Pride of the Marines (1945)

Truly Dreadful Film

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Based on the real-life war exploits of American soldier Al Schmid, the 1945 Warner Brothers picture "Pride of the Marines" tells a very moving story of bravery and personal triumph. The film was a huge box office hit back when, and for good reason. In it, the great John Garfield plays Schmid, and the actor had spent a good deal of time with the wounded warrior in his preparations before filming began. The result: Garfield turns in a performance here that is an Oscar-worthy one.The film cleaves pretty evenly into four discrete sections. In the first, we see Schmid in his hometown of Philadelphia, rooming with a young married couple, Jim and Ella May Merchant (played, respectively, by John Ridgeley, Eddie Mars from "The Big Sleep," and Ann Doran, the child psychiatrist from "Them!"), and their young daughter, Loretta. Ella May is constantly trying to play matchmaker for Schmid, and one day has her friend Ruth Hartley come by for dinner. Al and Ruth do not exactly "meet cute" in this film; as a matter of fact, their first date is marked by bickering, wrangling, insults and general nastiness. But somehow, the two DO manage to take to each other, as Al begins to wear the beautiful young woman down. And as played by Eleanor Parker, 23 years old here, Ruth certainly is a beauty indeed. All seems to be going well until a radio broadcast announces the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a news flash that does not bother the Merchant household overly much; indeed, none of them even seem to know where Pearl Harbor is! But Al wastes little time in signing up for the Marines, shipping off just after he and Ruth declare their love for one another. "I bet it would be more fun shooting Japs than bear," Al declares before he leaves, and brother, does he ever get a chance to do so!In the film's second section, we see Al's harrowing experiences at Guadalcanal in 1942. He and two others, NYC Jew Lee Diamond (another convincing "everyman" portrayal by the great character actor Dane Clark) and Johnny Rivers (Anthony Caruso; Bela Oxmyx from the classic "Star Trek" episode "A Piece of the Action"), bravely defend their machine gun nest against hundreds of advancing Japanese, but Rivers is killed in the battle, Diamond is severely wounded, and Al...well, he seems to be doing well, killing no fewer than 200 (!) of the enemy, until a grenade that is exploded very close to his position results in his near-total blindness. In the third section, an understandably bitter and depressed Al is shown in the veterans hospital in San Diego, where he is assisted by a kindly rehab officer, Virginia Pfeiffer (Rosemary De Camp, from William Castle's "13 Ghosts"). Al decides to call it quits with Ruth, not wanting to be a burden on her. Finally, in the last section, Al returns home to Philly to be awarded the Navy Cross, and Ruth and the Merchants make a desperate attempt to make the despondent war vet feel loved and wanted."Pride of the Marines" was expertly helmed by director Delmer Daves, who had earlier worked on the WW2 film "Destination Tokyo" and would go on to direct such classics as "Dark Passage" (one of this viewer's personal faves), "Broken Arrow" and "3:10 to Yuma." He elicits wonderful performances from all his players and incorporates some startling elements into his film as well. He makes the jungle-fighting sequence truly nerve wracking and does a fine job with Schmid's surrealistic dream sequence (utilizing negative images). The film contains any number of very fine scenes, besides that trippy dream segment and the Guadalcanal carnage. In one, the wounded vets in San Diego talk about their fears of returning to civilian life and their doubts about ever landing a decent job, beating "The Best Years of Our Lives" to the punch by a good 15 months. In another, Ruth desperately tries to convince Al of her devotion, lying next to him beside a fallen Christmas tree. And then there is the final scene, in which Al receives his Navy Cross while Ruth watches; a very moving segment, indeed. But if there is any particular element of the film that most contributes to its success, it would have to be the exceptionally fine performances of both Garfield and Parker. Garfield had just starred with Parker the year before in "Between Two Worlds," and in the next four years would appear in a string of classic films, including "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Humoresque," "Body and Soul," "Gentleman's Agreement," "Force of Evil" and "We Were Strangers"; a truly remarkable streak. As for Eleanor, I had never watched her in a '40s film before (I believe 1950's "Caged" was the furthest back I'd ever seen this terrific actress), and was very happy to discover that she was both remarkably beautiful here ("Yeah, that's a nice face," Virginia declares of her photograph, and for me, that face would only grow more beautiful as Parker advanced into the 1950s) and more than capable of holding her own in dramatic scenes with the dynamic Garfield. Parker had only been a screen actress for three years at this point, but her talent is simply undeniable here; anyone could tell that this young actress would be "going places" soon enough....

Definitely at the top five of best John Garfield movies has to be Pride of the Marines. It's the true story of Marine private Al Schmid who at the cost of his own sight, while wounded held off a horde of storming Japanese on Guadalcanal. The story nicely segments in three parts, Al Schmid's home life where he's a simple working stiff who's just getting serious with a woman and who likes nothing better than his bowling night. Pearl Harbor is bombed and he's off to war as millions of others were.The second part is at Guadalcanal and we see part of the action where he's in an isolated machine gun nest, holding off Japanese troops. His action prevented Marine positions from being overrun, but a grenade does in his eyesight.And of course the third part is his painful adjustment to civilian life and to reassure himself that people aren't just caring for him out of pity, most of all that girl he was seeing Eleanor Parker.This film was broadcast on TCM on John Garfield's 95th birthday and there was a documentary on Garfield hosted by his daughter. One of the people interviewed said that Garfield was the actor most believable in working class roles in having and holding a union card. In that respect he was lucky in that he did land with Warner Brothers in Hollywood. Though he kept getting typecast in gangster roles in the tradition of that studio, Garfield was terrific in these parts because of his background, because he came from the kind of life Al Schmid had, with the exception of Garfield's Jewish background.In that respect he was perfect to play the part of a working class hero like Al Schmid who accepted the responsibility of defending his country. No super heroics here, just a guy who'd rather have been back in Philadelphia, but doing a job that had to be done.It's a great part for Garfield. It's a film one shouldn't miss. I do wonder though whatever happened to the real Al Schmid.

Being from the Philadelphia suburbs and extremely interested in local history, this film provides an excellent vintage view of Philadelphia in the 1940s. There are scenes of downtown, a train station that no longer exists, 30th Street Station--which still does exist, as well as scenes from the Northeast part of the city. Good shots of the old row-homes as they appeared then. The movie gets a bit "chatty" at times - causing the viewer to briefly lose interest...but the overall storyline is solid and very moving. Anyone who enjoyed this movie should also try to see the film "Bright Victory", also with local footage of the Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, PA - and scenes from downtown Phoenixville. The Army Hospital has since become a college campus. Neither of these films are out on any format and I can't imagine why. I have them both on VHS from home recording, as shown on TCM in recent years. I highly recommend them to any other history buffs out there from my area!

A very good wartime movie showing the effects of war on a hometown boy who looses his eyesight on Guadalcanal and must come home and re-adjust himself with the help of family and friends. An excellent cast of actor's helps make this movie very entertaining. Eleanor Parker's role as the girlfriend was worthy of an Oscar nomination. She has such an innocence to her in this movie. Ann Doran role was equally satisfying as was all of her small supporting roles. I especially like the hometown aura of pre-war Phildelphia. The hunting scene is very good. Of course the war scene on Guadalcanal truly showed the horror faced by our soldiers during this epic battle. A well deserving film and one that should not be forgotten