''Marines, Let's Go'' is a 1961

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sele ...

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 ...

film about three Marine buddies (

Tom Tryon Thomas Lester Tryon (January 14, 1926 – September 4, 1991) was an American actor and novelist. He is best known for playing the title role in the film ''The Cardinal'' (1963), featured roles in the war films '' The Longest Day'' (1962) and ''I ...

David Hedison Albert David Hedison Jr. (May 20, 1927 – July 18, 2019) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work until 1959 when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espion ...

and Tom Reese) on

shore leave Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is also known as "liberty" within the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the ...

in Japan and at war in Korea. It was produced and directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He w ...

, who also wrote the story. Walsh had previously had successes with films about the U.S. Marine Corps in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

('' What Price Glory?''), the 1920s (''

The Cock-Eyed World ''The Cock-Eyed World'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy feature film. One of the earliest "talkies", it was a sequel to '' What Price Glory?'' (1926), it was directed and written by Raoul Walsh and based on the Flagg and Quirt story b ...

'' and '' Sadie Thompson''), and

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 opposin ...

(''

Battle Cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

''). This was the next-to-last film of Walsh's long directing career.

Plot summary

Four privates romp their way through occupied Japan while on leave, finding a little romance and some laughs. After it's over they head to the front lines of the Korean War where brutality and death are constant.

Cast

as Pfc. Roth *

as Pfc. Chatfield *

Tom Reese Thomas Wilson Reese (29 September 1867 – 13 April 1949) was a New Zealand first-class cricketer who played for Canterbury from 1888 to 1918, and later wrote a two-volume history of New Zealand cricket. Life and career Reese was one of the fir ...

as Pfc. McCaffrey * Linda Hutchings as Grace * Barbara Stuart as Ina * David Brandon as Pvt. Newt Levels * Steve Baylor as Pvt. Chase * Peter Miller as Gunnery Sgt. Howard Hawkins * Rachel Romen as Mrs. Ellen Hawkins (as Adoree Evans) * Hideo Inamura as Pvt. Pete Kono * Vince Williams as Hank Dyer (war correspondent) * Fumiyo Fujimoto as Song Do (Chatfield's girl) * Heihachirô Ôkawa as Yoshida (hotel manager)

Production

Walsh filmed the movie on location in Japan with extras from the US Marine Corps, who were pulled off filming due to the possibility of their being sent to

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. The film was completed in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. The Marine

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 ...

of the film was Colonel Jacob G. Goldberg (1911–2008), who served 30 years in the Marine Corps.

Reception

When the White House was interested in

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

making a film on

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

's exploits as the commander of PT 109,

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...

sent a print of ''Marines, Let's Go'' to display Raoul Walsh's expertise for making the movie about Kennedy. The president hated the film,Suid, Lawrence H. ''Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy'', Naval Institute Press, 1996, p. 153 however, and Warner Bros. had to choose a new director for '' PT 109''.

References

External links