Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on August 17. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
MY BOY JACK
Jack is the son of the uber-nationalist and famous author Rudyard Kipling. He has terrible myopia and is rejected by the army and the navy on the eve of World War I, but is delighted when his father uses his political connections to get him a commission in an Irish regiment when war begins. Kipling senior served on the propaganda committee that handled how war news was presented. Jack does very well in his training and does a good job with the men he is given to lead. His mother and sister are not very happy about Jack going to war and they say a tearful goodbye when Jack heads back after his last leave. The regiment is sent to the front. On August 17, 1915, his family toast Jack’s birthday at home, while he gets the word of their going ‘over the top’ tomorrow. [48:54 to 51:49] The next day Jack leads his platoon into no-man’s land. The Kiplings get a telegram that Jack is reported missing, presumed wounded. His mother starts a desperate quest to learn what has happened to him, talking to the Red Cross, the high command and other survivors
of the battle, while Kipling senior knows in his heart that Jack is dead. Eventually from a survivor of Jack’s platoon they learn Jack and some men reached the German trench, but was killed leading the survivors in an attack on a machine gun nest. The Kiplings are devastated, but resolve to carry on.
of the battle, while Kipling senior knows in his heart that Jack is dead. Eventually from a survivor of Jack’s platoon they learn Jack and some men reached the German trench, but was killed leading the survivors in an attack on a machine gun nest. The Kiplings are devastated, but resolve to carry on.
A sad and sweet story. Portrays the mixed emotions of those who fight and those left behind. A very good performance by Daniel Radcliff.
Rudyard Kipling:A Life by Harry Ricketts (Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., New York, 1999) at page 238 gives date of Jack’s birth.
Producer - Michael Casey
Director - Brian Kirk
Screenplay - David Haig
Runtime - 1 hour 33 minutes
Released - November 11, 2007
Starring -
Daniel Radcliffe as John Kipling
Kim Cattrall as Caroline Kipling
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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