joanna-105 Review of The McConnell Story

The McConnell Story (1955)

Life imitates art... or is it the other way around?

[6/10 · 12 August 2015]

The McConnell Story has couple of things going for it and number of things wrong with it. I'll start with the "wrongs": if you are going to do a propaganda movie, be more subtle about it and don't clobber the viewer with frequent boring speeches on the subject (including opening address by a USAF general, no less!!); use the medium of pictures (movies are a visual art, after all) and show us the message instead of reading it out loud to us (as if it was the radio). Second problem with this movie is Alan Ladd - he is too old to play McConnell. Although he was only maybe 41 or 42 when filming this picture (still: 10 years older than McConnell at the time of his death), Ladd looks here closer to 55 (too much alcohol, cigarettes and sun, perhaps). He cannot pull 23 year old McConnell being rambunctious youngster in the Army during WWII and he can barely manage 30 year old ace in the Korean War. He just doesn't look the part. The suspension of disbelief was just too great for this Alan Ladd fan. Having said that, the movie gets going every time June Allyson and Alan Ladd are together on the screen. The first time I saw this movie (not knowing at all the "behind the scenes" story), I though there was great warmth and subtlety in the portrayal of love and friendship in the McConnell household. After I read June Allyson's autobiography, however, and found out a little more about making of this movie (and its "aftermath" in Ladd's marriage) I re-watched it with a renewed interest - and oh what a difference. Every line and love scene has gained a deeper, more tragic meaning. One feels almost uncomfortable watching the doomed romance of two unhappily married stars unfold so publicly, before one's very eyes. I especially "teared up" during the scene when Ladd's "Mac" has to bid silent adieu to his wife (Allyson) before going off to the Korean War. Yes, folks: you are watching the final nail to Alan Ladd's coffin in a beautiful WarnerColor (although it would take him almost another decade to finish himself off with booze and pills). I recommend this movie to Ladd and/or Allyson fans, if only for that biographical reason.