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While the story line is only so-so, the list of stars is quite impressive. The really special part of this movie is the exposure that the Marines in San Diego had to so many of the stars of the day. My father's unit (he was a DI) was used to film the movie. When you see Randolph Scott drilling his men, the close-ups are of Mr. Scott - the far off shots are of my father. My father also appears as an extra in other shots - the most noticeable being the scene where the men are all sitting in the bleachers. The really memorable aspect (and hopefully not TOO sentimental) of all this centers around the fact that this is the only record I have of my father in a "moving picture" (He died in 1952 when I was 3 years old, and the only pictures I have of him are still shots).

Additionally, I fondly remember a large autographed picture by Randolph Scott inscribed to my father and the men in the unit - sitting in front of the men are Mr. Scott and my father, both wearing their round DI hats. This picture was also very special to all of us children. Therefore, this movie, while never going down as one of the great ones, will always have a very special place in my heart. It also gives me a better appreciation of movie "extras" and makes me wonder, "who are they and whatever happened to them"!

To the Shores of Tripoli is the kind of movie that I generally don't care for. The title may conjure images of Marines fighting and dying on some foreign shore, but you won't find that here. Instead you'll find a flag-waving recruitment film that makes Marine basic training look like a trip to summer camp. The movie makes it seem that the entire eight week training is made up of little more than marching and doing drills in a parking lot. And when these guys aren't in the parking lot, they're pulling pranks and wooing nurses they've been told to leave alone. Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates has more in the way of military realism than To the Shores of Tripoli.

Yet despite all its shortcomings, forced patriotism, and light as air plot, I enjoyed To the Shores of Tripoli. I was somehow able to put my brain on hold and go along for the ride. It's harmless, good-natured fun. Most of my enjoyment probably comes from the three main leads. John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, and Randolph Scott do a solid job with what they're given to work with. Much of the comedy works, particularly the hospital scene where Payne fakes an injury to be near O'Hara. And, To the Shores of Tripoli has an innocence to it that you don't find in movies anymore that I find appealing.

Stepping into the hero/heel part that Tyrone Power specialized in while at 20th Century Fox is John Payne as the spoiled kid of a former Marine officer, Minor Watson. Payne's hoping to get out of the Marines for a nice desk job in Washington, DC, but Watson's hoping that his former sergeant Randolph Scott, now a drill instructor will give Payne the necessary attitude adjustment.

Payne's getting an attitude adjustment in another direction too. He's fallen for pretty nurse Maureen O'Hara even though he's got Washington society girl Nancy Kelly pulling strings for him.

The part is such a perfect one for Tyrone Power that I'm sure it was offered to him and rejected and given to Payne who was hired by Darryl Zanuck because of his resemblance to Power and the fact he could sing opposite Alice Faye and Betty Grable. Power did similar roles in A Yank in the Raf and Crash Dive and in fact did serve in the Marines in the South Pacific after 1943.

The film was shot on location at the San Diego Marine training station and I visited San Diego a few years back and some of it looks pretty much the same. Harry Morgan made his feature film debut and if you look close you'll see that another one of the Marine recruits is the Skipper himself, Alan Hale, Jr.

To the Shores of Tripoli is badly dated and doesn't play real well against today's attitudes. Still it's a great example of a World War II propaganda piece.

I agree with the evaluation of bsmith5552 that it is a disappointing flagwaver, and essentially a U.S.Marine recruitment film. But it has its own place in history. I have just been refreshed as to that place in history by watching again the film version of Leon Uris's first (and maybe best) novel, Battle Cry. Uris dramatized his own experience as a young marine, first training in the States, then in Wellington and elsewhere in New Zealand and finally fighting in the islands of the Pacific He has a fascinating picture of what it was like for young Americans to find themselves in a strange and previously unheard of land like New Zealand. I was a Kiwi teenager in Wellington at that time and can vouch for the accuracy of Uris' depiction of the impact of the descent of thousands of young marines on our city and of their interaction with the locals. To the Shores of Tripoli screened in Wellington in 1942, not long after Pearl Harbor, in the time the newly formed Marine Divisions were there preparing for their involvement in the war in the South Pacific. Through that film we saw on our screens the training only months earlier of the men who were now in our midst. Bsmith5552 speaks of the repetitive sequences of close order drill. I watched the marine band perform those intricate marching exercises in colour film in a local cinema ("picture theatre" in our brand of English). This was the same week I saw them do it live in Wellington. I was transfixed as I saw utterly committed young marines rise and stand to attention in their places in the cinema as the Marines Hymn came through on the film's sound track. I was not simply present at a piece of entertainment. I was watching live drama. To the Shores of Tripoli may not have been a great movie. But in the South Pacific in 1942, when we (maybe unlike today's Iraquis) welcomed the Marines as life savers, preserving us from a Japanese invasion, it had its place in the drama of that time. I viewed it sixty years ago with great interest. I would like the little niche it has in cinema history to be remembered.

