TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING

(vt Nuclear Countdown) Film (1977) Geria Productions/Hemdale. Dir Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Paul Winfield, Charles Durning, Melvyn Douglas. Screenplay Ronald M. Cohen, Edward Huebsch, based on Viper 3 by Walter Wager (1924-). 146 mins (cut to 122 mins). Colour.

   In this borderline-sf movie, set in 1981, a renegade US general takes over a missile base and threatens to initiate WWIII unless the President reveals to the nation the contents of a secret Pentagon file concerning the Vietnam War. The uncut version reveals how the Pentagon deliberatelybecame involved in Vietnam to prove to the world that the USA was willing to sacrifice thousands of men, thus giving extra credibility to its willingness to fight a conventional war. These sequences disappeared when 24 minutes were cut by the distributor, ostensibly to "speed it up". Whatis left is a tautly directed thriller, though some of Aldrich's characteristic cynicism - reminiscent of his KISS ME DEADLY (1955) - remains (the Pentagon is victorious, destroying even the President to protect its secrets). The skilful use of a split-screen technique to create tension and moments of chaos and confusion justifies it as a legitimate cinematic tool.

   JB/PN