GUADALCANAL DIARY Movie Review

1943 Lewis Seiler

Despite changes in fashion and permissiveness, this adaptation of Richard Tregaskis's non-fiction best-seller retains its historical significance as one of Hollywood's first “realistic” World War II combat films. It is dated however, and its lapses are heightened by the less-sentimental approaches to the subject that have been made in more recent years. The film is also an intriguing counterpart to Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. Both are about the same engagement; both have a certain basis in fact, and they are flawed in opposite ways.

Writers Lamar Trotti and Jerome Cady and director Lewis Seiler follow Tregaskis's structure, opening on a troop ship “somewhere in the South Pacific” en route to an unknown destination which will turn out to be America's first land victory over the Japanese. An unnamed correspondent (Reed Hadley) appears briefly and then provides a deep brown voice-over narration. In the first scenes, the Marines are introduced, and the “melting-pot” aspect of the mix is hammered home when a Jew joins in the singing of “Rock of Ages” at a Sunday service led by a Catholic priest, Fr. Donnelly (Preston Foster). (One black character appears briefly and even has a line or two of dialogue. He is not listed in the credits.) Cpl. “Taxi” Potts (William Bendix) is the brash New Yorker. Johnny “Chicken” Anderson (Richard Jaeckel) is the beardless youth. Sgt. Hook Malone (Lloyd Nolan) is the tough, no-nonsense NCO. “Soose” Alvarez (Anthony Quinn) is the brash Latino and Butch (Lionel Stander) is the comic cook.

If they sound like cliches, they are. So is much of the dialogue. In one short scene, all of the following is heard: “Well, Sarge, it looks like this is it.” “Hit the deck!” “So far, so good.” “I hope it isn't a trap.” “The second wave's coming in!” “Oh, for the love of… .” “Hey, gimme a cigarette, will ya.” “Since when did you start smoking cigarettes?” “I'm starting right now.”

True, the cliches were younger then than they are now, and they are delivered without humor or facetiousness, and the cast handles them earnestly. Too earnestly, and that points toward the film's other problem. In this entire shipload of Marines, there's not a single impure thought, not even a cross word, much less any profanity. While it is also true that strong language was mostly forbidden in movies of the time, the emotions and fears that inspire cursing are also lacking. The only moment that comes close to that psychological understanding is a long and finally embarrassing “no atheists in foxholes” speech delivered by Taxi. So, while the physical action (filmed at Ft. Pendleton) may be a fair dramatization of what occurred on the island, the characters of the soldiers don't share that authenticity.

The action scenes lack the graphic blood squibs and destruction so commonplace in today's war films, but they're well paced, understandable, and exciting. Because of that, they have been copied and often embroidered upon. Such flattery is the final proof of the film's enduring popularity.

Cast: Preston Foster (Fr. Donnelly), Lloyd Nolan (Sgt. Hook Malone), William Bendix (Cpl. “Taxi” Potts), Richard Conte (Capt. Davis), Anthony Quinn (Jesus “Soose” Alvarez), Richard Jaeckel (Pvt. Johnny “Chicken” Anderson), Roy Roberts (Capt. James Cross), Minor Watson (Col. Grayson), Miles Mander (Weatherby), Ralph Byrd (Ned Rowman), Lionel Stander (Butch), Reed Hadley (War Correspondent/Narrator), John Archer (Lt. Thurmond), Eddie Acuff (Tex McIlvoy), Selmer Jackson (Col. Thompson), Paul Fung (Japanese prisoner); Written by: Lamar Trotti, Jerome Cady; Cinematography by: Charles Clarke; Music by: David Buttolph. Producer: Bryan Foy, 20th Century-Fox. Running Time: 93 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, LV.