Marines, Let's Go
Marines, Let's Go | |
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![]() Original film poster | |
Directed by | Raoul Walsh |
Written by | Raoul Walsh (story) John Twist |
Produced by | Raoul Walsh |
Starring | Tom Tryon David Hedison Tom Reese Linda Hutchings Barbara Stuart |
Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
Music by | Irving Gertz title song sung by Rex Allen |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,665,000[1] |
Marines, Let's Go is a 1961 CinemaScope DeLuxe Color Korean War film about three Marine buddies (Tom Tryon, David Hedison and Tom Reese) on shore leave in Japan and at war in Korea. It was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh, who also wrote the story. Walsh had previously had successes with films about the U.S. Marine Corps in World War I (What Price Glory?), the 1920s (The Cock-Eyed World and Sadie Thompson), and World War II (Battle Cry). 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[]
- Tom Tryon as Pfc. Roth
- David Hedison as Pfc. Chatfield
- 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.[2] The film was completed in Okinawa.
The Marine technical advisor of the film was Colonel Jacob G. Goldberg (1911–2008), who served 30 years in the Marine Corps.[3]
Reception[]
When the White House was interested in Warner Bros. making a film on John F. Kennedy's exploits as the commander of PT 109, Jack L. Warner 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,[4] however, and Warner Bros. had to choose a new director for PT 109.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989, p. 253. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
- ^ American Cinematographer, Volume 42 (1961), p. 473.
- ^ MarineChat.com
- ^ Suid, Lawrence H. Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy, Naval Institute Press, 1996, p. 153
External links[]
- Marines, Let's Go at IMDb
- Marines, Let's Go at AllMovie
- Marines, Let's Go at the TCM Movie Database
- Marines, Let's Go at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Howard Thompson, "'Marines, Let's Go!' Comes to Paramount" (review), The New York Times, August 16, 1961.
- Marines, Let's Go film clip on YouTube
- 1961 films
- English-language films
- American films
- 1960s English-language films
- Films about the United States Marine Corps
- Korean War films
- Films set in the 1950s
- 20th Century Fox films
- Films directed by Raoul Walsh
- Military humor in film
- Korean War stubs
- War film stubs