The plot of "To the Shores of Tripoli" is very, very similar to the very popular "Buck Privates" starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. But, unlike this film from the year before, "To the Shores of Tripoli" is not meant to be a comedy. Like the earlier film, this one starts with an obnoxious and self-assured brat of a man (John Payne) walking into the Marine base--assuming because of his connections that he will be accorded special privileges. But, like the other film, his father goes behind his back and insists that his son needs character building and NO exceptions or special favors should be granted to him. And, like "Buck Privates", the brat manages to make a nuisance of himself until, ultimately, he finds redemption. In the interim, he relentlessly chases a pretty nurse (Maureen O'Hara), tangles repeatedly with his Sergeant and makes a few friends--then alienates them with his boorish attitude.

Overall, the film looks great. It's filmed in full color--the sort of intense 1940s color that doesn't quite look real, but is better in some ways than real life! The acting is excellent (with Payne, O'Hara and Randolph Scott) and there is a nice group of actors who play the recruits such as Harry Morgan (in his first film), "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom and William Tracy (famous for his Sergeant Doubleday films with Hal Roach). As for the story, it's very predictable and formulaic throughout, but it's well-made formula! Mindless but very enjoyable wartime propaganda that must have done a lot to bolster the public behind the war effort.

Darryl Zanuck personally signed his name to this seminal, jaw-droppingly glamourous war movie full as leading lady Maureen O'Hara put it, of "unfurling flags, marching men, and martial music" and "credited with more new enlistments in the United States Marine Corps than any other promotional campaign that year". Shot at San Diego Marine Base, it also represents a key moment in film history as Miss O'Hara's first Technicolor production, for which she'd been becomingly transformed into a brunette.

While it was in production (SPOILER COMING:) Pearl Harbor was bombed (a moment when according to the movies every single American simultaneously had their radios on when the news first hit the airwaves); cue the outrageous super-patriotic climax when John Payne finally puts his love-life on hold the better to head for the Pacific.

Hirohito and Tojo probably never saw it; but Dr Goebbels probably needed oxygen after seeing this one!

I was really excited to see To the Shores of Tripoli. John Payne in a uniform, Randolph Scott as the hard-as-nails sergeant, and Maureen O'Hara in the middle of a love triangle-what could go wrong? Well, only part of my assumptions going in proved to be correct. To make sure he wouldn't be in contention to get the girl, they grayed up Randy's hair. Still, he's infinitely nicer, more responsible, and has more in common with Maureen, so why would a little gray hair get between them? It doesn't make any sense why she doesn't look twice at him, or why he isn't given his own love interest.

John Payne, although incredibly handsome, plays a first-class jerk in this movie. He's mean, manipulative, and doesn't have any respect for the Marines, Maureen, or her status as a lieutenant in the nurses' division. For example, in order to spend time with her, he pretends to get hit by a car-by slamming his hand down on the car and then falling to the ground-so he can spend all night in the hospital. He's incredibly selfish, and didn't care that he would worry and traumatize the driver, or that he was shirking his military duty, or that he was using valuable resources that could have been used on a truly wounded man. I didn't think his gesture was romantic, and I wasn't rooting for him.

I didn't really like this movie, and the next time I'm in the mood to see John and Maureen together, I'll pop in Sentimental Journey. Still, it wasn't an entire loss. Randy looked really good with gray hair, a uniform, and a stern expression.

