Come on Marines!

Poor Ida Lupino left a burgeoning film career in England for stardom in Hollywood but ended up in the atrocious SEARCH FOR BEAUTY. As if that wasn't bad enough her next picture was this - which was even worse! Why she didn't jump on the next boat back to Liverpool is anyone's guess. The most polite description of this picture is: absolute garbage.

The plot concerns that immortal question which philosophers have debated since the time of Socrates: how would a group of sex-starved marines rescue a group of sex-starved young women who have been shipwrecked in the jungle where they spend their days playing in a pool in their underwear. It sounds like one of those pictures which is so bad it's good but don't be fooled - it's just bad. Did someone really get paid for writing this?

I don't know what's worse: the acting, the direction, the script or the story. Richard Arlen (who got his break in the movies by being taken into Paramount's medical centre after accidentally crashing his motorcycle into their gates!) substitutes normal acting for a series shouts and snarls.

Arlen is however Laurence Olivier compared with Toby Wing. That's the big dichotomy with this picture because Toby Wing is the only reason to watch this trash. The girl couldn't act for toffee but since in most of her scenes she's just in skimpy underwear, acting ability isn't really something anyone is concerned with. You can see why she earned the title: 'the most beautiful chorus girl in the world.' She truly was utterly, utterly gorgeous - had this picture been lit and photographed half-decently, every 14 year old boy in the world since 1934 would have had a copy of this film hidden under his bed!

Film shot at Sherwood lake 35 miles from hollywood and in the tank where Paramount had replicated a swamp within the studio. A troop of marines lead by Richard Arlen is sent to rescue a group of ship wrecked girls lead by Ida Lupino. This being Hollywood the men were pictured in wet muddy clothes but the girls consisted of a beauty chorus all elegantly dressed and beautifully coiffeured. To lend authenticity the jungle battle scenes used real machine guns with live ammunition. The extras were provided by a large number of distinguished veteran marines under command of Major William McIvian. Handling the guns was gunnery sergeant George Daley and each marine had to have at least one citation for bravery. Shooting was held up on first day waiting for a stuntman. After finding out how much stuntmen got paid one of the featured players Harry Tenbrook volunteered making a perfect fall. He admitted afterwards to Director Henry Hathaway he had never done that before. Recently employed South African Bit player Eldred Tidbury showed skill in shooting so impressing Daley to suggest a military career. Hathaway thought girls a little too glamerous and ordered them to wander through mud and snag their dresses. To obtain speed Hathaway employed two film crews so their were no delays in between takes. The principal Roscoe Karns was known as a practical joker leaving a bedouin head in Eldred Tidbury's bed. One of the players got his revenge by spiking Karns dinner with laxative. A good effort but could have been better with only moderate return at box office.