him enough troops, supplies, and equipment to carry on his war against the Japanese.

He says that priorities are instead being given to commanders in other theaters, including Gen Patton in North Africa.

However, Patton's troops did not arrive in Africa until November 1942.

In the very opening scene on the parade ground at West Point, General MacArthur's flag is shown as having a red field with a square of four stars with the fifth star in the center.

While that pattern of stars on a blue field is the proper flag for the equivalent Navy rank of Fleet Admiral, such a flag never existed in the Army.

The proper flag for a 5-star General of the Army (as seen in photographs of the real-life event) has a red field with the five stars in a ring, with the center space in the shape of a pentagon, the same pattern as the actual rank insignia.

President Truman's VC-118 aircraft (the Independence) is shown with no tail number.

In fact, the number 6-505 should appear on both sides.

During the 1945 combat scenes in the Philippine Islands, several American M1 Carbines can be seen with bayonet lugs mounted under their barrels.

In actuality, these lugs were not added until the Carbines were overhauled by government armories after World War II ended.

Although the film spans 20 years in General MacArthur's career (1942 to 1962), neither he nor his wife Jean show any signs of aging.

In the invasion scene of the return to the Philippines, the soldiers storming the beach are dressed as U.

Marines were in WWII in the South Pacific.

The invasion was an all-Army show and soldiers did not routinely wear camouflage helmet covers nor leggings.

This was probably done to match up actual combat footage, since the Navy and Marine Corps filmed a great deal of combat footage in color.

When MacArthur is leaving the Philippines he is below deck on a PT Boat.

His trench coat is totally buttoned up to his neck.

The boat slows down and he immediately goes on deck.

As he is shown coming on deck, his trench coat is now now open at the neck with the lapels folded back.

In the opening scene of the bombardment of the 1950 amphibious landing at Inchon a air strike is depicted where clearly the silhouette of an F4 phantom is shown, a aircraft that didn't enter service until 1960.

MACARTHUR was a film made in answer to the George C. Scott biopic PATTON, this time telling the story of the general made famous in the Pacific theatre in WW2.

This is a sound and thoughtful performance by Peck, who was saddled by a Ciceronian script, some of it presumably emanating from MacArthur himself.MacArthur's conviction that war is a great evil is convincingly portrayed, as is the relish of a general doing the only thing for which he was trained: the prosecution of war to the utmost severity.

This is one of those rather long (2 hours) worthy but involving historical war dramas. More drama than war.

Nice biographic film about controversial as well as flamboyant General masterfully played by Gregory Peck and who was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s to 1940s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II , having received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign .Agreeable biopic about the famed general concerning the latter years of his long military career , it starts with his assumption of command of the Philippine army and subsequent retreat ; going on through Inchon landing , China invasion on Korea crossing over parallel 39 and his sacking by President Harry Truman .

Gregory Peck lends an air of authenticity as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in this film.

General Douglas MacArthur was a controversial figure in his time, and this 1977 film biography relates the basic events of his public life, which includes open conflicts with two U.S.

This biography is a one-sided love affair with General Douglas Macarthur. I'm no admirer of the General, so my appraisal of the film might seem a bit skewed.

No matter what you have to say about MacArthur, critical or otherwise, he shaped events in the Pacific theater of World War II to give him a part of history in the twentieth century. In this well done production with Gregory Peck in the leading role, he gives a candid performance of the flamboyant and publicity seeking authoritative General who turned earlier defeat into ultimate victory.