...that in the James Caan episode with the head shot Captain, that the Captain was actually dead and Caan had gone crazy asking the doctor to dig the bullet out of his skull? I thought this for years until I read about the incident on the net. With the way it's shot we are given no indication the Captain is even alive or that Caan's actions save his life.
shareArguably the doc was right, wasting time on a man with a probably fatal head would could stop him working on patents who might survive. Triage in the military has a purpose after all- the priority of medical resources on those who are likely to both live and be able return to fight.
"I was left in no doubt as to the severity of the hangover when the cat stamped into the room."
It's just drama.
shareFirst of all that particular scene is actually in the book, and did happen. This was not an isolated incident however. During Iwo Jima, a lot of medical corpsmen were held at gunpoint by soilders wanting to save their comrades that were injured.
There's a lot of other incidents in the book that could (and should IMO) would have made better drama rather than a hackneyed story about a sergeant who was actually wrong to do as he did. Military doctors and medics have to make harsh decisions in wartime and one is sometimes to leave the probably dying to die.
"Oh dear. How sad. Never mind!"
I've always liked that slice of the movie.
Ironically the Sergeant was a much smaller man than his Captain in real life. The Captain said he could have made two of Sergeant Dohun.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.