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on May 12, 2011
Guadalcanal Diary,The Gallant Hours,With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
I first saw this movie in the theatre as a pre-teen. When I watched it recently as a senior citizen I found that I had remembered large portions of the movie; hence I will have to admit being impressed. Of course as a pre-teen I was well aware of the war although the only inkling I had of what war was like was through the movies. Movies about WWII produced during that war did not in general give an accurate depiction of the brutality of war and the suffering of the servicemen who were in frontline combat. Indeed no one can appreciate what war is like from movies or books.
For a description of what it is like to have been a Marine in combat, I recommend "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge. This book concentrates on describing the conditions that the front line Marines had to live under while fighting and trying to stay alive. Sledge wasn't on Guadalcanal. He fought on Peleliu and Okinawa.
Guadalcanal Diary doesn't depict the conditions as vividly as Sledge portrayed them. However from my understanding of the other reviewers of this movie Guadalcanal in reality was likely just as miserable for those Marines as Peleliu and Okinawa. For a more recent movie about Guadalcanal and from a different perspective, i.e. from the Admiral in overall command - Bull Halsey, see "The Gallant Hours" wherein James Cagney plays Halsey. This movie provides insights not only on the Marines. It includes the problems the Navy had in support of Guadalcanal and the sea battles that developed in defense of the land operations.
About Guadalcanal Diary the movie: It's a really good movie. It does have its battle scenes including the infamous ambush of a group of Marines wherein only one (played by Anthony Quinn) survived. However the concentration in the movie is on the men and how they interacted with each other. Lloyd Nolan and William Bendix are great in a scene where they are attempting to listen to a recap of a World Series game between the Yankees and Cardinals. Of course Bendix is a Dodger fan from Brooklyn (yes boys and girls the Dodgers were originally in Brooklyn). His comeback to Nolan's question on why was he favoring the Yankees is classic. However the most dramatic scene for Bendix is as he sets in a bomb shelter during a Japanese raid and tells how he feels about being there. All the Navy chaplain (played by Preston Foster) can add is "Amen".
I first saw this movie in the theatre as a pre-teen. When I watched it recently as a senior citizen I found that I had remembered large portions of the movie; hence I will have to admit being impressed. Of course as a pre-teen I was well aware of the war although the only inkling I had of what war was like was through the movies. Movies about WWII produced during that war did not in general give an accurate depiction of the brutality of war and the suffering of the servicemen who were in frontline combat. Indeed no one can appreciate what war is like from movies or books.
For a description of what it is like to have been a Marine in combat, I recommend "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge. This book concentrates on describing the conditions that the front line Marines had to live under while fighting and trying to stay alive. Sledge wasn't on Guadalcanal. He fought on Peleliu and Okinawa.
Guadalcanal Diary doesn't depict the conditions as vividly as Sledge portrayed them. However from my understanding of the other reviewers of this movie Guadalcanal in reality was likely just as miserable for those Marines as Peleliu and Okinawa. For a more recent movie about Guadalcanal and from a different perspective, i.e. from the Admiral in overall command - Bull Halsey, see "The Gallant Hours" wherein James Cagney plays Halsey. This movie provides insights not only on the Marines. It includes the problems the Navy had in support of Guadalcanal and the sea battles that developed in defense of the land operations.
About Guadalcanal Diary the movie: It's a really good movie. It does have its battle scenes including the infamous ambush of a group of Marines wherein only one (played by Anthony Quinn) survived. However the concentration in the movie is on the men and how they interacted with each other. Lloyd Nolan and William Bendix are great in a scene where they are attempting to listen to a recap of a World Series game between the Yankees and Cardinals. Of course Bendix is a Dodger fan from Brooklyn (yes boys and girls the Dodgers were originally in Brooklyn). His comeback to Nolan's question on why was he favoring the Yankees is classic. However the most dramatic scene for Bendix is as he sets in a bomb shelter during a Japanese raid and tells how he feels about being there. All the Navy chaplain (played by Preston Foster) can add is "Amen".
on January 23, 2014
Guadalcanal Diary is one of my favorite old movies from my childhood. While I know a great deal more about the actual campaign for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands now, this film is still fun to watch. Given that it came out only a year after the Marines actually landed on the island on 7 August 1942 it still holds up pretty well, given some historical inaccuracies and deviations from Richard Tregaskis's book of the same title for dramatic purposes. This film was designed to buck up the home front which it, no doubt, did a good job of doing while showcasing the difficulty of the campaign without going into the deep pathos of what the battle for Guadalcanal represented in reality and how hard it really was. To the United States Marine Corps and especially to the veterans of this campaign Guadalcanal is not just a name, it is an emotion.
on June 3, 2017
THIS MOVIE IS NOT ONLY ENTERTAINING, BUT HAS TRUTH IN IT. I LEARNED A LOT
I THINK THIS IS A GOOD PICTURE OF HOW IT WAS ON GUADACANAL FOR WWII
FORCES. THIS FILM CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S JOB.
I THINK THIS IS A GOOD PICTURE OF HOW IT WAS ON GUADACANAL FOR WWII
FORCES. THIS FILM CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S JOB.
on March 30, 2017
I love how the narrator says the name of the island What is cover is done well Many island battles not covered with this video
on May 14, 2017
I got this dvd for my mother since she's a fan of WWII movies.
on June 2, 2012
This is a great WWII flick that as you've seen in many of my other war film reviews that I use to watch with my Dad when I was a lad on Picture for a Sunday Afternoon. It has many of the stars you associate with this period of time: Preston Foster as the Chaplin, William Bendix as a Jar Head as well as Anthony Quinn. The setting is the Pacific Theater at the height of the US battle against Imperial Japan.
The Japanese Imperial Fanatical Army was no push over. They would fight to the death or commit suicide rather than surrender. This shows how hard our troops had to fight to win. It also shows the emotional/psychological/human side of fighting and what soldiers go through in various battle conditions. I highly recommend this to fans of WWII movies.
Hope this helps.
Blessings,
Phil
The Japanese Imperial Fanatical Army was no push over. They would fight to the death or commit suicide rather than surrender. This shows how hard our troops had to fight to win. It also shows the emotional/psychological/human side of fighting and what soldiers go through in various battle conditions. I highly recommend this to fans of WWII movies.
Hope this helps.
Blessings,
Phil
on May 26, 2017
DVD more focused on 1940's stars than the actual battle. Perhaps a good WW II movie for 1943, but not up to 21st century movie standards. The book by Richard Tregaskis was GREAT!
