Einer macht nicht mit

Why is it Jack Webb gets no respect as a director? This film puts to death the myth that Webb was a one-trick ("Dragnet") pony. Marines then and now call "The D.I." the most accurate portrayal of boot camp training ever put on celluloid. It's also a marvelous character study, with gripping performances by both Webb and Don Dubbins. What makes it even more amazing is:

1) Only three of the men in this film were professional actors; Webb, Dubbins and Lin McCarthy, and Dubbins had been a Marine. All the others were actual Marines, and Webb elicted memorable performances from most of them.

2) It was shot in a breathtaking 23 days in March of 1957.

3) To make the summer release date requested by Warner Bros., Webb edited as he shot. By the time principal photography wrapped, he had two reels cut and scored.

Yet, Webb is laughed at as an actor, and dismissed as a director? See this film and ask yourself, WHY???

FACTOID: The film was based on a KRAFT TELEVISION THEATER presentation called "Murder of a Sand Flea." Lin McCarthy played the same role in both productions.

I had the good fortune to be at Perris Island in the fall of 1959. The DI showed one evening at the outdoor theater directly in front of our barracks, Plt 162, B Co, 1st Bn, 1st ITR.

Although we hadn't been there long enough to even think about seeing a movie, we could hear those that were laughing. It's one of the many indelible memories of my thirteen weeks at PI.

At some later date, I got to actually see it in a theater. I'm still convinced that, to date, it remains the most realistic portrayal of the experience in the late 1950's ever done. No one has done it better than Jack Webb...

I am a Sergeant in the US Army who has had ten years experience on active duty and six years in the National Guard, I also served in Operation Desert Storm. I think I am in a better position to review this film then many others have done. Jack Webb always wanted realism in his films and television shows. He made The DI between the Dragnet series that he did and it is an excellent film that has not aged at all. It is as tough-hitting and realistic as ever. Maybe Jack isn't as good as Louis Gosset or Lee Ermey was in his portrayal of a Marine drill instructor, but he is damn close I can tell you! Maybe people think that drill sergeants are so mean, but I can tell you from my experience that they HAVE to be that way! You don't train young Marines or soldiers effectively by being kind. You have to get in their face and let them know that its all business. You tear them down and build them up all over again. That is the purpose of military training that they show in this film. The year before this film was made, on April 8, 1956 as a matter of fact, a Marine drill instructor marched his platoon into Ribbon Creek swamp at Parris Island as punishment. There was an unexpected storm and tidal wave and six Marines drowned as a result. This black mark on The Marine Corps resulted in a very negative thing. They have made military training far TOO easy as a result. Did you know that today drill sergeants are not even allowed to swear at privates when they do something dumb! They are not allowed to touch them and its like they have made basic training like a girl scout summer camp! I hated Private Owens because he reminded me of a lot of soldiers I have known in my career that were just babies who had been passed thru training and would have been killed on day 1 in combat!

Jack Webb does a big career departure--playing a tough as nails drill instructor in the US Marine Corps. While he does a very credible job in this role, I just marveled because I kept thinking of his as his more familiar character, Joe Friday! Webb is having two difficulties in the film. The most obvious is a cadet named Owens (Don Dubbins--who frequently guest starred on "Dragnet")--who seems emotionally unfit and unlikely to make it out of boot camp. His other problem is struggling with being a human being. His tough as nails approach to life is a serious drawback when it comes to real relationships--and he treats women almost like recruits! Why Annie (his real-life wife, Jackie Loughery) likes him is beyond me--perhaps she likes a fixer-upper--and this sergeant needs a lot of work.

The film apparently is very accurate about boot camp and D.I.s--though I have no direct experience to know if this is or isn't the case. I do know, however, that it IS entertaining. And, the story of Private Owens is compelling--especially when his mother (Virginia Gregg--a VERY familiar actress in Jack Webb's productions) comes to visit--and is probably the best part of the film. Well worth watching.

By the way, if you ever get a chance, there's an interesting biography about Jack Webb. You learn that, in some ways, Webb was a lot like the guy in this film as well as Sgt. Friday from "Dragnet"--a guy who struggled to be able to relate to people and seemed very ill at ease with feelings. Kind of sad...though a terrific actor/producer/director.

I was a Marine at Camp Pendleton when the D.I. came out (1st Marine Division, 11th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion, I-Battery). I still remember standing in line with a bunch of other Marines to see the movie at the "Star" theater in Oceanside, California.

We did not remotely expect the movie to portray everything we experienced in boot camp but we were all pleasantly surprised at how well done the movie was. The idea of using real Marines in the movie was a great idea (I believe they were all real Drill Instructors too). As good an actor as Jack Webb was, he just couldn't "call cadence" like a real Marine Drill Instructor.

All of us got a laugh when the "problem" recruit's mother came to boot camp to talk to the Captain. Never in a million years would this have happened, but that's Hollywood, and we didn't let that episode keep us from enjoying the movie.

I went through boot camp at MCRD in San Diego during the summer of 1956, and at that time there was virtually no limits as to what the D.I.'s could do to you. The "Ribbon Creek" event at Parris Island had not yet affected boot camp, at least not at MCRD - San Diego.

I agree with what a lot of the other reviewers have commented on concerning Sgt. Moore's "stiffness" around his girl friend. I believe this was just Webb's acting style, and although they could have deleted this part of the movie, it didn't really hurt the production that much.

One minor note, the character (uncredited) of "Pvt. Rodriguez" was played by one of my Drill Instructors, Sgt. Peter J. O'Neill. Sgt. O'Neill used to tell us that some day he wanted to be an actor. We secretly laughed at this, but he surprised us all. He was a great Drill Instructor, and I thought he did well in his bit part. Also, he really did enjoy throwing knives. He often demonstrated his skill to us that summer in boot camp. I have often wondered if he is still alive.