I never heard of this movie until I saw it on FMC. As a former Marine I thought it stellar, though I'd never consider it a "war flick". Like the synopses says, it's about a cocky recruit and a hard core sergeant that knew his dad in WWI trying to turn him around.

I'm amazed at the poor ratings here, there isn't much action, which may explain the 5.8 vote here, but the all star cast gives a knock down performance.

The best part of this is a remembrance when Hollywood would line up for the military's help in making a movie with it shot at MCRD San Diego.

This movie isn't about rouge officers, or sadistic NCO, it's not about military cover-ups, it's a great American movie about average people serving their country.

Handsome playboy John Payne (as Chris Winters) is sent to join the Marines, by his well-connected father, a World War I buddy of drill Sergeant Randolph Scott (as Dixie Smith). While easily training in sunny San Diego, Mr. Payne is attracted to beautiful dark-haired nurse Maureen O'Hara (as Mary Carter). At first she is turned off by his wolfish behavior, but Ms. O'Hara falls in love, too - especially as Payne does his patriotic duty after the Japanese attack US forces at Pearl Harbor. They are an attractive couple.

"To the Shores of Tripoli" might imply some warfare, but it's apparently used only as the Marines' theme song.

The story covers recruitment and training, implicitly encouraging the contemporary viewer to join the war effort. This is a formula film elevated by sweet Technicolor scenery, a deft lead performance by Payne, and a strong supporting cast. Young-looking William Tracy (as Johnny Dent) gets the funniest lines. Young Harry Morgan and Alan Hale Jr. also appear. And, "Marcus Welby, M.D." nurse Elena ("Consuelo") Verdugo dances. Max Rosenbloom probably had his scenes cut, considering his introduction.

****** To the Shores of Tripoli (3/11/42) Bruce Humberstone ~ John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, Randolph Scott, William Tracy

Warlike patriotic movie in the guise of drama, in which a smarmy playboy, : John Payne, goes into a Boot Camp, but he comes across a tough and strict Sergeant : Randolph Scott, who results to be his father's old friend. The handsome playboy is transformed into a Marine in boot camp thanks the rigid Sergeant. Along the way he falls in love for the Nurses Chief : delicious Maureen O'Hara in this story of life in a Marine training camp, previous Pearl Harbor bombing by Japanese. Here a Sergeant takes bath after bath of recruits through training and we are meant to feel his frustration seeing his sometimes harsh approach to the men, while fully appreciating that he is the man for the job.

It is set on location in San Diego Marines base , California, and it is dedicated to the brave Marines Corps who were trapped and besieged by Japanese army in the island of Wake, Pacific Ocean Compared to the likes of "Full Metal Jacket" with Lee R. Ermey as a two-fisted sergeant , it is all rather mild, and there is never any questioning of the righteousness of America's fighting men as a force for good. Providing a lot of patriotism and liberal sympathies extending to make the military service a total pride, and especially at its final full of military parades and jingoist songs. Film title is not to be confused with Tripoli 1951 a period pirate adventure which also performed John Payne and Maureen O'Hara . In fact the title comes from the Marine Corps in their first war feat attacked pirates in Tripoli, Libya. Star Randolph Scott is specialised in taking authoritarian types and give them more light and shade that the script sometimes allows. This was one of his last non-westerns characters as a rival for the true starring, John Payne. Here the good-looking John Payne is fine as a real seducer . Payne was a well-known actor of the Forties and Fifties, playing important films as Miracle on 3th street , Silver Lode, Slightly Scarlet , though, nowadays he is really forgotten. As John Payne acted in all kinds of genres as Western, Film Noir, musical and dramas, such as : Dodsworth, Hats off , Tin Pan alley, Weekend in Habana, The great American broadcast , Springtime in the Rockies, Iceland, The razor's edge, Kansas City confidential, Hello Frisco hello, The Dolly sisters, College swing, Footlight serenade, and Tennessee's partners. Trio protagonists : Randolph Scott, John Payne, Maureen O'Hara are well accompanied by a pretty good support cast, such as :Nancy Kelly who delivers additional gorgeous decoration, Henry -Harry-Morgan in his first screen role as a likeable Private, William Tracy, Minor Watson, Alan Hale Jr, Russell Hicks, and a very secondary role for Hillary Brooke, among others.

