That’s the tagline on one of “Men in War’s” posters, with Aldo Ray’s character Montana leveling his gun at Robert Ryan.
If you’re a battle-hardened veteran of World War II movies made in the 1950s, you’ll like this one. For one, it’s Korea, not WWII.
For another, there’s not a lot of jingoistic flag-waving, if any. Robert Ryan was a pacifist–his wife a Quaker–who later came to regret some of his characters as being against his beliefs.
The “lost platoon” story premise has been used for as long as stories have been told. Here, Ryan and his men are behind enemy lines and need to get back to the rest of the 24th Infantry Division.
“Men in War” is a tough little drama that confounds many of the war cinema stereotypes of the Fifties. We have cowards, one played by Vic Morrow. We have those who kill, seemingly without logic. Many of the deaths are gritty; no Wilhelm screams here.
Interestingly, “Men in War” was filmed largely at Malibu Creek State Park, the future site of the Korean War M*A*S*H (also filmed at Bronson Canyon).
downright existential, focused like a telescope on the wild terrain and the men’s desperate, improvised tactics against an encroaching but unseen enemy.
One of the actors is still with us today: the seemingly immortal Nehemiah Persoff (born 1919), living in Cambria, California. Persoff lost his wife, Thia, in 2021, but he’s reportedly still alive and painting near Moonstone Beach.
“Men in War” hits a sweet spot, at least with me, in that it’s unique enough to snag my attention but old-school enough that it’s comfortable Saturday morning fare.
Of all of the actors who played soldiers and other military men in mid-century American TV and movies, a few were the real deal. Unlike those who served in picture units or who showed up at the Hollywood Canteen, these men served overseas in an active capacity, sometimes seeing actual battle.
Born Frederick Foote, Fredericks grew up in Antelope Valley, in Southern California, the son of a petroleum products distributor.
Fredericks served in World War II in the United States Army as a sergeant with the First Cavalry Division. While in a landing craft on a beach in Leyte, Phillippines, he and other soldiers were bombed into the water by a Japanese dive bomber.
He was so badly wounded with a leg injury that he spent two years recuperating. Fredericks received the Purple Heart.
Fredericks’ brother, Edward G. Foote Jr., named after their father, served during the war, as well. He died in Burma (Myanmar) in 1944 at the age of 21.
With that kind of history, it wasn’t a great stretch to see Fredericks in the role of USAF pilot Steve Canyon. Not just that, but Fredericks looked strikingly like cartoonist Milton Caniff’s creation. The only missing element was the blonde hair.
No problem there, though. As papers reported in 1958, Fredericks dyed his “mahogany” hair peroxide blonde on a regular basis at Myda’s Beauty Salon, Lancaster, California. The salon was owned by his wife, Myda Fredericks.
Dean Fredericks’ high cheekbones and strikingly Asiatic looks served him well in Hollywood as a bit actor, scoring part after part as indigenous characters with names like Crow Feather, Comanche Chief, Grey Wolf, Great Bear, Spotted Wolf, and more.
Steve Canyon and the title role of Col. Frank Chapman in ThePhantom Planet were a couple of the high points in Fredericks’ acting career. True fame eluded Fredericks, though. He retired in the mid-1960s and died in 1999.
Sure, there’s a copy of Case of the Half-Wakened Wife by that Perry Mason writer underneath your glass of iced Seagram’s, its paper cover soaking up the glass’ condensation like a three-dollar coaster.
You’ve tried the novel once or twice poolside. But the crack between pages one and two is a testament to your education career. PS 15, Red Hook, Brooklyn, sixth grade marked the end of your schooling. Reading the book is like pulling nose hairs.
You try again.
“…the man was smiling now and his voice was almost patronizing…”
Patronizing, you learn from Webster’s, is: “displays a feeling of superiority.”
Max Tannenbaum
Yeah. Mickey’s kinda superior himself, has to be, he’s the boss. You and Mickey come from the neighborhood, so there’s respect.
Who really gets you are the educated Jews in Mickey’s clan like Elliot Mintz, Mickey’s lawyer.
If Mickey knows how to talk to the boys, Mintz doesn’t. Elliot Mintz treats you worse than the kitchen help.
Onto the book: “…as he recited glibly…”
Glibly: fancy but shallow talk. Just like Elliot Mintz.
What gets you about these novels, though, is how they depict the so-called underworld of hoodlums.
Er redt narishkeytn, as his mother would say. Foolishness. If this is how some fancy writer thinks people talk and behave, that’s not for you.
You put the book down and the drink on top. Mostly you watch.
Mickey called you long distance
Mickey called from Los Angeles before bringing you out from New York. You still remember the crackle of the call.
“Maxie, reason I’m bringing you is you’re professional. I need someone to stick to the straight and narrow. Not these bums I’ve had go out on their own, do stupid things. You hear me?”
“I got you.”
“I bring a guy out, it’s the cost of doing business. Set him up. Apartment. Car. Give him cash to start out with. That is a business expenditure. Follow?”
“You want it to pay off.”
