‘Stolen Valor’ in ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’
Military.com just came out with an article titled: “Steve Martin’s ‘Stolen Valor’ in ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels‘”
The movie just got remastered and Military.com makes the point
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” remains a hilarious classic and would be even more fun to watch with anyone who’s on the hunt to fuel their Stolen Valor Outrage.
There has always been some debate and misconception about the wearing of medals and their authentic display in movies and television. Rumor has it that they must be “jacked-up” and worn incorrectly or it is Stolen Valor.
Case in point – in the series “Alpha House” with John Goodman, a soldier was to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (CMoH). Well, apparently they couldn’t get a real CMoH so they substituted a baby blue one.
In a later scene, this same soldier is seen without the CMoH but he has a Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) which is usually reserved for Navy and Marine Corps vs. Army. I’m sure there may be other inconsistencies.
Always fun to observe this – drives wives crazy and does take away from the enjoyment of the show.
In any case, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is a comedic classic and worth your time to see it if you haven’t.
For those who have worked in the Pentagon:
Always generates a chuckle from our household when watching either a Movie or TV Show depitcing US Military Officers working in the Puzzle Palace wearing complete formal Uniform to include Medals and all.
And boy, do they wear alot of Medals…😉
“Dirty Rotten Scandels” is a hoot and worth seeing.
😎
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is hilarious, I still enjoy watching it!
Ruprecht – “May I go to the bathroom?”
One of the best scenes ever in comedy.
I don’t think it’s stolen valor if it’s in a movie. They’re actors acting. It’s not like they dress themselves. Whoever the military advisor is on these shows/movies is the one who deserves scorn.
Mason, having worked in several historical type Hollywierd productions I can attest that a lot of times the directors/producers didn’t always listen to the advisors; that has gotten better in the last decade or so.
Had a lady friend that used to smack me or tell me to put money in the “swear jar” anytime we’d watch a historical type motion picture and I’d spend most of the time tearing it up. Good Times.
I think in the case of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the director was thinking people would be concentrating on Miss Thang Glenne Hedley’s “body language” v Steve Martin’s “uniform”. (grin)
Two good examples of a very spirited attempt at historical accuracy would be Tom Hanks’ pushed for it in Saving Private Ryan, and Mel Gibson pushing it in We Were Soldiers. Having Ret GEN Hal Moore as one of the advisors didn’t hurt either.
Did anybody notice the AF GGA with the upside down ribbon display at the SOTU address? An aid was blamed for it, probably working in an Ebola clinic by now.
GGO not GGA
No more postings to Thule?😎
Just asking…
That reminded me of this old joke
A US Air Force C-141 was scheduled to leave Thule Air Base, Greenland at midnight. During the pilot’s preflight check, he discovers that the latrine holding tank is still full from the last flight. So a message is sent to the base, and an airman who was off duty is called out to take care of it. The young man finally gets to the air base and makes his way to the aircraft, only to find that the latrine pump truck has been left outdoors and is frozen solid, so he must find another one in the hangar, which takes even more time. He returns to the aircraft and is less than enthusiastic about what he has to do.
Nevertheless, he goes about the pumping job deliberately and carefully (and slowly) so as to not risk criticism later. As he’s leaving the plane, the pilot stops him and says, “Son, your attitude and performance has caused this flight to be late, and I’m going to personally see to it that you are not only reprimanded, but also punished.”
Shivering in the cold, his task finished, he takes a deep breath, stands up tall and says, “Sir, with all due respect, I’m not your son; I’m an Airman in the United States Air Force. I’ve been in Thule, Greenland for 11 months without any leave, and reindeer are beginning to look pretty good to me. I have one stripe; it’s two-thirty in the morning, the temperature is 40 degrees below zero and my job here is to pump shit from your aircraft.
Now just exactly what form of punishment did you have in mind?”
As an Aerial Porter who has pumped shit, (but never been to Thule),
This joke never gets old.
C’mon guys. Let’s not get too ‘scientific’ about all this. I’ve seen the movie (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) multiple times and the vibe I get from it is that Steve Martin’s character has no clue what a real vet would wear so got all the bling he could find and wore it. Not once when seeing this did I consider it ‘stolen valor’. It was part of his character and that character’s thought process. A very good movie, by the way.
But I will admit, I (and my wife who’s also a vet) love watching military themed movies to poke holes in them. Such good fun!
But WHY does Ruprecht have the cork on the fork? That movie is a goldmine of sight gags, one liners, and physical comedy.
I wonder whether Audie Murphy wore his own medals in “To Hell and Back.”
Reminds me of the way generals are usually portrayed in children’s television, usually having a chest full of medals as if they were a banana republic generalissimo. Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue had one such character and he was portrayed as wearing both the ribbons and medals on both sides of his uniform which appeared to be a WWII era service uniform (I think they even used the exact same row of decorations for each side of his uniform making him look even cornier).
It is tough watching any military themed TV show or movie if you have spent any time in the military. You can’t help picking apart errors and unlikely situations. The really good movies seem to have no or very view errors in addition to a great story line. The one error that gives me a chuckle is any scene with guards standing at attention in a hallway outside an officer’s office. I am sure many civilians think that is a routine situation. A constant error is actors twenty years older for the given rank of the person they are portraying. And uniforms…..don’t get me started.
And the haircuts they routinely have for Marines would have had my gunny jumping on my ass with both feet. 0-3 fade – it’s not hard to get right!
Must, contain, maniacal, laughter..
TOP GUN for the win!
The “LTC” from this Alpha House show is all jacked up. His US and branch insignia are at the wrong angle, and no army officer ever wears weapons qualification badges (and certainly not with the full ladder of different weapons dangling from it). I’ve always heard of this rumor that the uniform has to be messed up, but please pick out something less obvious.
I guess I should have also mentioned the lack of a blue infantry cord, the incorrect spacing between all of the badges, and that none of the highest row of ribbons include what most LTCs would be wearing; likely a BSM (service, not with V), maybe a DMSM, then MSM and ARCOM. The air assault badge being crooked is probably accurate…
Hack Stone is left wondering what became of the lawsuit that the late Daniel Bernath, Esq. filed on behalf of Kyle Barwan against the producers of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for stealing his life story.