The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II AdventuresUniversity of Missouri Press, 2002 - 131 pages "All through his four-year military career, despite his efforts to get into combat, fate and the military bureaucracy thwarted him. The author skillfully recounts the events of those years, describing the encounters he had with many unforgettable characters, including a footsore and sentimental Clark Gable and an inept Alan Ladd - best known as the star of Shane. Ladd, then a GI, did such a poor job reading the narration for Hotchner's film Atlantic Mission that Hotchner had to fire him. The author also describes his encounters with other well-known people, notably Tennessee Williams, with whom he attended a playwriting class at Washington University, and a wistful, vulnerable Dorothy Parker."--Jacket. |
From inside the book
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Page 12
... Navy Air Corps (I had assembled every available piece of material on all the commissions being offered by all the services) I con- cluded that the uniform was reason enough for choosing them above their competition. I sought out my ...
... Navy Air Corps (I had assembled every available piece of material on all the commissions being offered by all the services) I con- cluded that the uniform was reason enough for choosing them above their competition. I sought out my ...
Page 13
... Navy Air Corps because of the uniform ? " Myron asked . Or , rather , growled . Myron was short , dark , introverted , and built like a middleweight wrestler ( which he had been in college ) , and when irritated , he actually growled ...
... Navy Air Corps because of the uniform ? " Myron asked . Or , rather , growled . Myron was short , dark , introverted , and built like a middleweight wrestler ( which he had been in college ) , and when irritated , he actually growled ...
Page 14
... navy peo- ple .. ." " Because it's a waste of time - I don't want to be a pilot , period . " " Now wait a minute , Mo — are you saying that you are going to desert me after we made this pact to go into service together and help each ...
... navy peo- ple .. ." " Because it's a waste of time - I don't want to be a pilot , period . " " Now wait a minute , Mo — are you saying that you are going to desert me after we made this pact to go into service together and help each ...
Page 15
A. E. Hotchner. The Navy Air Corps recruiter, a commodore, explained that there were only twelve openings in the next class of the Navy Air Corps, which, he said, was the most exclusive branch of all the services. "Even though a college ...
A. E. Hotchner. The Navy Air Corps recruiter, a commodore, explained that there were only twelve openings in the next class of the Navy Air Corps, which, he said, was the most exclusive branch of all the services. "Even though a college ...
Page 17
... Navy Air Corps against his inclination and just to accommodate me, and then found himself going off with- out me, was, for Myron, an inevitable card dealt to him from the bottom of fate's deck. Remembering Myron as he was then, what is ...
... Navy Air Corps against his inclination and just to accommodate me, and then found himself going off with- out me, was, for Myron, an inevitable card dealt to him from the bottom of fate's deck. Remembering Myron as he was then, what is ...
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Common terms and phrases
A. E. Hotchner Air Force Alan Ladd anti-submarine army asked assigned Atlantic Mission barracks Barrymore beach Bernadine bombardier bomber bombs cadet camera Captain Young charge Chris Clark Gable classification card Colonel combat command couple crew Cysmanski deck depth charges Dick Powell Dorothy drill field Eads Bridge Eagle-Spiegel equipment eyes father feet felt film footage Gable Ginther girls Henry heroic Hitler Hollywood Hotchner hundred Inzoraan Jack knew lawyer Lieutenant look loop the loop Louis magazine Marie mess halls Miami Miami Beach military Mitchel Field months Motion Picture Unit movie musical Myron Navy Air Corps Nazi never night North Africa officer outfit patrol penis performance plane played Sbeitla script Sergeant Sheppard Field ships Shirley songs squadron submarine Sylva Tina tion told took turned Tyrone Power U-boats uniform United weeks Westover Field White Princess Wichita Falls write
Popular passages
Page 8 - I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again : Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.
Page 1 - The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley. — Robert Burns, "To a Mouse,
Page 11 - Hook, was ordered to report for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States on Thursday 3 October 1957 by Selective Service, Local Board No.
Page 73 - He told me about their first duck shoot, early in the morning, the fog too thick to see the ducks, although you could hear them. Carole asked what they could do about it. Just sit here in the blind until it clears, Clark told her. She said she had just thought of something they could do while they were waiting. "We made love," Clark said, "which ain't easy in a duck blind.
Page 7 - ... service. If you have no valid reason for failing to do so you are liable to arrest, and if convicted you may be sentenced to as much as five years in prison and fined $10,000.
Page 67 - We were kept in a constant state of nervous and physical exhaustion, the purpose being to crack us if they possibly could and wash us out as potential officers.
Page 124 - C-47 transport over Germany during an airborne attack and joined an infantry outfit to help take an enemy position.
Page 82 - ... East Asia: Beginnings of Allied Recovery, 1942-43. In 1942-43 the Allies thwarted Japanese efforts to expand farther southward and eastward and began their island-hopping campaign toward Japan. Doolittle Raid. A few weeks after Pearl harbor, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle proposed an air attack on Tokyo. Although his superior officers were skeptical, Doolittle was given permission to attempt this seemingly foolhardy venture. With a group of enthusiastic volunteers, he secretly prepared for the special...
Page 71 - Other key targets were the factories of the Aluminum Company of America at Alcoa, Tennessee; Massena, New York; and East St.