"The men who fought. The women who waited. And the stolen moments they shared." Ick.

For those of you wanting the short-and-sweet version of this review, here it is: 1955's Battle Cry is short on Battle, and long on Cry. In it, we follow a squad of Marines from enlistment in 1942 all the way through Saipan in 1944. Or do we? I gotta say, I feel gipped!!

Instead of following the Marines in action, we mostly are treated to a few shorter stories involving the mens' involvement with various persons of the female persuasion. It looked like it could be an interesting picture, but the whole "soap opera" nature of the film left me throwing up my hands and going "WTF?! Where's the war, man!"

Sometimes it doesn't take an extensive set, a large all-star cast, or even much action to speak of to create a stellar piece of war movie history.  Eight Iron Men pits, well, eight men against their own wits, a German machine gun nest, and their superiors when one of their own gets pinned down.

Really Eight Iron Men is more character story than war story, and in that respect it absolutely shines.  The entire picture deals with the moral dilemma of the plight of their downed comrade.  Should they go against orders and try to rescue him?  Do they simply leave him as their patrol moves out?  Is he still alive at all?

You've got a few different archetypes to go off of as well, the "eternal soldier" and squad leader Mooney (Lee Marvin), the goof-off and dreamer Colluci (Bonar Colleano), the paranoid Coke (Richard Kiley), the optimistic "Greek" (Nick Dennis), Muller the not-so-bright (Dick Moore) and the pinned-down soldier, Small (George Cooper.)

Seeing how there isn't a whole lot of plot to describe, this review will be fairly short.  The film starts with small getting pinned down, and the entire film shows the squad deciding what to do.  Now, normally this would be a dull exercise of talking heads.  Not so here.  Between Marvin and Colleano, the tension and well-placed humor play off of each other, so that the constant roller-coaster of emotion always makes things interesting.

And how can you not enjoy Colluci's little daydream episodes.  Mama Mia!

I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say it makes a statement on the absurdity that comes from wartime situations, and it's kind of funny to boot.  Its also nice to see the the goof-off and slacker make something of himself...whoops! I'm going to spoil it!

Short on action but heavy on drama and emotion, Eight Iron Men is one you shouldn't miss, but don't go in expecting a firefight, because you won't get it.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, eight iron men, 1952, lee marvin, arthur franz, richard kiley, bonar colleano, james griffith, dick moore, world war ii w, drama, character story

Face it, just about any war movie made in the fifties starring John Wayne is going to be considered a classic.  By default.  1951's Flying Leathernecks is deserving of the title regardless of the main character's name.

The story is a pretty standard war-time fare, about a squadron of Marine fighter pilots in WWII Pacific waters, fighting the Japanese menace.  What makes this picture stand out, though is its hard line take on the reality of war, and the toll it takes on everybody from the newest green horns to the most seasoned and scarred veterans.

Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is the gruff but still somewhat understanding commander, who tends to take the sometimes uncomfortable path of playing by the book.  We see this dichotomy early on when he first takes command of the squadron, and overlooks some of the more harmless shenanigans of his men.  When it comes down to it, though, he uses some unfortunate events to drill home the facts to his Marines.

His "counter" is Captain Carl "Griff" Griffin (Robert Ryan) who disagrees with the hardline nature of Kirby, and as such keeps getting passed over for command of this squadron.  In the end he comes to understand why Kirby is the way he his, I think, not that he likes it any better.

The reality of the situation is that Kirby has a job to do, which is to order men into battle and ultimately to their deaths.  He has to struggle with this every day, and the final conversation between Kirby and Griffin bears this out.

There's also a lot of humor from the pilfering Line Chief Sgt. Clancy (Jay C. Flippen), but I'm betting that's just there to keep the tone a bit lighter than it otherwise would have been.  And that is probably a good thing.

Another aspect of this film that shines is the brilliant editing of documentary footage into the action.  A lot of those images were (and still are) pretty harsh reminders of the danger these guys had to deal with.  And there's plenty of airborne dogfighting and ground support action to be had.

Speaking of, part of this film seems to try to document the struggle to get the Marine brass to accept the role of close air support in ground combat operations.  I found that an interesting statement to be making in a film of this era, and seems to echo sentiments that exist about tactics to this very day.

We also see a side of Kirby that puts him down to earth with the rest of us, his connection to his wife and kids back home, and how they deal with his service.

If you're in the mood for a great piece of aviation action that falls somewhere between the flag-waving and the dark-and-dirty then Flying Leathernecks is one to see.

Flying Leathernecks is also available online through Amazon Unbox!

Technorati Tags: flying leathernecks, 1951, john wayne, robert ryan, wwii, world war ii 2, pacific, hellcats, marines, usmc, corsair, aviation

I've seen From Here to Eternity a few times now, and each time I wonder how it continually winds up on the top of the "best war movies of all time" lists.  Is it a bad movie?  Absolutely not, but I think it makes a better "chick flick" than war movie, and the reasons are pretty obvious.

We have Sgt. Warden (Burt Lancaster) going after an affair with Captain Holmes' (Philip Ober) wife Karen (Deborah Kerr.)  Without a doubt these are the steamiest parts of the film, and produce the famous "beach kiss" scene we've all seen a million times over.  In the end though, she wants more than he's willing to give up, and it basically ends.

Wow.  Talk about a movie that was ahead of its time in its message.  Well, mostly anyway.  Halls of Montezuma follows the journey of a squad of US Marines as they storm an anonymous Japanese held island in the Pacific during WWII.  They are then tasked with locating a Japanese rocket emplacement before the next wave of troops arrive.

