The Leathernecks Have Landed

A wonderful movie from a historical perspective. Not all old movies could be called classics from the plotline/dramatic perspective. The Leathernecks Have Landed will never be considered a classic.

What it is; - is a record of attitudes and viewpoints of America between the World Wars of the last century. It shows to that time period's sensibilities and the colonial arrogance of gunboat diplomacy as European and outside powers dominated the remnants of the ancient Chinese Empire.

It displays somewhat ambivalently without judgement to the contest between the old order, the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communists with the interference from the outside nations. It shows the culture of the seaport Shanghai.

It is worth seeing this movie as a record of what the American world view was in 1936. Sometimes a movie like this reminds us to the full measure of just how far politically we have come in this modern world, and to those moments that we have not.

The Leathernecks Have Landed has Lew Ayres, Jimmy Ellison, and Maynard Holmes as three hell raising US Marines who have been ordered with their outfit to China duty. Once there destiny takes a hand with each one of them.

Ayres is the leader in the hellraising, Ellison people are eying for a commission if he can keep out of trouble, and Holmes is their good natured roly poly pal. After a final warning to Ayres about all his carousing, Ayres gets himself involved in a barroom brawl with J. Carrol Naish and Holmes takes a bullet for him.

That gets Ayres drummed out of the corps and stuck in China. He settles things with Naish, but then gets himself involved in the racket that Naish was involved, gun-running to bandits. From there you have to see the film for yourself.

Real life pacifist Lew Ayres scores nicely as a devil may care marine who does redeem himself in the end, did you really think he wouldn't? There's also a nice part for Isabell Jewell as the slang talking dame from Brooklyn stuck in Shanghai. We never get the full details about how Jewell got to Shanghai, but I'm sure it would make an interesting movie unto itself. I'm guessing Veda Ann Borg wasn't available for a typical Veda Ann Borg part.

Nothing terribly special here, decent action film from Republic which apparently hadn't decided quite yet that westerns were to be their bread and butter.

The basic plot of this film was one that Republic Pictures would dust off and use every year or so. The action in this one trotted all over the globe, but the underlying story was that of three buddies, and the leader was hot-headed or irresponsible or devil-may-care but some action he took would indirectly or accidentally cause the death of one of his friends. He would then straighten up and fly right and go about the task of bringing to justice the culprits who killed his buddy. Republic used this basic plot in "Storm Over Bengal", "Guns in the Dark", "Rough Riders Roundup", "Remember Pearl Harbor", and "Twilight on the Rio Grande". Lippert and Ron Ormond stole the "Guns in the Dark" version intact and remade it in 1950 as "Colorado Ranger." That one had James/Jimmy Ellison as the lead, while Ellison was the killed-buddy in "The Leathernecks Have Landed."

During the Korean War/Conflict/Police Action Republic re-issued "The Leathernecks Have Landed", "Join the Marines" and "Come On" Leathernecks" as a triple feature booking, and used fighting scenes from "Sands of Iwo Jima" as background for the re-issue posters that had all three titles on the same poster.