''To the Shores of Hell'' is a

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

film shot in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

and

Techniscope Techniscope or 2-perf is a 35 mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1960. The Techniscope format uses a two film-perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame usu ...

that was directed by

Will Zens Frederick Willard Zens (June 26, 1920 – March 27, 2013) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter and soundtrack composer who worked on mainly low budget films from the 1960s through the 1980s. Biography and filmography Following se ...

and starring

Marshall Thompson James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor. Early years Thompson was born in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was a ...

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company me ...

and

Robert Dornan The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

that was distributed by

Crown International Pictures Crown International Pictures (CIP) was an independent film studio and distribution company formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs. History Jacobs was a branch head of RKO Pictures until 1947, when he formed Favorite Films, an organization which relea ...

. Dornan may possibly have co-written the film as his mother's maiden name was "McFadden".

Plot

After observing war game manoeuvers as a referee,

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Greg Donahue is posted to

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

for his second tour of duty. He hears that his physician brother Gary (

) has been seen alive in the area after being captured by the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. Donahue is accompanied by a Marine Sergeant (Bill Bierd), an American Priest (Richard

Jordahl Jordahl is a Norwegian family name that could refer to: *Asbjørn Jordahl, a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party *Anders Jordahl, developer of the C-shaped rail, the first anchor channel * Russell N. Jordahl, Brigadier general in the Marine C ...

) who was formerly an Army chaplain in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and a Vietnamese guide (Jeff Pearl) to free his brother.

Production

Master Sergeant William V. Bierd was a Marine veteran of World War II, China, Korea, and Vietnam. Besides playing Sgt Gabreski, Bierd was an uncredited

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director on the convincing portrayal of a subject. The advisor's expertise adds realism both to the acting and to the setting of a movie. Nipo T. Strongheart Nipo T. Stronghear ...

on the film as well as a technical advisor on Marine Corps uniforms to ''

Gomer Pyle USMC ''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''The show (and CBS) renders the title as ''Gomer Pyle – USMC''. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of ''The Andy Griffith Show ...

''. The US Marine Corps allowed Zens to film

amphibious landing Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

exercises at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

that appeared at the start of the film.p.248 Suid, Laurence H. & Haverstick, Dolores A. ''Stars and Stripes On Screen'' 2005 Scarecrow Press A Marine Corps HUS-1

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

was provided for the climax. Toward the end of the movie, a radio operator said, "Loud and Clear, Miss Muffet, hold one", played by Gregory S. Morrison, a Marine Corps Private Second Class, from Camp Pendleton. When the movie played at the Northgate movie theater, adjacent to Texas A&M University, the marquee read "To the Shores of Hell - STARRING Gregory S. Morrison".

Cast

as Maj. Greg Donahue *

as Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate *

as Dr. Gary Donahue * Bill Bierd as Gunnery Sgt. Bill Gabreski * Richard Jordahl as Father Jack Bourget * Kiva Lawrence as Mary * Freeman Lusk as Capt. Lusk *

as Maj. Fred Howard * Jeff Pearl as Mick Phin * Marvin Yim as Maj. Toang

References

External links

* Vietnam War films 1966 films Crown International Pictures films Films about the United States Marine Corps Films set in Da Nang {{war-film-stub