Shot in colorful and vivid Technicolor by Hollywood's three best cameramen as William Skall, Harry Jackson, Edward Cronjager. As well as sensitive and moving musical score by classy composer Alfred Newman, adding several patriotic songs. The ordinary screenplay with usual elements from recruitment and Privates training from the prestigious Lamar Trotti. Lavishly produced by Milton Sperling and powerful producer Darryl F Zanuck, the motion picture was professionally directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, though with no originality and it turns out to be a little corny and dated. Rating : 5/10. Average but passablr

PEARL HARBOR seems to have borrowed elements of its plotline from TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI--only this time the cocky hero with plenty of attitude is JOHN PAYNE and the Navy nurse he falls in love with is MAUREEN O'HARA. The scene where she gets even with him in the dispensary is reminiscent of the much more graphic event in PEARL HARBOR's early courtship scene.

Anyway, as patriotic flag-waving recruitment films go, this one is typical of what the public clamored for during World War II. I'm sure the stirring drill scenes and dress parade moments, combined with stirring soundtrack music, were geared to get marine enlistments into high gear. And maybe they succeeded.

Having put in some military years at the San Diego Naval base, much of the background looks achingly familiar to me. All of the location scenes at the military base have the requisite real flavor while the story itself is the timeless cliche about the spoiled rich boy who is given the rough treatment by a sergeant who wants to turn him into a tough marine. Naturally the over confident military brat becomes a hero in time to rescue his sergeant during a mine sweeping operation--and in time to ensure a happy ending for his romance with nurse O'Hara.

JOHN PAYNE is at his best as the cocky young marine, his left eyebrow getting its usual workout as he seeks to outmanouver everyone in his path. He also gets to show off his splendid physique in the scene where hot-tempered O'Hara plays a dirty trick on him. RANDOLPH SCOTT is excellent as the drill sergeant and others in the cast are up to par--including NANCY KELLY in a rather thankless assignment as "the other woman".

MAUREEN O'HARA is stunning in technicolor but, as usual, has virtually little to do aside from looking gorgeous in a number of close-ups. Her role is typical of the many innocuous cardboard heroines she had to play in the '40s.

Summing up: Nice marine recruitment film, if a bit obvious in its patriotism.

I just saw "To the Shores of Tripoli" recently and was very disappointed. I expected a blood and guts war movie, but what I got was essentially a U.S. Marine recruitment film.

Set just prior to the U.S. entry into WWII, it tells the story of womanizing playboy Chris Waters (John Payne) who is sent by his father to enlist in the marines. He reports to his father's old sergeant Dixie Walker (Randolph Scott) with instructions "to make him into a man". The wise old sergeant see some potential in his charge but the two clash repeatedly. Into the mix comes Nurse Mary Carter (Maureen O'Hara) whom Carter tries to woo. That's it.

20th Century Fox under Producer Darryl F. Zanuck seems to have lavished a large budget complete with technicolor on this picture. Color films of the time were rare and were usually reserved for big budget musicals. The so-called marine training we see is restricted to close order drills with little action to boot. There's a brief fight between Payne and Scott and a sequence involving navy target shooting. The rest of it concentrates on the interplay between the three stars and little else.

The best thing about this movie is a chance to catch the timeless beauty of Maureen O'Hara. Yet to acquire her trademark flaming red hair, she is nonetheless breathtaking in glorious technicolor.

Payne and Scott are totally miscast. Payne is not very convincing as a rich kid playboy and Scott, who was more at home in the saddle, simply is not my vision of a sadistic drill sergeant. He did do better though, in 1943's "Gung Ho".

There are some other recognizable faces in the cast. Elena Verdugo has a nice bit as a Spanish dancer. Very young Harry Morgan and Alan Hale Jr. play members of Payne's unit, Stanley Andrews plays a doctor, Hugh Beaumont an orderly, Frank Coglan Jr. a bell boy, Gordon Jones an MP and Walter Sande a pharmacist.

I don't know this for a fact, but it looks like the film was conceived and made prior to Pearl Harbor and that the "boys go to war ending" was tacked on after the fact.

Should have been better.

