MacArthur (1977)

CinemaSerf December 31, 2025

★ 6/10

Gregory Peck dons the uniform of the four/five star American General who rose to prominence in the far east theatre of operations during World War Two. We start with the Japanese over-running the Philippines and seeing him strategically withdraw to the relative safety of Australia. There he finds that there is little appetite in Washington to take the fight to the enemy, indeed there’s considerable uncertainty as to whether they can even defend Australia itself. Fortunately, his relationship with President Roosevelt (Dan O’Herlihy) sees his plan to invade Luzon approved and back he goes to press home the allies’ increasing advantage and, with the help of the atomic bomb, take the surrender. With Truman (Ed Flanders) now in the White House and troubles brewing in Korea between them and the Soviet-backed red Chinese, there are yet more eggshells for this officer to tread carefully up…