since douglas macarthur affect more human livesfor the betterthan any other american not elect president and he deserve a good film biography . not that universal macarthur be bad . it just not all it should have be . oddly enough and the potential be there . from the very early star trek episode the corbomite maneuver ( 1966 ) to the recent hbo film something the lord make ( 2oo4 ) and warm spring ( 2oo5 ) and director joseph sargent have emerge a one of the most expressively human director in film and a man capable of subtly shape the emotional shading of his actor performance and and carry the audience exactly where he want them to go . the producer and frank mccarthy and also give u patton ( 197o ) and the legendary jerry goldsmith score both film and and universal widely tout the fact that the film be four year in preparation and production . yet for all of this and macarthur be perfectly adequateand not much more than that . the film begin in early 1942 and shortly before the beleaguered general be orderedby president franklin d. roosevelt ( dan oherlihy ) to flee the philippine to avoid capture by the japanese . thus and this film omit represent · macarthur birth in 188o in a frontier barrack in arkansas still subject to attack by native american tribesmenthus establish that his remarkable life span the distance from bow and arrow to thermonuclear weapon while · his graduation from west pointfirst in a class of 95 and · how he join his famous father and general arthur macarthur ( who have earn the medal of honor at missionary ridge in the civil war ) on assignment in japan and china and and most importantly and in the philippine while · his heroic exploit in the 1914 excursion into vera cruz while · how he leap about the trench of world war one like a mountain goat and often wound and and promote with blind speed to brigadier general while · his postwar service a west point youngestand most progressivecommandant while · his participation in the court martial of billy mitchell in 1924 while · his routing of the bonus marcher in 1932 while · his effort to sustain a woefully underfunded army a chief of staff in the early 193o while · his retirement from the u. s. army to become field marshal ( . ) of the army of the philippine while · and the reactivation of his commission by fdr shortly before the outbreak of the second world war . all this be omit in favor of prolonged footage of macarthur try to fight off seasickness while be evacuate by pt boatthus and we know that general mac be a legend and but not why while nor can we appreciate why the allegation of cowardice be so wound to dugout dougand so patently unfounded . the remainder of his career be presently straightforwardly represent his island hop hit em where they ain not campaign and the fulfillment of his pledge to the filipinos i shall return . his crown achievement and the winning of the peace in postwar japan and then the difference of opinion with president harry truman ( a properly feisty ed flanders ) over the conduct of the korean conflict which result in his outright firing and and finally and his proclamation to congress that old soldier simply fade away and after which he do just that . all quite historically accurate and and all present with a very deliberate lack of commentary . sargent and the producer almost painfully distance themselves from adorn the historical record with their own approval or disapproval represent if macarthur action appear noble and let them be present a such while if they appear egotistical or bombastic and let those conception register sans comment . since joe sargent be quite expert at subtly manipulate his audience reactionsagain and see warm springsthis refusal to offer comment appear quite intentional . historically and that may be commendable and but it almost defeat the effort of the viewer to place this extraordinary man in any kind of rational perspective . and finally and there be a sort of make on the cheap feel to the film and a there be to midway and release about the same time . both film be relegate to television director sargent in this case and jack smight on midway and and both have a make for tv look . even jerry goldsmith march and while perfectly serviceable and lack the subtle undertone and the grandeur of his patton theme just another way in which a large than life man be memorialize by a very ordinary film . there be vanity and pettiness in this man and inarguably while there be also greatnessand love him or loathe him and one must acknowledge the fact that macarthur do what no military commander before him have do represent he win the peace . in the end and macarthurlike so many film biographiesis a good place to begin research into this remarkable man and but a poor place to end it .