It was the dedication to the gallant people of Afghanistan that did the trick, made me think of Col Trautman's speech.
Naw, the movie was 40 or so years earlier and starred a titan of Hollywood during the Golden Era and several other well-known actors...and one dud, who woodenly played an ensign.
Run Silent, Run Deep. Gable was the captain and the cast included Burt Lancaster (whose company made the movie) and Don Rickles. Rickles had served in the navy during the war. Also in the cast was Jack Warden, who had been a China gunboat sailor for three years. My dad knew Jack. He was a tough guy, but a fun guy and totally uninhibited.
Yes, I realized that after I guessed wrong. Oh boy, was Robert Francis dull. But Bogart was magnificent, and so was Jose Ferrer.
Was Mitchum in In Harm's Way? I thought that was a John Wayne, Kirk Douglas show. But, no, not In Harm's Way.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. I recommend the book, too. Tells the story after the trial and fills in so much the movie leaves out.
"When you refer to Bailey crap I take it you mean that glorious precision-made British-built bridge, which is the envy of the civilized world."
Michael Caine as Lt. Col Vandeleur in 'A Bridge Too Far.' Didn't he say it to Eliot Gould who played some US officer? I must say, I've always though those sappers were incredibly tolerant of some idiot airborne officer telling them how to put the Bailey Bridge together. How he didn't get nudged into the river I'll never know!
Yes. Gould played an Airborn Col named Stout. I don't know why they didn't use the person's real name, which was Ltc Robert Sink. Robert Sink - Wikipedia
Yes, I remember the Elliot Gould character saying he was born in Yugoslavia, which would be surprising as Yugoslavia didn't exist before 1918, and he looked considerably older than 26! Still, I mustn't be petty about A Bridge Too Far, for all it's dodgy history it was still a good film.