Allies at War

Sporting a clever play on words in the title, Allies at War offers an excellent behind-the-scenes look (some of it recently de-classified) at the World War II-era relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the leader of the Free French Forces, General Charles de Gaulle. To suggest that the Allied leaders' actions against German, Italian, and Japanese forces sometimes stemmed from more personal than political or military reasons would be an understatement; important decisions in the conduct of the war, especially in Northern Africa, were made largely on the dislike Roosevelt held for de Gaulle, and on the efforts of Churchill to mediate between the two of them. Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the PBS-aired Allies at War combines archival footage, interviews with scholars, and creative imagery (a deck of playing cards features pictures of the persons being discussed, for instance) to present an intriguing, fascinating, and revelatory program--in fact, one can't help but think that the wheeling, dealing and backbiting among the Allied triumvirate chronicled here would make a helluva movie. A superb portrait of three impetuous, imperious men who often walked with crumbling feet of clay, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (J. Carlson)