The Istoriaphile’s Corner

Like a lot of folks, I’m nuts about movies.  For decades I’ve spent lots of leisure time sitting in the dark, staring at a screen and believing that no matter how big a problem is, it can be introduced, muddled over and solved within two hours, two and a half, if a war is involved.  And while I often hate what a film adaption does to a book’s story, (don’t get me started on The Prince of Tides) some adaptations work well and some stories are downright cinematic and need to be retold.  Last month I was looking for  a book on World War II that my husband hasn’t yet read (not an easy task!) when I ran across The Forgotten 500.  Not only did it make a great gift; it would make a brilliant movie and the film industry wouldn’t have to stretch the truth.  This story writes itself. It’s 1944 and the USAFF is flying combat missions with other allied crews from Italy into Germany every day.  Part of their flight path took them over what was then Yugoslavia and the planes were often hit by German troups.  The crew of a crashing plane could bail out but…