Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 56
July 4, 2020
4th of July – 1950s
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July 2, 2020
December 1950 Third Battle of Seoul
On December 31, 1950 a force of 170,000 Chinese forces, augmented with North Korean troops, crossed the frozen Han River to attack Seoul.
General Douglas MacArthur, anticipating that UN forces wouldn’t be able to stop the Chinese advance, began making preparations for a slow retreat to the Pusan Perimeter.
Mao Zedong, however, became convinced that Chinese forces were overextended and not in a state to push the UN out of the Korean Peninsula. He therefore decided to concentrate offensive efforts against the weak South Korean units on the 38th Parallel.
By January 3rd, with UN forces penetrated on all sides, the UN forces retreated from Seoul.
Chinese and North Korean forces suffered ~8,500 casualties.
UN losses were ~ 800 dead, wounded, and captured.
Source: World Atlas
After the accidental death of Lieutenant General Walton Walker on December 23, General Matthew Ridgway was assigned command of the 8th United States Army Extremely displeased with the performance of his troops, Ridgway took immediate steps to restore the morale and fighting spirit of the UN forces in Korea.
Ridgway reorganized the command structure, removed some officers, replaced division commanders who had been in action for six months with fresh leaders and ordered them to spend more time at the front lines than in their command posts in the rear.
With Ridgway leading the 8th Army, MacArthur regained confidence in the ability of UN forces to hold Korea, and abandoned preparations for evacuation of the peninsula.
Under Ridgway, with copious use of field artillery, UN tactics changed from an aggressive stance to fighting protective, delaying actions.
Chinese casualties became very high as they launched human attack waves into the coordinated artillery fire and their offensive was decisively slowed.
Source: Historynet
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June 29, 2020
Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River
On November 25, 1950, the Chinese 13th Army launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch’ongch’on River Valley, decimating the U.S. 8th Army’s right flank while allowing Chinese forces to move rapidly into UN rear areas.
With continued fighting from November 26 to December 2, 1950, the Chinese inflicted heavy losses on the retreating UN forces.
After this decisive battle, the 8th Army’s heavy losses forced all UN forces to withdraw south to the 38th parallel.
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June 25, 2020
Top Movies of 1950
Top-grossing American films of 1950
At War with the Army 20th Century Fox
Paramount Pictures$3,350,000[4][5]8 Three Little Words Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer$3,019,000[1]9 Francis
All About Eve Universal Pictures
20th Century Fox$2,900,000[4]10 Kim Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer$2,896,000[1]
The Best Movies of All Time, Picked by Critics & Filmmakers ~ Films 101
RATING – 5 stars from top ofthe list to 3 stars at the bottom TITLE YEAR DIRECTOR COUNTRYMEDIARashômon1950Kurosawa, AkiraJapanBDAll About Eve1950Mankiewicz, Joseph L.USABDSSunset Boulevard1950Wilder, BillyUSABDSLos Olvidados1950Buñuel, LuisMexicoY[image error]Orpheus1950Cocteau, JeanFranceBD[image error]The Asphalt Jungle1950Huston, JohnUSABDS[image error]In a Lonely Place1950Ray, NicholasUSABD[image error]Born Yesterday1950Cukor, GeorgeUSAD[image error]Gun Crazy1950Lewis, Joseph H.USABY[image error]Winchester ’731950Mann, AnthonyUSAD[image error]The Men1950Zinnemann, FredUSABD[image error]La Ronde1950Ophüls, MaxFranceD[image error]Panic in the Streets1950Kazan, EliaUSABD[image error]The Gunfighter1950King, HenryUSAD[image error]Father of the Bride1950Minnelli, VincenteUSAD[image error]Harvey1950Koster, HenryUSABD[image error]D.O.A.1950Maté, RudolphUSAD[image error]Wagon Master1950Ford, JohnUSABD[image error]Cinderella1950Geronimi, Clyde / Jackson, Wilfred / Luske, HamiltonUSABD[image error]Cyrano de Bergerac1950Gordon, MichaelUSABDS[image error]Seven Days to Noon1950Boulting, John / Boulting, RoyUKBD[image error]King Solomon’s Mines1950Bennett, Compton / Marton, AndrewUSAY[image error]Stromboli1950Rossellini, RobertoItalyBD[image