The Winds of War (miniseries)
The Winds of War is a 1983 American war drama television miniseries, based on the 1971 novel of the same name written by Herman Wouk. It was produced and directed by Dan Curtis, while Wouk adapted his own novel to screen. Like the novel, the series follows the lives of the fictional Henry and Jastrow families as they intersect with the major global events of the early years of World War II. The series also includes segments of documentary footage, narrated by William Woodson, to explain major events and important characters. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, Polly Bergen, Chaim Topol, Peter Graves, Jeremy Kemp, Victoria Tennant, and Ralph Bellamy.
The Winds of War
Herman Wouk
United States
English
7
Michael P. Schoenbrun
Dan Curtis
Associate:
Barbara Steele
Branko Lustig
Yugoslavia
Austria
Italy
United Kingdom
West Germany
United States
John F. Burnett
Bernard Gribble
Jack Tucker
Peter Zinner
883 minutes
Dan Curtis Productions
Paramount Television
Jadran Film
February 6 –
February 13, 1983
The series was aired in seven installments between February 6 and February 13, 1983 on ABC. With 140 million viewers of part or all of Winds of War, it was the most-watched miniseries at that time.[1] It won three Primetime Emmy Awards (out of thirteen nominations[2]) and was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards,[3] including Best Miniseries or Television Film. The success of The Winds of War spawned a 1988 sequel miniseries, War and Remembrance, also based on a novel written by Wouk and also directed and produced by Curtis.[4]
Plot summary[edit]
The series follows the plot of Wouk's novel closely, depicting events from March 1939 until the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941. It tells the story of Victor "Pug" Henry (played by Robert Mitchum), an American Naval attaché in Berlin and a confidant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his family, and their relationships with a mixture of real people and fictional characters. A significant subplot of the series follows the activities Adolf Hitler and the German General Staff, with the fictitious general Armin von Roon as a perspective character.
Release[edit]
A premiere screening of the first episode was held in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center on Thursday, February 3, 1983, three nights before airing on ABC. The screening was attended by members of the cast including Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, John Houseman, Polly Bergen and Peter Graves. Producer/director Dan Curtis and writer and Washington resident Herman Wouk also attended, though Wouk refused all requests for interviews, saying "I'm a very private person." Also attending were Paramount owner Charles Bluhdorn, who hosted the event, as well as ABC Motion Pictures President Brandon Stoddard, Jack Valenti, Ted Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Art Buchwald, two senators, and numerous other Washington luminaries.[13]
After running a massive year-long advertising campaign, which cost an additional $23 million,[14] ABC reported that the miniseries had 140 million viewers for all or part of its eighteen hours, making it the most-watched miniseries up to that time.[1]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
New York Times TV critic John O'Connor said that the "hoopla on 'The Winds of War' has been nearly as massive as the project itself. The result, while not as artistically impressive as 'Brideshead Revisited,' is less manipulative than 'Holocaust' and at least as emotionally compelling as 'Roots.'" Mitchum, he said, "manages to carry the art of acting to the extremes of minimalism. He moves like an imposing battleship." Most of the actors, he said, are "at least 10 years older than the characters they are playing." Overall, O'Connor said, "the story does hold. It rumbles along, creating its own momentum, until it eventually becomes the television equivalent of a good read that can't be put down."[15]
Columnist Tom Shales of The Washington Post called the miniseries "bulbous and bloated" and said "a first-year film-school student could edit three or four hours out of the thing without hurting the flow at all." Watching Winds of War, he said, "ecstatic superlatives like 'competent' and 'acceptable' come to mind." He ridiculed the performances, and described the actors as too old for their roles.[16]
The show was a success throughout the United States and received many accolades, including Golden Globe nominations and various Emmy wins and nominations.[17]