Obit watch: August 26, 2013.

Ted Post, film and television director.

Among his credits: Hang ‘Em High and Magnum Force. I haven’t seen the former, but I’ve always felt Magnum Force was a worthy follow-up to Dirty Harry.

He did a lot of television, too, including Columbo and Twilight Zone. (Yeah, yeah, and Gunsmoke and Rawhide.)

Also worthy of note:

Among film buffs Mr. Post was probably best known for “Go Tell the Spartans,” set during the Vietnam War and based on the 1967 novel “Incident at Muc Wa,” by Daniel Ford.
Burt Lancaster starred as an American Army major who carries out orders to secure a remote jungle outpost in 1964 despite his fears that the mission will end badly, as it does. Mr. Lancaster put up his own money when budget problems threatened the film before it was completed.

The NYT suggests that Spartans was under appreciated on its first release, but has grown on film buffs since then. I wasn’t allowed to see it during the first run, but I bought the DVD and watched it a couple of years ago. In my opinion, it is a pretty good, but not great, Vietnam war film. I certainly liked it much better than Platoon.

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