narmer71

The movie reaches the peak of excellence because of it's characterization. You meet and get to know every character in the platoon. Each character develops from the beginning to the end of the movie. The scene in the landing craft must last twenty minutes.

The Chemistry between Friedman and Rivera may be unmatched in cinema. I wonder how many times they shot their scenes just to get their dialogue timing down.

Steven Spielberg got a lot of the ideas for the scenes from Private Ryan from this movie. I was amazed that they could make a combat movie without a single obscenity.

The story of the fate of a captured American bomber crew from the first air raid on Tokyo. Dana Andrews final speech (taken from a Portugese reporter's news story) to the court is the most moving ever made in a motion picture. Purple Heart produced such a strong emotional response that it was banned in many American cities as detrimental to the war effort.

Most of Garfield's movies are too old and mired in the great depression to hold up. Although it creaks, this one holds up well as it was released 1943. His portrayal of a tough guy recovering from post traumatic stress is unusual. Is he plagued by auditory hallucinations or does he really hear that fiend dragging his foot outside his door ? Like most film noirs the good guys triumph but they don't find happiness.

An interesting characterization by Maureen O'Hara as the mysterious woman who seems to share her love with Garfield. Most female characters weren't this deep or complicated. Her role is a very different from her roles as John Wayne's former wife. In a feminine way she is tougher than Garfield's character.

Like any movie made in 1943 the plot is anti fascist. But as someone who fought in the Spanish Civil War, Garfield's character should lean to the left. Yet he is part of a wealthy uptown crowd.

If you like John Garfield but find his movies of the depression too distant to appreciate, try this one.