Trípoli

I've seen this film a number of times on TV and caught it in the theaters over a half-century ago and loved it. As a kid, it had great appeal to me and lots of action, fun and, of course, the lovely Maureen O'Hara, who was always worth the price of admission. John Payne was an underused, underrated actor who always turned in solid, albeit low key, performance. This film, which is a yarn based on the military action of the US Marines against the Tripoli pirates basically spins fight scenes between the bad guys and a coalition of good guys, including veteran character actor Howard Da Silva as a Greek mercenary. The good guys win, of course and Payne gets the girl (but we knew that anyway, didn't we?) and this is a film that if it pops up on the late show (no video or DVD listed), is certainly worth checking out for some good, solid escapism.

Although Tripoli is never reached, this film is the story of the US Marines hoisting the American flag for the first time over foreign soil at the port city of Derna in Libya. Our capture of that city forced a negotiated peace on the Sultan of Tripoli and ended our war there which began against the Barbary States and the pirate ships they employed for plunder and ransom.

Now how Maureen O'Hara as an exiled French countess in the court of the exiled Sultan figured in these events is something left to the writers of this film. At least her flaming red hair was explained somewhat in this particular potboiler.

In her memoirs O'Hara thought her casting in these films was as ridiculous as anyone else, but she thought that just keep working, take anything they give you and the better roles will eventually come.

John Payne plays the real life Lieutenant O'Bannion who with his squad of US Marines led the land action while the Navy bombarded the guns guarding Derna from sea attack. He did not have a romance with a French exiled countess. Howard DaSilva has a nice and droll part as a Greek mercenary captain. This flag waver of a film was an ironic twist in DaSilva's career, he went on the blacklist shortly afterward.

Philip Reed is the exiled Sultan who lives pretty good for a guy in exile and he's the diplomatic catspaw the United States used. And I mean used since he was not restored to his throne as promised in the film and in real life. Of course as he's shown here Reed is quite the duplicitous character so nobody cares if he was or not. What he was in real life, who knows. But there are those who feel America broke a commitment. In any event the Sultan of Tripoli stopped seizing our ships and that's what we wanted.

What is an interesting if not often told tale of American history is reduced to the Saturday matinée kiddie potboiler of the pulp fiction variety. Tripoli has not worn well over the decades.

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 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.