The interesting and uncharacteristic film is a gripping war story from Lewis Milestone in that's all patriotic and all flag-waving with valiant US soldiers facing on Japanese enemy in the Pacific Basin . The Marines assault a strongly held enemy island in the Pacific to track down a Japanese rocket base . We follow them from the beach to a Japanese rocket site throughout enemy infested jungle , being commanded Lt. Anderson , an ex-school teacher (Richard Widmark) along with his old pupil Conroy (Richard Hylton) and other Privates as Coffman (Robert Wagner) , Pretty Boy (Skip Homeier) , Whitney (Martin Milner) , Slattery (Bert Freed) ; furtermore , a Sgt. called Zelenko (Neville Brand) , Sgt. Johnson (Reginald Gardiner) , Doc (Karl Malden) and a War Correspondent named Dickerman (Jack Webb) . Along the way , all of them are transformed into battle veterans.
This thrilling , large WWII yarn capably put together by a good filmmaker , concerns a company of Marines led by a two-fisted Lieutenant whose squad becomes a tight fighting unit , while races against the clock by hunt down a Japanese rocket base . Being a fast-moving , rather thoughtful little film about battles between Marines and Japanese and their strong resistance to the invasion , though some feats are hard to believe . It is all plenty with glory-glory , propaganda and martial music in the background , being compellingly made by the same man who 21 years earlier directed the landmark anti-war film ¨All quiet on the Western Front¨. This unnerving epic depicts the war horror , including atrocities by both sides while happen attacks during the invasion . Thought-provoking screenplay , including dramatic scenes in overall effects , also has moments of astounding power with some overwhelming war images . It is competently acted by a strong cast which plus stars Richard Widmark , there are Karl Malden , Skip Homeier , Robert Wagner and Jack Palance . In addition , Richard Boone as tough Lt. Col. Gilfillan , Reginald Gardner in a rare dramatic character and Jack Webb as a war correspondent.
The motion picture was well and powerfully directed by Lewis Milestone, who cut in actual combat footage along with the mock-up set-pieces filmed in the United States at Camp Pendleton . Lewis was born in the Ukraine , but emigrated to America at 18 and he served in WWI . He often made chronicles of wartime conflicts and persisted in showing horror war from the point of view of the ordinary soldier , providing a grimmer stuff as well as quieter moments . As he showed WWI (All quiet on the western front) , WWII (A walk in the sun , Purple heart , Halls of Motzuma , Edge and darkness) and Korean war (Pork Chop Hill) ; and directed several other excellent movies in different fields , drama (Of mice and men , Strange love of Martha Ivers) , adventures (Mutiny on the Bounty) and heist-comedy (Ocean's eleven) , among others . Rating : Better than average , 7/10 . Well worth watching .
This thrilling , large WWII yarn capably put together by a good filmmaker , concerns a company of Marines led by a two-fisted Lieutenant whose squad becomes a tight fighting unit , while races against the clock by hunt down a Japanese rocket base . Being a fast-moving , rather thoughtful little film about battles between Marines and Japanese and their strong resistance to the invasion , though some feats are hard to believe . It is all plenty with glory-glory , propaganda and martial music in the background , being compellingly made by the same man who 21 years earlier directed the landmark anti-war film ¨All quiet on the Western Front¨. This unnerving epic depicts the war horror , including atrocities by both sides while happen attacks during the invasion . Thought-provoking screenplay , including dramatic scenes in overall effects , also has moments of astounding power with some overwhelming war images . It is competently acted by a strong cast which plus stars Richard Widmark , there are Karl Malden , Skip Homeier , Robert Wagner and Jack Palance . In addition , Richard Boone as tough Lt. Col. Gilfillan , Reginald Gardner in a rare dramatic character and Jack Webb as a war correspondent.
The motion picture was well and powerfully directed by Lewis Milestone, who cut in actual combat footage along with the mock-up set-pieces filmed in the United States at Camp Pendleton . Lewis was born in the Ukraine , but emigrated to America at 18 and he served in WWI . He often made chronicles of wartime conflicts and persisted in showing horror war from the point of view of the ordinary soldier , providing a grimmer stuff as well as quieter moments . As he showed WWI (All quiet on the western front) , WWII (A walk in the sun , Purple heart , Halls of Motzuma , Edge and darkness) and Korean war (Pork Chop Hill) ; and directed several other excellent movies in different fields , drama (Of mice and men , Strange love of Martha Ivers) , adventures (Mutiny on the Bounty) and heist-comedy (Ocean's eleven) , among others . Rating : Better than average , 7/10 . Well worth watching .