The War Lover (1962)

Directed by: Philip Leacock | 101 minutes | adventure, drama | Actors: Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner, Shirley Anne Field, Gary Cockrell, Michael Crawford, Bill Edwards, Chuck Julian, Robert Easton, Al Waxman, Tom Busby, George Sperdakos, Bob Kanter, Jerry Stovin, Ed Bishop, Richard Leech, Bernard Braden

He made giant leaps on motorcycles, raced fast cars and did almost all his stunts himself. Steve McQueen was a real thrill seeker. He was called ‘The King of Cool’, because he managed to keep everything under control under all circumstances. Cool, calm and collective and a hero against will and thanks. From a humble childhood he worked his way up to become one of the most legendary movie stars. You couldn’t get them more masculine. From someone who so often sought out danger, you expect something to go wrong. Think of James Dean, who, like McQueen, loved speed. But where Dean crashed into himself, ‘The King of Cool’ was struck down by asbestos cancer. He was fifty years old. Nearly forty years after his death, McQueen still enjoys iconic status. And that while his relatives carefully protect his legacy, to prevent his image from being exploited commercially (as happens with other stars who died young, such as James Dean and Marilyn Monroe). You won’t find them any cooler and more virile than Steve McQueen in Hollywood, and so his legendary status remains proud.

McQueen rose to fame with films such as ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1960), ‘The Great Escape’ (1963), ‘The Cincinatti Kid’ (1965), ‘Bullitt’ (1968) and ‘Papillon’ (1973), scoring for ‘ The Sand Pebbles’ (1966) an Oscar nomination. A film that is less well known is ‘The War Lover’ from 1962. A war film by the Englishman Philip Leacock, in which the war actually plays a supporting role. McQueen is Captain Buzz Rickson, a role like so many. It’s 1943 and Rickson is the haughty pilot of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber dubbed ‘The Body’. He is the type who prefers to ignore orders from above because he knows better himself. During one of the missions over England things go badly wrong: because Rickson wants to continue the attack despite poor visibility, one of the bombers from his squadron, including crew, goes down. His supervisor tolerates Rickson’s madness simply because he is by far the best pilot he has. Even though there is serious doubt whether Rickson is a hero or a psychopath. Between missions, Rickson meets a young Englishwoman, Daphne Caldwell (Shirley Anne Field), but she actually likes his First Lieutenant Ed Bolland (Robert Wagner) more. The two fall in love, although she suspects that it will be short-lived because Bolland will return to the US after the war. Tensions run high between Rickson and Bolland, especially after the death of Second Lieutenant Marty Lynch (Gary Cockrell), which Bolland considers the reckless captain guilty. In addition, Rickson has his sights set on Daphne, and he certainly isn’t about to give in easily.

Screenwriter Howard Koch (‘Letter from an Unknown Woman’, 1948) based the script on the 1959 novel ‘The War Lover’ by John Hersey, although he did change the names. The focus is strongly on the selfish Rickson, who will do anything to get what he wants, and in doing so goes over corpses. Not the most likeable hero for a story, even when played by Steve McQueen. A salient detail is that the lead role in this film was initially offered to Warren Beatty. However, he declined the role, probably because he was the cause of the marriage of co-star Robert Wagner and actress Natalie Wood on the rocks. Whether Rickson would have been more sympathetic if he had been played by Beatty is doubtful. Because it’s not easy to empathize with such a selfish, perverse and one-dimensional jerk like Rickson. There is probably a deeper psychological layer behind why he is the way he is, but far too little is done about it. Opposite this is Wagner, who, although rather worthy of our sympathy, presents a rather colorless character. Field is rock solid, but nothing more and the rivalry between the two ruffs is only sparingly worked out. The fact that the actors no longer know how to make their roles is mainly due to a mediocre script and the lackluster direction by Leacock. Fortunately, the aerial combat scenes are spectacular, but unfortunately are limited to the last half hour of the film. For lovers of authentic war material, the planes and the sparingly used but unique archive images may be worth a look.

It could have been so beautiful: the war lover behind whose shield of male heroism hides an inability to love in a normal way. Had we seen that shield peeled off bit by bit, ‘The War Lover’ could have been a powerful, psychological portrait of a complex war hero. Unfortunately, in reality, the war hero is a clumsy jerk who wants to take his only friend’s wife and send his colleagues to death with his reckless behavior. As a drama, ‘The War Lover’ falls seriously short. For the war movie buff, it’s a bit of a stretch until the last half hour, when the spectacle erupts in what turns out to be the only part of the film that is really worth watching.