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Reviews
Battle Cry (1955)
some inside stuff .
My father was a squadron commander in the Marine Corps. We were stationed at Opa Loka Marine airbase north of Miami, Florida. My father had just finished a tour in Korea. His squadron was going with the fleet to Vieques Island Puerto Rico for carrier quals. and firing exercises. The grunts (a battalion) were to make an amphibious landing on Vieques Island and my father's squadron was to provide close air support for the landing. Vieques at that time was owned by the Navy and off-limits to most non-military personnel however the director of Battle Cry was given permission by the Navy to film part of his movie on the island during the ambhibous landings. In the film you only see my father's squadron for an instant as they roared in over the beach in echelon, which they would have not done in reality. My father had pictures taken with all the male stars and autographed by them. He also received outtakes of his squadron in the air which were left on the cutting room floor. Most of the Marines in the picture were real which is good because they were real SALTY. Utilities were faded etc. Equipment looked used. The japs were marines also. One error is that if you look close the jap. artillery is the same as the Marines, 105 hows. My father said the Marines loved to ham it up too much and had to take many take to get one scene but the director got everything except the stars for free!!!!in 1964 I landed on that same beach with a battalion of Marines, I was a company commander but no movies for us. Each night the stars and the pilots returned to the Navy Base at Roosevelt Roads. There was no airstrip on the island. I thought the authenticity was excellent, as a Marine I only caught one small error, when the General Raymond Massey was on the command ship a Marine Officer of the Day brought him a message about Huxley's difficulties. He wore a hat (cover) Marines do not wear covers indoors however he was under arms he was wearing a 45 pistol when underarms a Marine does salute and does wear a cover indoors only the generalRaymond Massey was covered and he was not under arms also the Admiral was covered and he was not underarms small detail really small considering such a complex movies about the Corps. One thing I did miss was the Browing Automatic Rifle or BAR which was a staple of the Corps in WWII. Semper Fi. Saipan was one of the bloodiest landings ever made by the Corps. Most of the real troopers in the first group to hit the beach were either killed then or in the many deadly, brutal days of combat after the landings. Most of Huxleys men would have come in body-bags or injured. The Navy used less ordnance on Saipan than they did on Guadacanal. But Saipan one the first base used by our B-29s to attack Tokyo.
Paths of Glory (1957)
paths of glory
In 1958 a high school English teacher's made this movie a class assignment. He was also a pilot in the Marine Corps reserves. I went I saw and it conquered. Many people consider this the best war movie ever made however these days many do not like it anti-war they think bias. It not just a war movie but it is a work of art. Many may not know this but this is based on a true story. It was good that when U.S. troops landed in France that General Pershing did not allow our troops to be placed under french command. I served in the United States Marine Corps in the 60s and I love it's antiwar bias!This movie ranks right up there with Pork Chop Hill and other war movies of that period.
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
One Eyed Jacks
I saw One Eyed Jacks in 1964 at a super wide screen theater and the beach scenes were fantastic. I was getting ready to ship out for the Marine Corps. If I remember correctly the movie did not do that well at the box office, I believe that was because it was so much more mature than westerns of that period.Roy and Gene ran the westerns and grade b westerns except for a few exceptions. I recently bought the DVD. The only problem is that I do not have a large screen hd t.v. and to do justice to this movie the first time you see it you should have access to both. It is not a Searchers but in it's own way it is a classic. Some critics at the time did not like the voice that Brando used. As they did later in Munity On The Bounty.