error]Rio Grande1950Ford, JohnUSABD[image error]The Blue Lamp1950Dearden, BasilUK[image error]Beauty and the Devil1950Clair, RenéFrance / ItalyY[image error]Night and the City1950Dassin, JulesUKBDS[image error]Treasure Island1950Haskin, ByronUK / USAD[image error]Les Enfants terribles1950Melville, Jean-PierreFranceD[image error]Stage Fright1950Hitchcock, AlfredUKD[image error]The Elusive Pimpernel1950Powell, Michael / Pressburger, EmericUK[image error]Gone to Earth1950Powell, Michael / Pressburger, EmericUK[image error]Stars in My Crown1950Tourneur, JacquesUSAY[image error]Three Came Home1950Negulesco, JeanUSAD[image error]The Sound of Fury1950Endfield, CyUSAY[image error]The Happiest Days of Your Life1950Launder, FrankUKY[image error]Annie Get Your Gun1950Sidney, George / Berkeley, Busby / Walters, CharlesUSAD[image error]The Flame and the Arrow1950Tourneur, JacquesUSADS[image error]Summer Stock1950Walters, CharlesUSABD[image error]Three Little Words1950Thorpe, RichardUSAD[image error]The Flowers of St. Francis1950Rossellini, RobertoItalyD[image error]No Man of Her Own1950Leisen, MitchellUSAD[image error]Justice est faite1950Cayatte, AndréFrance[image error]The Breaking Point1950Curtiz, MichaelUSABD[image error]Kim1950Saville, VictorUSAD[image error]Babul1950Sunny, S.U.India[image error]Broken Arrow1950Daves, DelmerUSABD[image error]Cheaper by the Dozen1950Lang, WalterUSAD[image error]Destination Moon1950Pichel, IrvingUSAD[image error]Family Portrait1950Jennings, HumphreyUKD[image error]Francis1950Lubin, ArthurUSAD[image error]Jogan1950Sharma, Kidar NathIndia[image error]Manthiri Kumari1950Dungan, Ellis / Sundaram, T.R.India[image error]Padeniye Berlina1950Chiaureli, MikheilSoviet Union[image error]Scandal1950Kurosawa, AkiraJapanD[image error]Summer Interlude1950Bergman, IngmarSwedenBD[image error]Victory of the Chinese People1950Gerasimov, Sergei / Dukinsky, IvanChina / Soviet Union[image error]The Black Rose1950Hathaway, HenryUKD[image error]Champagne for Caesar1950Whorf, RichardUSAD[image error]The Man on the Eiffel Tower1950Meredith, Burgess / Allen, Irving / Laughton, CharlesUSA / FranceD[image error]Young Man with a Horn1950Curtiz, MichaelUSADS[image error]The Titan: Story of Michelangelo1950Lyford, Richard / Flaherty, Robert J. / Oertel, CurtSwitzerland / West Germany[image error]Édouard et Caroline1950Becker, JacquesFrance[image error]Caged1950Cromwell, JohnUSA[image error]Dieu a besoin des hommes1950Delannoy, JeanFrance[image error]Prima comunione1950Blasetti, AlessandroItaly / France[image error]State Secret1950Gilliat, SidneyUK[image error]Edge of Doom1950Robson, MarkUSA[image error]Kon-Tiki1950Heyerdahl, ThorNorway / SwedenY[image error]No Way Out1950Mankiewicz, Joseph L.USAD[image error]Strange Deception1950Malaparte, CurzioItalyY[image error]Domenica d’agosto1950Emmer, LucianoItaly[image error]No Resting Place1950Rotha, PaulUK[image error]Venom and Eternity1950Isou, IsidoreFrance[image error]Atom Man vs. Superman1950Bennet, Spencer GordonUSAD[image error]Buccaneer’s Girl1950De Cordova, FrederickUSAD[image error]Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard1950Friedman, SeymourUSAD[image error]Food for Feudin’1950Nichols, Charles A.USAD[image error]The Furies1950Mann, AnthonyUSAD[image error]House by the River1950Lang, FritzUSABD[image error]The Lone Ranger1950Archainbaud, George / Seitz, George B. Jr. / Morse, HollingsworthUSAD[image error]Looney Tunes – Golden Collection, Volume Five1950Jones, Chuck / Clampett, Bob / Freleng, Friz / Avery, Tex / McKimson, Robert / Tashlin, FrankUSAD[image error]The Man Who Cheated Himself1950Feist, Felix E.USAD[image error]711 Ocean Drive1950Newman, Joseph M.USAD[image error]Under My Skin1950Negulesco, JeanUSAD[image error]The West Point Story1950Del Ruth, RoyUSAD[image error]Western Pacific Agent1950Newfield, SamUSAD[image error]Where the Sidewalk Ends1950Preminger, OttoUSAD[image error]Woman on the Run1950Foster, NormanUSABD
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June 22, 2020
Fire Bombing North Korean Cities
From June to October 1950 US Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-29 bombers limited their targets to transport centers and industrial hubs in North Korea. Nevertheless, these “precision bombing” attacks resulted in a high rate of civilian casualties.