After watching this movie, I now know where the "Officer and a Gentleman" screen writers probably got their idea for the character Sgt. Foley. Randolph Scott was the Sgt. Foley of the 1940s. This movie was made during World War Two, but it spares us the jingoistic propaganda associated with most war movies of that era and offers interesting and likable characters, especially Maureen O'Hara as a Navy nurse and John Payne as the recruit. While watching this movie I thought of Richard Gere and how he would have fit in well in this movie. The similarities between this movie and "Officer" must be more than just coincidental. "Officer" was more intense but this movie did not need to rely on such theatrics to maintain audience interest because the star of this movie was the USMC itself.

This film was, oddly enough, in the "war" section of the local video store. Mighty strange, considering the most violent scene involves removing adhesive tape from an amorous Marine recruit (played by John Payne, who appears to have his right eyebrow permanently cocked in a leering question mark). The plot is a tired one - a nonconformist recruit butts heads with the tough-but-caring sergeant who must make him into a Marine. Maureen O'Hara has the thankless task of playing the love interest in the movie - a nurse who must fend off the endless (and criminal, by today's standards) amorous advances of Private Chris Winters. Dull movie, with nothing new to offer even the most diehard Randolph Scott fan.

This plot of this film- selfish rich boy joins the armed forces and by turns is converted into a red-blooded selfless team player- is often called cliche'. However, you have to bear in mind that it wasn't at the time it was made; It was one of the genre of plots that became cliche' latter (In fact, it is basically a color remake of "I Wanted Wings"...a much better film IMHO... substituting the Marines for the Air Corps.)

But what it does have is a great cast, great production values and the distinction of the first pairing the lovely Maureen O'Hara, stunning in beautiful early Technicolor, and John Payne. Arguably this is one of the great, if minor, pairings of the 40's ("Sentimental Journey", "Miracle on 34th Street", etc.) that culminated in a return to the Marine/Tripoli theme: In 1950 the pair would almost single-handedly capture the city in "Tripoli".

Is it great cinema? Nah...but it's a fun picture to watch for buffs.

This lighthearted musical comedy is a bit short on the music, a bit short on the comedy, but very big on stereotypes. Payne is a stereotype college who joins the marines to be like his dad, a WW1 hero. He has more connections in the Marines than a busy phone operator connecting calls. Maureen O'Hara is also in this farce, and Randolph Scott tries to keep a straight face playing the role as a drill sergeant. Believe me, he would not have made the cut for Full Metal Jacket. The film is fine for what it is; a jingoistic rah-rah piece to rally the public behind our troops early in WW 2. But as either a serious film or light romantic comedy, it falls a bit short. Semper Fi.

Not a horrible movie overall, but not a patch on the 1926 silent feature with Lon Chaney as the tough Marine sergeant who has to whip a sassy new recruit into shape, and they come to respect each other, and there's a pretty nurse they both like, and yaddayaddayadda. The plot here is changed a bit, but there's little doubt that it's the same movie, and while Payne and Scott are both solid actors, they can hardly compete with the Man of a Thousand Faces, who was one of the greatest actors who ever lived, with or without makeup. Here it seems like they're too concerned with prettifying the Marine Corps, as opposed to showing the genuine drama involved in the process of training young men to kill and die for their country. The original film was more believable, and much appreciated within the Marine Corps. It had a more compelling story, vastly better acting, and is definitely worth checking out.

I think the others who have commented here have summed up the picture's strengths and failings. I just wanted to set the record straight--this movie is a remake, so it shouldn't be considered the wellspring of films like "An Officer and a Gentleman" (a very good movie) and "Pearl Harbor" (a wretchedly awful movie). "Tell It To The Marines" is the wellspring of ALL these films, and the best of the bunch by a long shot. Though it doesn't have a naked Debra Winger writhing on top of Richard Gere, obviously. Eleanor Boardman makes a lovely military nurse, but she keeps her clothes on at all time. (g)

I only watched "To the Shores of Tripoli" because I mistakenly thought it was going to be the 1950 release "Tripoli", starring Payne as one of the very first Marines, back in Thomas Jefferson's administration, taking on Barbary Pirates and such. Maureen O'Hara plays a seductive countess who wears various lowcut slinky numbers. Now THAT's entertainment!