a novel by Mary McCarthy. I am reading this for a LGBT book reading group I joined last month. I ordered the DVD of the movie from Amazon, but will watch it after I finish reading the novel. So far (02-18-10) very entertaining, character building; in the middle of Chapter Four.

a film written, directed & starring John Baumgartner. Ernest Hardy of the L.A. Weekly writes: “Shot in black and white with an unerring eye for the era-specific detail of early silent film, writer-director John Baumgartner’s WAR STORY is so inventive that it works on at least a half-dozen levels: social commentary, film-geek homage, love story, queer theory, sly genre overhaul and straight-ahead romantic comedy. It triumphs on all fronts. Baumgartner has taken an overused device–a fictitious discovery of the masterpiece by a now-forgotten film genius (one Metly Moorville, alleged fore-runner of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd)–and infused it with freshness and wit. Moorville (Baumgartner), clad in little-tramp gear and cursed with empty pockets and a growling stomach, sets off to find a meal one day, but instead stumbles into a waiting gig at a restaurant where the boss is a tyrant and the other waiter a brute. Though Metly initially swoons over a female customer, he’s soon smitten by a cute male soldier who returns the ardor, but whose twin brother is a violent homophobe. Mistaken identity, workplace bigotry and burgeoning love are all conveyed through sharply choreographed slapstick and a consistent sweetness of tone that pays off in a final scene of lump-in-the-throat tenderness.” I couldn’t agree more; this movie has touched a special place in my heart!