“What you are is clean. I need an associate clean as a whistle.”
“That’s what I am. Clean.”
“I know you had your problems. But L.A. is different. Get a new start here.”
Even before I bought a car from Carvana, I spent months poring not just over the cars but the platform and the buying process–plus, reading tons of first-person reviews and watching the inevitable Carvana unboxing YouTubes.
In the end, I bought the car and I love it. I even scored a better deal than I should have through chicanery and a bit of white-hat hacking of their platform. Yet there are aspects of the Carvana car-buying process that I never see mentioned that would give me pause before buying next time.
You Pay For and Insure a Car You Don’t Own. For a Long Time.
With Carvana, registration and title transfer are not seamless, by any stretch of the imagination.
On the one hand, you’ve got to sympathize (if that’s the right word) with this Internet platform trying to mesh with the slow-turning gears of state and local government. On the other hand, it’s the customer who fills in the gap between the two.
When you take delivery of your vehicle, you get a paper license plate (or tab, whatever you like to call it) and temporary registration with some random state. Before this, you’re supposed to insure the car and send in the insurance information to Carvana.
Then, you’re stuck in limbo for weeks or months. Many reviewers complain about how long it takes to get your real state registration. During that time, Carvana may roll you over several times to different states: today Arizona, next time Georgia, next time Tennessee, and so on.
That’s annoying, but one point that gets missed is: You don’t have title during this time. You don’t own your car. Yet you’re insuring this car that someone else owns.
Plus, this car that you don’t own you’ve paid for 100% in advance.
Hotspots Inspection Is Diverting and Misses the Point
Carvana’s rotating 360-degree image of the vehicle shows various hotspots, as they call it: scratches, dings, gouges. Maybe some faint discoloration of the seat covers.
Take note that these are all surface imperfections as if Carvana’s vehicles were completely perfect in all other ways.
Upon delivery, my vehicle had a whine coming from the passenger side of the engine block, just behind the dashboard. This type of thing will not be mentioned in the vehicle write-up. Why? Read on.
For Carvana, 7-Day Return and 100-Day Warranty Replace True Vehicle Disclosures
Combing through Carvana vehicles in their Vehicle Details and 150-Point Inspection Reports, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything like “Pulls to the right, needs alignment,” “Whine in engine block,” “Temperature gauge runs high,” or any of those classic vehicle ailments.
Carvana (much like CarMax) will say something like: Because we don’t sell those types of vehicles.
I’m not so sure of that. This is conjecture but I believe that Carvana full-well knows about all of the real issues with the vehicle, but they rely on the customer to catch the issues and do something about them.
Because Carvana has a 7-day return policy and 100-day warranty with car repair insurance through SilverRock, they can remain blameless. Whatever they sell can theoretically be returned or repaired.
But that’s shifting the responsibility to the customer. For one, if you’re out of market and you paid (non-refundable) to have the vehicle delivered, you’re probably not going to be sending it back. At least, you have a huge motivation to do anything before sending it back.
And that something is their 100-day warranty.
SilverRock’s Repair Facilities Are Numerous But Largely Worthless For Real Repairs
So, you’re within that 100-day warranty period for problems on your vehicle that existed before it even rolled off the car transporter. Now what?
Well, you’ve got car repair insurance through SilverRock. Just find a partner repair facility and get it fixed.
The problem is that there are no true vehicle repair shops, just tire stores, muffler shops, and the like.
In my Metro Seattle area, SilverRock’s repair facilities are Pep Boys, Meineke, and a mobile car repair service, Wrench.com.
Pep Boys and Meineke combined do:
Heating and cooling
Brakes
Steering and suspension
Belts and hoses
Diagnostics
Clutch
Oil
Exhaust and mufflers
Tires and wheels
This isn’t nothing. But it’s not the kind of comprehensive mechanic that can hunt down the cause of any problem and fix it.
I did use Wrench and they were valuable in tracing the source of the engine whine and finding the right GM repair bulletin. That was great for what it is. But these are just small vans with limited sets of tools. They can’t do any real repairs.
Delivery Was Kind of Depressing
Much is made of Carvana’s vending machines. Insert a token into this great glass tower and out comes your car.
That may be true for some people. But if you’re not close to a vending machine, the reality is a car that’s dirty beyond imagination being rolled off of a car transporter in the middle of the night.
Carvana gives you $50 toward a carwash, which does help and is appreciated.
My Experience
But this isn’t a litany of complaints; more a dose of reality.
I ended up getting the car repairs at a real shop: the local Chevrolet dealer. The dealer dealt directly with SilverRock, and SilverRock/Carvana paid for the repair.
Though I paid for and insured a car that I didn’t own, nothing went wrong.
Registration took a couple of months but not the six to eight months that you sometimes hear about.
The Hotspots cosmetic imperfections were all listed true to form. But there were a number of under-the-hood issues that weren’t highlighted. I fixed a couple of minor things myself.
Though some issues weren’t highlighted, it did come with a few great things: a full set of new tires, for one.
It’s often mentioned that customer service reps are helpful. I found this to be true, as well.
