The Bridges at Tokori

Right now I'm in the process of watching The Bridges at Toko-ri. Tokori (I assume the Korean is 독호리 [to•k'o•ri]) is presumably a town in North Korea, with several strategic bridges. This movie about the Korean War was released in 1954, just a year after hostilities ended and about two years after the events that were depicted by writer James Michener, a Japanophile who brought us such notable works as XXX, XXX, and XXX.

I don't remember what prompted me to put this in my Blockbuster queue, but it has proved interesting. It's interesting to see what Japan looked like at the time. And to see what Japanese women looked like in the days before plastic surgery. And to see what the Korean War looked like without the lens of time. (well, not too much time, and certainly without the filter of the Vietnam War. 

William Holden looked fifty in this movie, so when he was described as a pilot who looked about thirty, I immediately went to IMDB to check out his bio. Indeed, he was thirty-six when the movie was made, no doubt a testament to how easily smoking can cause a person to age. 

By contrast, the smokin' hot Grace Kelly, his film wife was only twenty-four or twenty-five, and looks about that (maybe late twenties; again, smoking). 

Mickey Rooney provides a bit of comic relief, though he has a seriously role. 

More on this later after I'm finished watching the movie. In the meantime, Wikipedia gives a good synopsis of the film, which I admit I have not read entirely because that would entail reading spoilers.