A good tribute to the Marines
Young Marine recruits go from boot camp to battlefield in Raoul Walsh's rousing tribute to the Marines.Leon Uris skillfuly adapts his own best-seller,and Walsh once again demonstrates his flair for this kind of story.But this time,he's not entirely successful.He lets the pace slow down considerably at times,and the result is a good film that's much too long(it could have been cut by half an hour).But there is much to enjoy here.Sid Hickox's photography and Max Steiner's score help considerably,and the cast is excellent.Van Heflin and James Whitmore are in fine form as the tough but fair COs,and Aldo Ray steals the showas the tough soldier with a heart of gold.They are well supported by such fine actors as Nancy Olson and Anne Francis.Not as good as "The Longest Day","Battleground",or "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo",but still one of the better films about WW2.Enjoy!