Their leader, Lieutenant Carl Anderson aka "Andy" (Richard Widmark) is a troubled man, having just lost most of a squad on Tarawa, and trying to make the best of his situation while combating recurring psychosomatic migraines.  The rest of his current squad (including a young "Walter" Jack Palance and an equally young Robert Wagner) come from diverse backgrounds, and carry weights of their own.

The film starts off as a flag waving, anthem blaring, do-or-die salute to the Marines, but quickly evolves into a more complex drama, detailing the insanity of war, and the toll it takes on the Marines.  We see a few of his squad overcome their problems, and a few who do not.  But overall the drama in this picture is some of the more intense I've seen, matter of fact I'd rate it right up behind "Private Ryan" in the quality of it all.

After they storm the beaches, they end up on a mission to locate a Japanese rocket base which is giving them nothing but grief.  On this mission they capture a  few prisoners, which further defines their struggle.

I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say its not all flags and fireworks.  Anderson defeats his demons, and then they all end up more or less right back where they started. 

But confusingly enough that includes more of the same flag-waving and anthem-blaring that started the picture.  That I just didn't get.  After evolving this picture into the complicated story they did, to turn it around a complete one-eighty just ruined it for me!  Maybe that was on purpose, as part of the message, maybe it was just a ploy by the studios to not end the picture on such a down and somber note, I don't know.

The acting on most everybody's part is mostly brilliant, subtracting a few typically-50s overacted moments.  The cinematography shines, well, mostly as well.  And the action scenes get interspersed with stock footage of Iwo and other Marine actions.

I really enjoyed this picture, and I'm giving it a full 9/10.  Take away one for the 180-degree turn at the end and a few overplayed moments.  I highly recommend this one.

Technorati Tags: halls of montezuma, 1950, richard widmark, walter jack palance, robert wagner, karl malden, war movie review, world war ii 2, wwii, pacific, japanese, usmc, marines

From the British comes the incredible Morning Departure, a movie that very nearly didn't get released. The movie deals with the accidental sinking of the fictional submarine, the HMS Trojan. Prior to its scheduled release, a similar situation actually occurred, as the submarine HMS Truculent sank in the river Thames, killing 64 people. The titles of this picture actually declare it as a tribute to those men, and to the ship itself.

In Morning Departure, we get a glimpse into the business of peace-time, a fact that isn't lost on many of the crew and officer corps. Little of that matters, though, as the routine business of training missions soon takes a turn for the worse, as the Trojan finds herself up against a wayward leftover mine.

There are probably more (and if I find them I'll edit this post!) but here are a pair of "double feature" DVD's from Republic starring the Duke.

The Fighting Seabees/Wake of the Red Witch (1949)

THE FIGHTING SEABEES - All-American hero John Wayne takes a crew of construction workers and turns them into one of WWII's toughest fighting forces in this action-packed war classic. After having convinced the Army brass to let his civilians bear arms, Wedge Donovan ( Wayne) whips his new troops into combat shape. But when he leads his unit in an alll-out assult against the Japanese, Donovan is brought up on court-martial charges and must fight for his life on a new battlefield. THE FIGHTING SEABEES offers an entertaining combination of strong supporting performances by Daniel O'Keefe and ravishing, about-to-be-superstar Susan Hayward; brawlinlg, big budget action sequences; and an Oscar-nominated score- all of which led Leonard Maltin to give "3 stars" to this spirited saga turned box office bonanza.

WAKE OF THE RED WITCH - John Wayne battles enemies above and below the waves - including a giant killer octopus - in WAKE OF THE RED WITCH. This sprawling epic adventure pits the tough-minded Captain Ralls (John Wayne) against the treacherous Captain Sidneye (Luther Adler) in a bitter rivalry on a South Seas isle. At stake is a fortune in pearls hidden in an underwater cave. At risk is the hand of the beautiful Angelique (Gail Russell), daughter of Desiax, the tyrant ruler of the island who plans to marry her off to Sidneye. In an attempt to rescue Angelique, Ralls must seize the pearls and exchange them for her freedom. The danger continues as fate holds one final test of strength and bravery for the bold Captain and the woman he loves.

Sands of Iwo Jima/Flying Tigers (1950)

SANDS OF IWO JIMA - John Wayne catapulted from Hollywood leading man to All-American hero with his Oscar-nominated performance as Sgt. Sryker, a hard-nosed Marine sergeant who must mold a company of raw recruits into a combat-ready fighting machine. Feared by many and hated by all, Stryker's training is soon put to the test in a full-scale assault against the Japanese on Iwo Jima - an infamous battle that will live forever in one of cinema's most famous scenes, the flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi.

FLYING TIGERS - They were the terror of the sky, a small daring band of American mercenaries who soared into battle against the Japanese in defense of China's freedom. They were aces, adventurers and heroes, America's hottest fighter pilots - THE FLYING TIGERS! Possessing unmatched skill and bravery, Jim Gordon (John Wayne), the Tigers' commander, is the top gun of China's skies. But he faces a battle on the ground when his good friend Woody Jason is suspected of recklessly causing the death of a fellow pilot and is accused of stealing Jim's fiancee. Jim's fight to retain his respect for Woody while maintaining the solidarity of his pilots is an explosive battle of courage and heroism that lights up the sky with action!

I've seen Flying Tigers, and I don't know why I haven't put a review here yet!  Gads!  Asleep at the wheel!

Technorati Tags: war movies, dvd, new releases, flying tigers, sands of iwo jima, the fighting seabees, wake of the red witch