On November 3, 1950 General Douglas MacArthur approved for the first time firebombing against the cities of Sinujiju, Kanggye and several other North Korean towns.
Referring to the attack on Kanggye, MacArthur reportedly said: “…destroy it as a lesson to any other of those towns that you consider of military value to the enemy.”
The FEAF commander General George Stratemeyer then sent orders to the Fifth Air Force and Bomber Command to “destroy
every means of communications and every installation, factory, city, and village.”
On 5 November 1950 twenty-two B-29s attacked Kanggye, destroying 75% of the city.
goodfreephotos.com
Britannica.com
In the wake of the Kanggye attack, FEAF began an intensive firebombing campaign that quickly incinerated multiple Korean cities. Three weeks after the attacks began, the air force assessed the damage as follows:
Source: Bombing of North Korea
Wikimedia Commons
wallpaper flare
Available evidence points toward the conclusion that the firebombing of North Korea’s cities, towns, and villages produced more civilian deaths than any other bombing campaign in history.
Nagasaki Park – Pixabay.com
Bombing Civilians: A 20th-century history
This book provides a comprehensive review and powerful moral criticism regarding the indiscriminate but also deliberate bombing of civilian populations
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June 18, 2020
Marijuana Scare Films
In the 1950s increased access to automobiles gave American teenagers a variety of freedoms and temptations that were unimaginable to previous generations. As many American parents became worried, marijuana became a major source of concern.
The Complicated History of Cannabis in the US
.
Encyclopedia Britannica produced this mental hygiene film to warn kids about the dangers of smoking pot.
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June 15, 2020
U.N. Forces Evacuate from Hungnam North Korea
Despite the rousing background music of the Battle Hymn of the Republic on this video, the harrowing retreat from the Chosin Reservoir debacle to the coast at Hungnam was desperate and dispiriting for US Marines and Infantry.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Weapons and warfareSoon UN forces were in full retreat from overwhelming Chinese Communist forces streaming south.
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June 11, 2020
Guys and Dolls Award-Winning Broadway Musical
In 1950 the musical Guys and Dolls premiered on Broadway.
The hit show continued for 1,200 performances and in 1951 won the Tony Award for best musical.
In 1955 the show was made into a movie starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine.
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June 8, 2020
The Killer That Stalked New York
The Killer That Stalked New York was a 1950 American motion picture starring Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin and William Bishop.
Shot in New York in a semi-documentary style, the plot concerns a smallpox outbreak unwittingly imported by diamond smugglers.
The film was based on an article published in Cosmopolitan in 1948 about an actual outbreak of smallpox in New York in 1947.
N.B. – In this 1950 movie, a character mentions that the population of New York City was 8 million.
I assumed it would be much larger now, but not so.
https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-popul...The post The Killer That Stalked New York appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.
June 4, 2020
Truman Hints A-Bomb
On November 30, 1950, after the Chinese Communist army entered the Korean conflict, President Harry Truman announced that he was prepared to authorize use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea.
Additionally, Truman accused the Soviet Union of using Communist Chinese forces to spread Communism into Asia.
In response to questions from the press regarding what measures the U.S. might take, Truman responded “whatever steps were necessary” to contain communist expansion in Korea.
A reporter then asked “Will that include the atomic bomb?”
Truman replied, “That includes every weapon that we have.”
Source: History.com
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