''Guadalcanal Diary'' is a 1943

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

war film directed by

Lewis Seiler Lewis Seiler (September 30, 1890 – January 8, 1964) was an American film director. He directed more than 80 films between 1923 and 1958. Seiler was born in New York City and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography *''A Bankru ...

, featuring

Preston Foster Preston Stratton Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970), was an American actor of stage, film, radio, and television, whose career spanned nearly four decades. He also had a career as a vocalist. Early life Born in Ocean City, New Jersey ...

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. B ...

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

and the film debut of

Richard Jaeckel Richard Hanley Jaeckel (October 10, 1926 – June 14, 1997) was an American actor of film and television. Jaeckel became a well-known character actor in his career, which spanned six decades. He received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominatio ...

. It is based on the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

of the same name by Richard Tregaskis. The film recounts the fight of the

United States Marines 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 ...

in the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

, which occurred only a year before the movie's release. While the film has notable battle scenes, its primary focus is on the characters and back stories of the Marines. The movie was produced by

Bryan Foy Bryan Foy (December 8, 1896 – April 20, 1977) was an American film producer and director. He produced more than 200 films between 1924 and 1963. He also directed 41 films between 1923 and 1934. He headed the B picture unit at Warner Bro ...

, who also produced ''

Berlin Correspondent ''Berlin Correspondent'' is a 1942 American film. Plot Dana Andrews portrays an American radio correspondent reporting from within Nazi Germany, whose principal source of information is an elderly philatelist. His reports prove so embarrassing ...

'' (1942), ''

Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas ''Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas'' is a war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The film was originally titled ''The Seventh Column''. It was directed by Louis King and i ...

'' (1943), and '' PT 109'' (1963).

Plot summary

On July 26, 1942, the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is th ...

is sailing towards Guadalcanal. On August 7, the Marines land on Guadalcanal with no initial opposition. They find an abandoned village and capture an airfield, which the Americans work to complete, and rename it Henderson Field. Based on a tip from a Japanese deserter, the Marines leave by boat for the village of Matanikau, where there are supposedly a large number of Japanese troops who want to surrender. On the way, one boat is destroyed by a Japanese submarine before it is sunk by onshore Marine artillery. The Marines walk into a trap, and only Private Soose Alvarez survives to make it back to American lines. The Marines then march on Matanikau in force and on the way, Private "Chicken" Anderson is wounded by a Japanese officer, who pretended to be dead. The Marines enjoy mail call but suffer Japanese air force bombing raids. Army troops land to support the Marines. They launch a campaign to root Japanese troops out of a series of caves and try to listen to the results of Game Two of the

1942 World Series The 1942 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning the Series in five games for their first championship since and their fourth overall. The 1942 Cardinals set a f ...

, but static unfortunately prevents them from hearing the final score. The Marines are both shelled by the Japanese navy and bombed by their air force. A force of Marine fighter planes land on the island. All the marines write letters home. They launch an attack on the Japanese during which Alvarez is killed. The Marines are relieved and evacuated from the island.

Cast

as Father Donnelly *

as Gunnery Sergeant "Hook" Malone *

as Corporal Aloysius T. "Taxi" Potts *

as Captain Don Davis *

as Private Jesus "Soose" Alvarez *

as Private Johnny "Chicken" Anderson * Roy Roberts as Captain James Cross * Minor Watson as Colonel Wallace E. Grayson *

Ralph Byrd Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909 – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. Early life and career The son of George and Edna ...

as Ned Rowman *

Lionel Stander Lionel Jay Stander (January 11, 1908 – November 30, 1994) was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television. He is best remembered for his role as majordomo Max on the 1980s mystery television series '' Hart to Hart''. Early ...

as Sergeant Butch *

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...

as War Correspondent / The Narrator * John Archer as Lieutenant Thurmond *

Eddie Acuff Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...

as Private "Tex" Mcllovy (uncredited) * Bob Rose as Private Sammy Kline (uncredited)

Production notes

''Guadalcanal Diary'' was shot from May 14 to late July, 1943, mostly on location 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 O ...

, near Oceanside, California. Many of the Marines stationed there were filmed on maneuvers, and others appeared in the picture in small speaking parts or as extras. The picture marked the screen debuts of stage actor Robert Rose and Richard Jaeckel, who was a studio messenger boy when he was cast in the production. On February 28, 1944, Foster, Bendix, Nolan and Jaeckel reprised their roles for the Lux Radio Theatre presentation of ''Guadalcanal Diary''.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the film "stirring and inspiring in many ways" and particularly praised the first part of the film as "almost documentarily real" but also criticized historical inaccuracies in the film's presentation of the battle as well as "comparatively routine" fighting scenes. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "It is at times a sobering film and at other times an exalting one. It is also an almost continuously entertaining one." '' Harrison's Reports'' wrote, "Excellent! ... The producers rate a salute for having treated their subject with the honesty and dignity it deserves." However, David Lardner of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote a negative review, criticizing the film for containing "every cliché known to man" and for the Marines being depicted as having "altogether too soft a time ... None of the mood of just sitting and taking it until you don't remember where you are any more or how you got there is put across on the screen."

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guadalcanal Diary (Film) 1943 films 1940s war drama films American war drama films American black-and-white films Pacific War films World War II films made in wartime Films set in the Solomon Islands 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Lewis Seiler Films scored by David Buttolph Films with screenplays by Lamar Trotti Guadalcanal Campaign Films about the United States Marine Corps 1943 drama films 1940s English-language films