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VINE VOICEon June 13, 2007
THEY WERE EXPENDABLE
Maybe because I was just a little kid, and the war was still raging, (1945) but nearing an end. Maybe it was partially because my grandfather took me to see this movie as he took me to see other movies every Saturday, and maybe it was because my Polio was gone and I could walk and run again, but mostly because my uncle was the skipper of a PT boat and knew JFK. Great Direction by John Ford, with his regular crew plus Robert Montgomery, (John Wayne, Donna Reed, Ward Bond) and many other great stars gave outstanding performances in an authentic, tropic ambiance displayed convincingly, though in Black and white.
The missions, struggles, disappointments, amiable characters just doing a very tough, under-appreciated job in plywood PT boat's which the navy and marines didn't entirely trust.
The secondary question was; would Monty and The Duke bring home a winner, or switch to submarines?
This is a short intro of the coming of age of a PT boat fleet, the hopelessness that hung like a black cloud of Damocles just above the heads of the officers and grunts in what then seemed a losing effort, but one in which they kept grinding on with the stiff-upper lip, hard bitten, toughness of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things.
At this point in the war, the US was not yet winning, and beneath the surface the fighting men and women worried, more about whose fate was unknown than themselves. The milieu and attitudes of the characters gave one a feeling of what it really must have been like in those dark times. When my uncle came back from action a year later, he said it was one of his favorite war films-authentic and revealing.
FLYING LEATHERNECKS
The second film, made in 1951, which was filmed in Technicolor, Flying Leather Necks, directed by Nicolas Ray and starring Wayne, Robert Ryan and an excellent supporting cast, was a typical fighter pilot film, well done, filled with the conflicts, misunderstandings, emotional struggles with tensions of death and mistakes and orders which are hard to follow at times. A good film but less of a classic than the Black and white above. Besides all of that, one Great film, one good film and a terrific price. By the way, this movie borrows just a bit of its plot from a 1938 Howard Hawks directed, Errol Flynn, vehicle: Dawn Patrol. The rankling relationship of Wayne with Robert Ryan, is almost parallel to Flynn's relationship to his commanding officer, Basil Rathbone. Except in this film, the roles are reversed. Here, the leading man, Wayne is the commander, and Ryan his second in command. However, in Dawn Patrol, the underling, Flynn is the leading man and co-star Rathbone his commander.
Maybe because I was just a little kid, and the war was still raging, (1945) but nearing an end. Maybe it was partially because my grandfather took me to see this movie as he took me to see other movies every Saturday, and maybe it was because my Polio was gone and I could walk and run again, but mostly because my uncle was the skipper of a PT boat and knew JFK. Great Direction by John Ford, with his regular crew plus Robert Montgomery, (John Wayne, Donna Reed, Ward Bond) and many other great stars gave outstanding performances in an authentic, tropic ambiance displayed convincingly, though in Black and white.
The missions, struggles, disappointments, amiable characters just doing a very tough, under-appreciated job in plywood PT boat's which the navy and marines didn't entirely trust.
The secondary question was; would Monty and The Duke bring home a winner, or switch to submarines?
This is a short intro of the coming of age of a PT boat fleet, the hopelessness that hung like a black cloud of Damocles just above the heads of the officers and grunts in what then seemed a losing effort, but one in which they kept grinding on with the stiff-upper lip, hard bitten, toughness of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things.
At this point in the war, the US was not yet winning, and beneath the surface the fighting men and women worried, more about whose fate was unknown than themselves. The milieu and attitudes of the characters gave one a feeling of what it really must have been like in those dark times. When my uncle came back from action a year later, he said it was one of his favorite war films-authentic and revealing.
FLYING LEATHERNECKS
The second film, made in 1951, which was filmed in Technicolor, Flying Leather Necks, directed by Nicolas Ray and starring Wayne, Robert Ryan and an excellent supporting cast, was a typical fighter pilot film, well done, filled with the conflicts, misunderstandings, emotional struggles with tensions of death and mistakes and orders which are hard to follow at times. A good film but less of a classic than the Black and white above. Besides all of that, one Great film, one good film and a terrific price. By the way, this movie borrows just a bit of its plot from a 1938 Howard Hawks directed, Errol Flynn, vehicle: Dawn Patrol. The rankling relationship of Wayne with Robert Ryan, is almost parallel to Flynn's relationship to his commanding officer, Basil Rathbone. Except in this film, the roles are reversed. Here, the leading man, Wayne is the commander, and Ryan his second in command. However, in Dawn Patrol, the underling, Flynn is the leading man and co-star Rathbone his commander.
on December 3, 2016
loved it. This is a basic war pic that is a "staple to me". I am a veteran and when I am feeling nostalgic I watch this.
on December 31, 2013
My Father-in-Law was a supply Sgt in the Wildcats in WWII and I went to one of their reunions in 1972 in St Paul MN. They were very proud men and very loyal. I know they were very proud of this movie. Some of the footage in the movie was original from the war used in the green screen background. Also, it is important to preserve the culture of the time, which this movie does a good job from 1951. My son did not know his grandfather, but this is a way for him to know what he did in a small way. My own father was too old to be in combat so he had to be a guard at Santa Anita racetrack guarding imprisoned American Japanese. My father was not very proud of what he had to do. They will never make a movie about what he had to do other than the shame of it.
on June 21, 2017
Classic John Wayne,with a lot of action.Very satisfied.
on July 16, 2017
John Wayne is too conceited to be entertaining.
on August 13, 2017
Great old John Wayne movie, highly recommend this for the old war movie watcher.
on January 9, 2017
This movie is one of the reasons I became a Marine
on April 25, 2017
It's One More Good John Wayne Movie of the MARINE Flying Leather Necks of W.W. II !!!!
