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A Midnight Clear
''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 American war drama film written and directed by Keith Gordon and starring an ensemble cast that features Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon and Arye Gross. It is based on the eponymous novel by William Wharton. Set toward the end of World War II, the film tells the story of an American intelligence unit that finds a German platoon that wishes to surrender. Plot summary In the early phase of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, a small US Army intelligence and reconnaissance squad (selected for their high IQs) is sent to occupy a deserted chateau near the German lines to gather information on the enemy's movements. Losses from an earlier patrol has reduced the squad to just six men: Sgt. Knott, Miller, Avakian, Shutzer, Wilkins and Mundy. On their way to the chateau, the men discover the frozen corpses of a German and an American in a standing embrace, seemingly arranged by the Germans as a grim joke. Settling into their temp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Midnight Clear (novel)
''A Midnight Clear'' is the third novel by the American novelist William Wharton. Based on Wharton's own experiences, it was published in 1982 following '' Birdy'' (1978) and ''Dad'' (1981). The novels deals with six American soldiers who get a mission to have an eye on a German outpost at the heart of the Ardennes Forest, but the mission turns out to be much more difficult than expected. Wharton notes that he wrote this novel "thinking of the massacre of My Lai in Vietnam, to show how easy it was for a massacre to take place. And he did know how easy". Plot The novel is set during the last days of WWII in the Ardennes Forest, and follows a group of six American soldiers, led by sergeant William Knot, called Won't by his comrades. Weary of this futile war, they are ordered to establish an observation post in an old chateau in order to have an eye on a German outpost. A few days after their arrival, they begin hearing strange noises and noticing Germans leaving strange signs of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director. Early life Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family. Gordon was inspired to become an actor at the age of twelve, after seeing James Earl Jones in a Broadway production of ''Of Mice and Men''. Career As an actor, Gordon's first feature film role was that of class clown Doug in ''Jaws 2'' (the 1978 sequel to the blockbuster hit ''Jaws''). In 1979 Gordon appeared in Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical '' All That Jazz'' as the teenage version of the film's protagonist Joe Gideon (played by Gordon's ''Jaws 2'' co-star Roy Scheider). Gordon then appeared in two films by Brian De Palma: as a film student in '' Home Movies'' (1979) and in the 1980 erotic thriller '' Dressed to Kill'' as the son of Angie Dickinson's character. Gordon played Arnie Cunningham, the main character (who buys the titular car Christine), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beacon Pictures
Beacon Pictures (aka Beacon Communications, LLC) is an American film production and international sales company founded in 1990 by Armyan Bernstein, who is also its chairman. The company produces motion pictures for studios such as Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 1996, it struck a first look deal with Universal. Beacon was acquired in 1994 by COMSAT, who a year later put the company under its Ascent Entertainment Group division. By early 1999, Ascent was about to be broken up due to financial problems, mostly stemming from building the Pepsi Center in Denver. Bernstein and venture capitalist Kevin O Donald purchased Beacon back, restoring its independent company status. Films *'' The Commitments'' (1991) With 20th Century Fox *''A Midnight Clear'' (1992) With InterStar Releasing and A&M Films *''A Life in the Theatre'' (1993) With TNT *'' Sugar Hill'' (1993) With 20th Century Fox *''Princess Caraboo'' (1994) With TriSt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intelligence Quotient
An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzquotient'', his term for a scoring method for intelligence tests at University of Breslau he advocated in a 1912 book. Historically, IQ was a score obtained by dividing a person's mental age score, obtained by administering an intelligence test, by the person's chronological age, both expressed in terms of years and months. The resulting fraction (quotient) was multiplied by 100 to obtain the IQ score. For modern IQ tests, the raw score is transformed to a normal distribution with mean 100 and standard deviation 15. This results in approximately two-thirds of the population scoring between IQ 85 and IQ 115 and about 2.5 percent each above 130 and below 70. Scores from intelligence tests are estimates of intelligence. Unlike, for example, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United States Constitution (1789). See alsTitle 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001 The oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed 14 June 1775 to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army.Library of CongressJournals of the Continental Congress, Volume 27/ref> The United States Army considers itself to be a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in Europe. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The primary military objectives were to deny further use of the Belgian port of Antwerp to the Allies and to split the Allied lines, which potentially could have allowed the Germans to encirclement, encircle and destroy the four Allied forces. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who since December 1941 had assumed direct command of the German army, believed that achieving these objectives would compel the Western Allies to accept a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor. By this time, it was palpable to virtually the entire German leadership including Hitler himself that they had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range from 10 to 100 people. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. The platoon leader is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant. Rifle platoons normally consist of a small platoon headquarters and three or four sections (Commonwealth) or squads (United States). In some armies, platoon is used throughout the branches of the army. In a few armies, such as the French Army, a platoon is specifically a cavalry unit, and the infantry use "section" as the equivalent unit. A unit consisting of several platoons is called a company or a battery. Etymology According to Merriam-Webster, "The term was first used in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (Wehrmacht)
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the German Air Force, ''Luftwaffe'' (German Air Force). , the German Army had a strength of 62,766 soldiers. History Overview A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. From 1871 to 1919, the title ''German Army (German Empire), Deutsches Heer'' (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire, the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the ''Reichswehr, Reichsheer'' (Army of the Empire) and from 1935 to 1945 the name ''German Army (We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)
The Military Intelligence Corps is the Military intelligence, intelligence branch of the United States Army. The primary mission of military intelligence in the United States Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic warfare support to tactical, operational and strategic-level commanders. The Army's intelligence components produce intelligence both for Army use and for sharing across the national intelligence community. History Intelligence personnel were a part of the Continental Army since its initial founding in 1775. In 1776, General George Washington commissioned the first intelligence unit. Knowlton's Rangers, named after its leader Colonel (United States), Colonel Thomas Knowlton, became the first organized elite force, a predecessor to modern special operations forces units such as the United States Army Rangers, Army Rangers, Delta Force, and others. The "1776" on the United States Army Intelligence Service seal refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama (film And Television)
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera, police crime drama, political drama, legal drama, historical drama, domestic drama, teen drama, and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate a particular setting or subject-matter, or else they qualify the otherwise serious tone of a drama with elements that encourage a broader range of moods. To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict—emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline. All forms of cinema or television that involve fictional stories are forms of drama in the broader sense if their storytelling is achieved by means of actors who represent ( mimesis) characters. In this broader sense, dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
