James Garner made a bit of a cottage industry out of appearing in Hallmark Hall of Fame TV-movies. Hallmark productions were always noted for their high quality and portrayal of solid community values.In "Decoration Day" Garner plays a retired Southern judge who is somewhat of a recluse. He is pulled back into the community when a young man gets into trouble, Garner finds a new chance to connect with an interesting woman, and he has to persuade a childhood friend to reconsider his refusal to accept a belated Medal of Honor.Bill Cobbs plays Gee, Garner's childhood friend and a tenant farmer who has had to deal with racial injustice all of his life while his educated white friend Garner has had a much easier and successful path. Both men served in WWII, Gee in a segregated Negro unit. When the Army determines that Gee should receive the Medal of Honor the community is disrupted and people have to re-examine racial attitudes when Gee refuses to accept this most prestigious honor. As you'd expect in a Hallmark production, the topics are dealt with in a quiet, responsible, non-histrionic way. Garner and the cast all deliver.

This is one of those quiet movies, where nothing exciting or outlandish happens, and nobody's life is in ruins but it is all the better for it. One of the things I enjoy about James Garner is that he tends not to be in the movies that are all hot air and explosions. The layers of this story are slowly peeled back as the characters grow on the viewer until the viewer finds that they really care! It's well executed, beautifully and with simplicity and it all feels real. I don't care about how scenes are concocted or faked, the end result is a work of beauty and art, and I'm delighted to have had the chance to see it again. Real life is not a blockbuster, and this film captures the genuine friendship that exists between the people and we feel it. wonderful.

When my then future-husband was heavily into WWII reenacting, he was invited by another reenacting friend to be a extra for the battle scenes that appear in the movie. The "winter" battle was filmed just outside of Atlanta in the summer! The filming was all done at night with fake snow on the ground.He told me that there's a number of "flubs" that appeared in the battle scenes. One of the most glaring is where the young soldiers fires the BAR from the damaged halftrack all the Germans fall over dead even though he only fires 20 rounds. This happened due to the many takes and re-takes that the film did that sapped the reenactors and they all fell over at once when the gun fired! Also, there was supposed to be another sub-plot where James Garner's character was supposed to find the then-wounded army officer who saw what happened when the young soldier killed all the Germans and then drove off. The scene was changed and had a dubbed-over voice saying "I'll get help!" while the Germans initially attack.Over two days of filming for less than 15 minutes of actual air time!

Late in his life when Robert Mitchum was finally receiving accolades for his career work, a reporter asked him why it took so long for such recognition. Mitchum replied, "Because there's nobody else left." The same might be said for James Garner, as people increasingly acknowledge his skill. Like Henry Fonda, Garner makes it look so easy and effortless that one tends to take his work for granted.In "Decoration Day" his character is similar to his laid-back hero in "Murphy's Romance." Garner can play wide emotional ranges as the script may call for, yet smoothly blend nuances to achieve a finely tuned product.Here the entire cast works in fine ensemble fashion, with Bill Cobbs being particularly strong as Gee. Perhaps real-life Purple Heart-winner Garner felt a special connection to this touching story about the aftermath of war.This was another worthy Hallmark production made especially for television.