Tripolis

In 1805 a small group of American Marines are assigned a dangerous mission against the rulers of Tripoli whose pirates have been plundering ships entering the Mediterranean.

Maureen O'Hara is feisty as always as the "Countess D'Arneau". She is the love interest/advisor to the refugee Pasha of Tripoli (Phillip Reed) whom the US government wants to see returned to his throne so the Tripolitan pirates will stop harassing US merchantmen. The underrated John Payne plays "O'Bannion" who leads a small group on a mission - it's an action-packed, colourful adventure with intelligent dialogue, love rivalry, struggles (sandstorm sequence, for example), subterfuge and romance. Payne's character can be a bit up himself, arrogant, but he's hero so he gets the leading lady. There's not much naval action, it's mainly set on land - the climax is quite exciting.

This isn't an half bad little action adventure film with Maureen O'Hara on feisty form as the "Countess D'Arneau". She is the love interest/advisor to the refugee Pasha of Tripoli (Phillip Reed) whom the US government wants to see returned to his throne so the Tripolitan pirates will stop harassing US merchantmen. To that end, they send a small troop led by "O'Bannion" (John Payne) and what ensues is quite an action-packed yarn with plenty of subterfuge, a bit of lively love rivalry (on and off camera, apparently) before quite a an exciting conclusion. There is just the slightest hint of historical fact to the story, but historians need not reach for their red pencils - this is just colourful, well made escapism that works well on a wet Saturday afternoon.

In 1805 a force of U.S. Marines is sent to North Africa to put a stop to a collection of seagoing bandits known as the Barbary Pirates, who were preying on American and other nations' merchant vessels. John Payne is the officer in charge of the expeditionary force, Maureen O'Hara a French countess and Howard Da Silva a Greek mercenary hired to help the Marines find and destroy the pirates. This is an enjoyable little actioner, a little ragged around the edges, but its vigorous action scenes and good performances more than make up for it. Payne has always been an underrated actor, and it took several dark, gritty little thrillers with director Phil Karlson in the mid-'50s to show people what he was capable of. O'Hara, aka the Queen of Technicolor, was married to director Will Price at the time, which explains why he got to direct this. He only directed two other films, neither of them particularly good--in fact, one of them, "Rock, Rock, Rock" from 1957, was downright awful--and his direction here is workmanlike (action scenes are almost always shot by second-unit directors). It's still an enjoyable little actioner, though; the Technicolor photography is good, and unlike many films of its type it doesn't come to a dead stop between action scenes (well, for the most part). If it ever comes out on video or DVD, check it out. You could do a lot worse.

Anyone who's wondered about the places named in the lyrics of the Marine Corps hymn, would find part of the answer in this film. "Tripoli" of 1950 provides the answer to the last half of the opening line, "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli." This film tells the story of the first battle of the U. S. Marines, which took place in April 1805 in what is now Libya, North Africa. The U. S. refused to pay passage fees in the Mediterranean and its commercial ships were attacked by corsairs of various Ottoman city-states along the Barbary Coast. So, Pres. Thomas Jefferson authorized naval and military actions to break the pirating centers. Tripoli, in present-day Libya, had the biggest fleet of pirates. But before confronting it, a plan was carried out to stop neighboring port cities from coming to Tripoli's aid. Thus, the Battle of Derna in April 1805.

This battle was also the first military overseas land action by the fledgling U. S. nation that was formed less than 30 years before. The general story is here, but there is considerable background that those interested in history, especially, would enjoy reading about. The Encyclopedia Britannica has a couple of very good articles.

As for this film, it is a mixture of cast and characters both real and fictional. John Payne plays Marine Lt. Presley O'Bannon. In the movie he is in charge of the land force. In real life, he was second in command. The movie has a fictional Navy Lt. Pitt in second command. In real life it was former Army Lt. William Eaton, now American consul to the Barbary States, who commanded the land forces. In this movie, Eaten is a general, played by Herbert Heyes. His mission was to coordinate with commodore Barron for a two-pronged assault on Derna - from land and sea. He would lead the land party.

The Hollywood of Great Britain must have thought the film wouldn't go over as well without a female lead, and some light comedy. So, considerable fiction surrounds these with Maureen O'Hara as an Italian countess who is an intimate acquaintance and resident with the former pasha. And, Howard Da Silva plays a fictional Capt. Demetrios who bring his dozen and a half Greek fighters on board - for a price, of course.

