The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures [Hardcover]

A. E. Hotchner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

 

This delightful memoir of A. E. Hotchner’s World War II experiences explores a different side of the troubled war years. Hotchner, who grew up in St. Louis, was a rookie lawyer fresh out of Washington University Law School when the United States declared war. Like many others of his generation, he aspired to serve his country. He tried to enlist in the navy, first as a pilot and then as a deck officer, but he was rejected for faulty depth perception and flat feet, respectively. Drafted as a lowly GI into the air force branch of the army, he was accepted to bombardier school. But on the eve of his departure, he was ordered to write and perform in an air force musical comedy instead. He eventually went to Officer Candidate School and was assigned to the Anti-Submarine Command as a lieutenant adjutant, but just before his squadron’s departure for North Africa he was detached and, despite knowing nothing about moviemaking, ordered to make a film that glorified the Anti-Submarine Command’s role in combating U-boats.

All through his four-year military career, despite his efforts to get into combat, fate and the military bureaucracy thwarted him. The author skillfully recounts the events of those years, describing the encounters he had with many unforgettable characters, including a footsore and sentimental Clark Gable and an inept Alan Ladd—best known as the star of Shane. Ladd, then a GI, did such a poor job reading the narration for Hotchner’s film Atlantic Mission that Hotchner had to fire him. The author also describes his encounters with other well-known people, notably Tennessee Williams, with whom he attended a playwriting class at Washington University, and a wistful, vulnerable Dorothy Parker.

Although much of Hotchner’s memoir is lighthearted, it also provides a unique look at the impact of the war on everyday life in the United States. Hotchner’s fast-paced prose makes this memoir an insightful pleasure to read.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

World War II created many heroes who have been the subjects of popular biographies and memoirs. But for every hero, there were hundreds who performed their patriotic duty in anonymity. Author and biographer Hotchner (Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir) clearly falls in the second category, though not for a lack of effort on his part. Like many of his generation, he aspired to serve his country in some grand manner, but, in his words, "Nobody on latrine duty ever got the Medal of Honor." Faulty depth perception kept him out of flight school and flat feet kept him out of the navy. When he thought he had finally found his combat niche as an antisubmarine officer, military bureaucracy intervened. So, rather than an inside look at combat, Hotchner provides a lighthearted look into the stateside military and the home front. In entertaining fashion, he recounts his various duties, including writing a musical comedy, producing an antisubmarine warfare film, and writing for Air Force Magazine, as well as his encounters with noted personalities like Clark Gable and Alan Ladd. The result is an enjoyable and slightly irreverent memoir of an unusual wartime military career. Recommended for all public libraries.
Mike Miller, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this light, agreeable World War II memoir, Hotchner, playwright and biographer of Ernest Hemingway, Doris Day, and other celebrities, recounts his efforts to serve his country against its foes. A Depression-era Missourian and lawyer newly admitted to the bar, he had no trouble getting into the army after flat feet and lack of depth perception kept him out of the navy. Assigned soon thereafter to write a musical revue for his training camp, he did the job so successfully that he never quite escaped its curse for the rest of the war. He rose to the rank of major, made films, wrote more revues and songs, edited magazines, fired Alan Ladd (who couldn't read a script), and had a good many amorous adventures, as well as a Russian spy for his landlady. He never got close to shooting or being shot at by an armed enemy, and V-E Day found him aboard the Queen Mary on his way to another media assignment in Paris. Charming. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: University of Missouri; 1 edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826214320
• ISBN-13: 978-0826214324
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,583,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A WWII Memoir Like No Other, December 13, 2002

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures (Hardcover)

"Nobody on latrine duty ever got the Medal of Honor." This truism may be found in the wonderfully titled _The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures_ (University of Missouri Press) by A. E. Hotchner. Hotchner may have done some latrine duty in his time, but it wasn't latrine duty that kept him from getting a Medal of Honor. It was show business. It is hard to be a hero, he reflects, but his book is a chronicle of how he sincerely tried to get a chance to show some heroism, and how (though he did his assigned Army Air Force duties with aplomb) he never got that chance. There are many fine memoirs of World War II service, with the last ones coming out now as that "Greatest Generation" passes on. This one is a funny, unique tale of typical military snafus that often sounds as if it was a chapter in _Catch-22_.

Hotchner was eager to do his duty, and he knew just what he wanted to do, become a combat Navy pilot, because he admired the naval attire Dick Powell had worn in a movie. He persuaded a friend to join him in application to Navy pilot training. The friend got in; Hotchner failed his depth perception test. He then persuaded another friend to join him in regular naval officer training. The friend got in, and Hotchner was disqualified for flat feet. But he did get to enlist in the Army Air Force, and was overjoyed to apply to bombardier school. But somehow, his personnel file indicated he had written a musical in college, so he was required to write one for "I Am an American Day." He wrote as badly as he could, and the troops loved it. Hotchner got accepted to bombardier school, but General Fickle liked the show so much, he ordered Hotchner to perform it in all the states under his command instead. Eventually he was going to go into combat, but since he had theatrical experience, his next commander figured he was just the one to make a film about patrolling for U-boats, instead of actually patrolling for U-boats. When he finally was shipped to Europe, he learned in passage that Germany had surrendered.

Hotchner may have turned his repeated disappointments into amusement after many years, but his slim volume reads wonderfully well as one big joke on himself. He has breezy raconteurship for so many funny stories, but there are some episodes that are serious reflections on his times. He has a meaningful encounter with Clark Gable, for instance, going through excruciating military training as a way of getting through the pain of the death of his wife Carole Lombard. He tells us about how New Yorkers wouldn't let a man in uniform pay for his own dinner and drinks, and he shows how women were liberated at the time occupationally and sexually. It isn't his fault this isn't a memoir full of battle heroism, but the war effort was diverse, and his is a unique story.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sour Grapes, October 26, 2007

By 

A. Akins "spoken word fan" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures (Hardcover)

It never ceases to amaze me how many people in this world blame their problems on everybody else, never looking for the way through, only the way out or around. The statement in the "official" review of this book that Alan Ladd could not read a script is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever read, and proves that this man did not know Mr. Ladd at all. I did. And the stench of sour grapes is permeating this memoir of a frustrated, scapegoat-needing fool so badly that I don't care to read it--ever.
Call me overly sensitive, but when an idiot insults a friend--especially by writing a tainted story about him--what person will not stand up and defend their loved one?