La patrouille infernale

About half-way through the movie, there's an episode with a Japanese prisoner that's really chilling and unexpected. It's what I've remembered of this war film over the years, and I expect it took some nerve for the screenplay to treat the topic in such a cold-blooded way. Aside from that memorable scene, the chase across the island generates some suspense and having the Japanese tracker played by a bare-chested muscle man adds a colorful scary touch. Then too, filming in the jungles of Kauai makes events seem more real and interesting to look at.

At this stage of his career, Tony Curtis was considered little more than a light-weight pretty boy with a heavy Bronx accent. He was later to prove the critics wrong. Beachead is a better movie than might be expected, thanks to director Stuart Heisler who knows how to stage scenes and keep things moving. (Note the jolting way he stages Skip Homeier's death scene.) Pacing events is no small challenge since Heisler has to work in a romance between Curtis and Murphy in the midst of combat on a Pacific island.

Anyway, the acting is good, especially the always low-key Frank Lovejoy as the Marine sergeant-- too bad, he's now largely forgotten. I guess the producers had to protect Curtis's matinée appeal by including Murphy in the cast (note how her dress gets skimpier and skimpier as they scamper along!). Her role is okay if you can buy her and Curtis getting "intimate" in the middle of a life-and-death chase. Be that as it may, despite its potboiler status, this little programmer has some nice touches and holds interest throughout.

Standard Hollywood war heroics, clearly minor-league despite being filmed in pleasant Technicolor; it's yet another Pacific-based actioner with a tight American unit on an 'impossible' mission before the fleet's planned all-out attack. Typically, tension is created among the men by the fact that the commanding officer (Frank Lovejoy) is 'tainted' – his leadership qualities having been taken to task over the massacre at Guadalcanal. Here, too, he causes the death of two of his underlings – leaving only himself and Tony Curtis to verify the message sent by a French missionary from a Japanese-held island. When they finally come across him, the soldiers are surprised to find he has brought a daughter (Mary Murphy) along: of course, this strains the relationship between the two fighting men all the more – though it's rather silly of middle-aged Lovejoy to think he could offer competition to the rugged, handsome Curtis! The action set-pieces are adequately handled under the circumstances (with one surprising bit involving a U.S. marine being dragged by the enemy inside their tank about to explode from his own grenade!) but, at the end of the day, the film emerges a rather undistinguished entry within this prolific genre.

Tony Curtis stars as a US Marine on a treacherous mission to locate a Frenchman on Bougainville who may have important information which will save the lives of hundreds of American troops. He's accompanied on the mission by Sergeant Frank Lovejoy, who failed in his last mission on Guadalcanal, and GIs Skip Homeier and Alan Wells. The film's title implies an invasion sequence, but Beachhead is more of a cat and mouse chase film, with our heroes--also burdened by the presence of attractive love interest Mary Murphy--being pursued by a squad of Japanese troops. Curtis looks hot and hunky and never has a hair out of place. It's not the most realistic or exciting war film you've ever seen, but the Kauai location footage adds flavour and Lovejoy is fairly good.

See it – This Tony Curtis movie is finally being rediscovered, and it is beyond me how it has gone under the radar for so long. In some ways, this is superior to a lot of other WWII movies. It is the story of 4 marines who embark on a secret mission on a Japanese-occupied island. Their mission is to sneak through the jungle to meet an intelligence contact. It has a lot of rugged action and never lacks in the excitement department. But it is missing the elements that make a film a classic. For instance, the acting and script leave a lot to be desired. And the ending action scene is laughable because of the horrible special effects. I guess they didn't want to wait 30 years for the scene to be done right. But as shocking as it is to hear me say it, this is actually a good Tony Curtis action movie when it's all said and done. 4 out of 5 action rating

During WWII a commando is assigned a dangerous mission on an island of Pacific already inhabited by stranded Japanese forces . The American platoon is commanded by sergeant Fletcher (Frank Lovejoy) who rules over soldiers (Tony Curtis , Skip Homeier..) . At the beginning the Marines are successfully in wiping out Japanese . But they are spotted and descended upon by enemies forces . They must escort a French planter (Eduard Franz) and his daughter Nina (Mary Murphy) to the other side of the Pacific island , suffering exhaustion , encounters and the elements until they are rescued . Then the daredevil sergeant and the tough soldier find themselves vying during the escape . The group must try to survive enemy that undergo a chase and a mini-war , as they fight all by themselves and finally find how wrong his misconceptions are .

This is a flag-waver wartime movie with a typical crew of Marines battling the 'yellow menace' and retrieve important documents on a Pacific atoll . The film packs warlike action , thrills , drama and results to be quite entertaining . The story contains a brief studio character seeking human frailty beneath surface heroism . Splendid Frank Lovejoy as tough sergeant , in one of the best roles and Tony Curtis is impressive , no thanks to mediocre script . Director Stuart Heisler's skill with the thrills overcomes the artificiality of the story . Heisler made various films with known actors and diverse genres , such as Gary Cooper (Dallas) , Susan Hayward (Tulsa , Smash-up) , Linda Darnell (This is my love) , Jack Palance (Died a thousand times , a remake of High Sierra) and Tony Curtis , among others . A cool cast , nice direction from Heisler with riveting climax and enhanced by energetic score (Emil Newman) make this a must for warlike fans.

Other movies concerning the wartime sub-genre about American soldiers battling Japanese on the Pacific islands during the WWII are the followings : Guadalcanal diary (43) by Lewis Seiler with Anthony Quinn and Lloyd Nolan ; the classic Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) by Allan Dawn with John Wayne ; Objective Burma by Raoul Walsh with Errol Flynn ; None but the brave , directed and starred by Frank Sinatra ; and Between heaven and hell (1956) with Robert Wagner , among them.