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Friday, March 27, 2009

Pride of the Marines (1945) [NR] ****


A film review (edited) by Craig Butler for allmovie.com.

Pride of the Marines is a stirring, powerful, hard-hitting World War II drama. It’s equally accurate to say it's a post-war drama, as the real meat of the picture concerns a wounded soldier's return to civilian life. While Pride of the Marines is undeniably patriotic, it also is not afraid to ask some serious, hard questions or to present war as less than a grand adventure.

It really features only one battle sequence, which lasts some ten minutes; it's an amazing, gripping sequence, but it doesn't glorify battle as many similar films do. The men involved are fighting for their lives [on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, August, 1942], and they react exactly as people really do react in such a situation. See the Wikipedia Guadalcanal Campaign link below.

Similarly, the discussion about what life will be like when they return home dares to present the possibility that things will not be all roses, a rather bold suggestion for a 1945 film. Finally, the anguish, torment, and bitterness that the lead character experiences is striking and affecting. Pride of the Marines benefits from a very strong screenplay, for which Albert Maltz was nominated for an Oscar, and that screenplay is aided by Delmer Daves' excellent direction. He employs some fairly experimental techniques (e.g., shooting a dream sequence in reverse negative) to highlight the emotionalism of the piece, but never goes too far.

Pride of the Marines also benefits from its superb cast, led by John Garfield as Marine Corps Private Al Schmid in a performance that never hits a false note. It's arguably Garfield's best and most powerful performance and is searing. He is well supported by Eleanor Parker, as Ruth Hartley, Schmid’s girlfriend and later wife, and Dane Clark, as Lee Diamond, Schmid’s close friend and fellow Marine. Both play their parts to near perfection. Pride of the Marines is an especially fine film.

Blogger’s comment: Pride of the Marines is based on the true story of Al Schmid. See the Wikipedia link below.

Labels: biography, drama, Eleanor Parker, romance, WWII



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