Well, the film and the actual battle never got to within 500 miles of Tripoli. Eaton - Lt. O'Bannon in this film, led a small force overland more than 500 miles from Alexandria, Egypt, to attack Derna from the rear, while the Navy ships bombarded the city from the sea. The land force consisted of a squad of 10 Marines with O'Bannon, and the small force of former Tripoli Pasha, Hamet Karmanli. He had been deposed by his brother. The rest of the bulk of the land army were mercenaries hired by the Americans. But the operation was a success, and, the result also has some more interesting historical background. The land force took nearly two months to cross the Libyan desert from Alexandria, Egypt to their target.

It might seem a little odd to some that the Marine participation was just a handful of men. And, theirs was an overland cavalry march and assault; where the Marines traditionally and mostly have combat assaults from the sea. Well, the rest of the Marine Hymn is about the Halls of Montezuma, and that actually occurred later, in September of 1847 during the Mexican-American War. That was the Battle of Chapultepec, when a Marine force stormed the Castle and took it at a great cost of 90% casualties. The red stripe on the Marine Corps dress uniform is symbolic of that sacrifice. And, the reference to the Halls of Montezuma is poetic, because the castle was built by the Spanish more than two centuries after the defeat of the Aztec Montezuma.

When the lyrics for the Marine hymn developed, the order of the two battles was geographic in relation to distance from the U. S., rather than chronological. The musical score dates from 1867, but the lyrics, by an unknown author, were added later. The Marines' Hymn became the oldest official song in the U. S. Armed Forces in 1929.

This movie is enjoyable as a fictional portrayal of the first U. S. combat on foreign soil, and its place in the Marine Corps hymn. Here are some favorite lines from the film.

Capt. Demetrios, "At your service, general." Lt. O'Bannon, "Lieutenant." Demetrios, "I can't take orders from a lieutenant. I will call you colonel." O'Bannon, "Thanks for the promotion. This is Lt. Tripp. You can call him admiral."

Capt. Demetrios, "They tell me you need fighting men. Here we are." Lt. O'Bannon, "For a price, of course." Demetrios, "Naturally. Only women and boys fight for fun."

Lt. Tripp, "How many men do you have, captain?" Capt. Demetrios, "Sixteen." Tripp, "What nationality?" Demetrios, "Originally Greek. Since then, Egyptian, Phoenician, Arabian, Turkish, and now, American."

Sgt. Derek, buying stores for the long voyage, "Start with that Arab. I don't wanna have to buy the same herd more than twice."

Sgt. Derek, "Sir, his highness's compliments. He requests the pleasure of your company for chow." Lt. O'Bannon, "Kings have dinner, sergeant, not chow." Derek, "Yes, sir."

Lt. Tripp, "You're making a big mistake." Lt. O'Bannon, "That's the way to make 'em - BIG!"

Lt. Tripp, "You can't send her back there with those women. Whatever you think of her, she's a lady." Lt. O'Bannon, "I know, But they won't mind."

Lt. O'Bannon, "Tell Derek to double the guard." Lt. Tripp, "How do we do that - cut each man in half?" O'Bannon, "Why, Mr. Tripp, you made a joke. Happy to have you aboard, sir."

Lt. Tripp, "Maybe someday you'll tell me what's so funny about a war." Lt. O'Bannon, "Nothing! It's just the people in it."

This would not have been worth much seeing if it hadn't been for the expedition made from upper Egypt down to Libya with hardships and sandstorms and other frustrating complications along the way by Qattara (Remember "Ice Cold in Alex?" This was 140 years earlier.). This is the realistic part of the film, and it is the more interesting for taking place in 1805 - the war in question is that against Napoleon, which is never mentioned. Maureen O'Hara is a stranded countess courted by a local prince, John Payne runs into her by chance and gets trouble with her from the start, so it seems he just seeks her out to have someone to quarrel with. It's the usual story. Their quarrel and nagging goes on throughout the film until it's time for them to focus their interest on more important matters, like a navy which doesn't want to take orders from John Payne. The military battle in the end is just the usual tearing down the whole city stone by stone after first demolishing the interiors of every palace worth some sight-seeing. Howard de Silva saves the show as an intrepid Greek captain with a company of his own, and hardly anyone of the Americans would have survived without his contribution. It was the first time the American flag was planted outside the States and unfortunately not the last time. A silly story made as spectacular as possible and saved only by history and adventure, but the music throughout is excellent.