Five legendary Hollywood directors went to World War II with cameras instead of scripts. They were standing near battles, bombed cities, death camps, and military chaos. They came home changed.
Trailer for “Five Came Back”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- John Ford was wounded while filming the Battle of Midway.
- George Stevens helped film the liberation of Dachau. After that, he said he never saw the world the same way again.
- William Wyler lost hearing in one ear while filming combat missions in Europe.
- Frank Capra, who made feel-good classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” became one of America’s key propaganda filmmakers.
- John Huston made war films so honest the Army shelved some of them.
Watch “Five Came Back”
You can watch “Five Came Back” on Netflix.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 93/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 88/100 (Users); 98/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: “Five Came Back” is based on Mark Harris’s book. The series is narrated by Meryl Streep.
Release Date: March 31, 2017
Other Unique Stuff
- The series uses more than 100 hours of archival footage, much of it shot by the directors themselves while serving in the war.
- Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass, and Lawrence Kasdan each champion one of the five directors and explain how their wartime experiences shaped modern filmmaking.
- John Huston’s wartime documentaries were considered so honest and unsettling that military officials restricted some of them from public release.
Wrap Up:
“Five Came Back” is catnip for anyone who loves movies, World War II, or the strange place where art meets duty.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc