What Chicken and World War II Share

In the past few months I've been watching a lot of movies from the '40s, several of them pertaining to World War II, whose outbreak occurred precisely 70 years ago this Sept 1. If you haven't already, do read Auden's famous poem on the topic, "September 1, 1939." The pic to the left is of him reciting it on the air waves.

The most recent movie to make its entrance into the WWII fold is Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. I'm yet to see it, but Terry Teachout has a fine WSJ article on it and the enduring appeal of movies set in that war. He writes, "The Second World War is to filmmakers what chicken is to chefs, a canvas on which every imaginable kind of picture can be painted."

More poignantly, he cooks up this idea:

America has become a more contentious country in recent years, and I can't think of any postwar historical event, not even 9/11, about which most of us now share a true consensus view. ... Most Americans, no matter how they feel about waterboarding, gay marriage or health-care reform, pine in their secret hearts for a lost world in which everyone can agree on at least one thing: Nazis are no damn good.

A film he doesn't lace into his article, for the obvious reasons that it really isn't about the nitty gritty of war and it really wasn't all that popular when released in 1946, is A Matter of Life and Death, or as it was known in the U.S. Stairway to Heaven. It's one of the best from The Archers, the British team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed their films. Granted, AMOLAD isn't everyone's fare, but if you have a soft spot for whimsy and love in the time of war, add it to your Netflix queue. The opening of the movie to tease you is here.