Its strengths are the location shooting, with lots of variety of settings, costumes and background incidentals, a huge cast of extras to make city and crowd scenes effective, and a story that weaves the narratives of a number of individuals into the great events of World War II. This is an attempt to produce a big epic about World War II. As far as art, Herman Woulks novel is better in spite of how much work went into this production. Overall, for television a crowning achievement. It showed how he led but how his fragile leadership was hidden from the American public.
This film was the first to present FDR & show physically what a miracle it was that he was leading the US. Still, Stalin's portrayal in this is more balanced than some, almost creepy. Sadly, Americans were not exposed to what really happened on that front until after the 1980's when the Soviet empire split apart & some of the Russian archives were finally made public. The Russian sequences are some of the early feelings of the Russian front given to Americans historically before World War 2. A Nazi party in Germany with Hitler & a group of American guests is unique. A short sequence of the German front line within sight of Moscow in 1941 is interesting. As this series does move among several locales involved in the conflict, you get some feeling for things that happened like being in the Kremlin when Germany was bombing it. For a network mini series, this is very well done given these leads & a very large cast of supporting players. Ali Mcgraw is attractive, but has difficulty bringing off the acting in her role. Robert Mitchum is a fine actor but is too old for the role of Pug Henry. The cast, while good is somewhat our of place. While the battle sequences are limited by what the budget could produce, they are effective. The total series is done from a world perspective on how things looked in the time leading up to Americas entry into World War 2. It has the look & feel of a major film in spite of it's small screen origins. Dan Curtis did a very credible job within the constrictions of this.
It represented a very major project for the network & it drew big ratings. ABC made a very large splash with this production in 1983.
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