Encore la Guerre

Up from the Beach. "What is it all about?" asks Franc,oise Rosay, a world-weary old Frenchwoman caught in the tumult of D-day in Normandy. Such questions are staples of the burgeoning crop of movies about World War II. Perhaps the worst blow that can befall a war drama is to let the hostilities lag while homilies ricochet among the ruins, and Beach too often calls time out for talk.

At best, this earnest little melodrama resembles a bantam version of The Longest Day. Again the pin-up role is assigned to Irina Demick, described unpersuasively as "a girl who blows up bridges" for the French Resistance. When the Allies throng ashore, Irina and a doughty band of villagers who have sallied forth as a welcoming committee are being held hostage by the Germans. The G.I.s who liberate them include wry-smiling Sergeant Cliff Robertson and the inevitable New York Jewish joker (Red Buttons) assigned to all units for comedy relief. Since the village is under siege, Cliff is ordered to evacuate his charges, and the bulk of the action consists of dreary trudging to and from the beach, battling military red tape, ducking strafer planes, and getting acquainted.

Despite some well-placed explosions and the gritty integrity of Robertson's performance, Beach seldom seems more than commemorative. It has the curiously flat quality of reminiscence, like a ritual re-enactment of great and ghastly events that happened a long, long time ago.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.