Okinawa : Le Verdun du Pacifique

Halls Of Montezuma is a busy, Technicolored war film circa 1950, and was a big hit in its day. The story-line, such as it is, is convoluted and not really worth going into. Basically the film is about the psychology of war and its effect on human relations, especially those created by the war itself. A good deal of the film, as I recall, takes place in caves, ditches and deserted buildings. Unlike most war films this one emphasizes the fact the most soldiers, even Marines, are made, not born; they all come from someplace and would like to return there, preferably in one piece. Lewis Milestone directed the picture, and while it is a far cry from his classic All Quiet On the Western Front, this film is no shabby piece of work. Richard Widmark heads a cast of future stars, and they all perform well, if a bit too strenuously at times. The actors tend to be grouped together a good deal, maybe to ensure that no one can outshine anyone else, and this, plus the emphasis on isolated settings, succeeds in making the film strangely intimate. The color is bright and often glaring, and the Pacific island setting well-rendered. It's worth mentioning as a footnote that the studio that made the picture, 20th Century-Fox, would soon be switching over to making almost exclusively CinemaScope films, and would also soon be dropping Technicolor for the cheaper De Luxe color. Their post CinemaScope product is for the most part vastly inferior than what they previously had been doing, and Halls Of Montezuma, while not a great film, shows, even today, just how beautiful Technicolor could be. This, plus the use of the square, tidy space movies were limited to in those pre-wide screen days, makes for a depth in perspective that is at times almost seductive, even in so grim a film as this.

This is one of a slew of WW2 films made in the late 40's and early 50's, some better than others. This is definitely one of the better ones. This film features a whole bunch of future stars, such as Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Richard Boone, Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Jack Webb and Martin Milner. Most of them hadn't completely honed their skills yet and a couple of the performances are either a bit wooden (Malden, Wagner and Webb) or overdone (Widmark). The technology is very primitive by today's standards, yet this film holds up well. The acting aside, it seems that every effort was made to make the film as realistic as it could be. In that respect, this film is much better than some of the others of the same era. There are a lot of films from this era. If you choose to watch only a few of them, make sure this is one of the few.

One of the rare american war movies with a certain sense of

reality: Richard Widmark as a platoon leader conquering the

pacific island of okinawa. From the long waiting time before the

attack on the battleship, to the landing operation on the shores of

okinawa, to the painful losses of his men, we follow these serious

looking americans. Their faces seem motionless and two of the

officers, including Widmark, have psychosomatic war syndroms.

The killing is no fun in this movie, the dying is no fun to watch. All in

all, not very entertaining, but a lesson in war, much more realistic

than later US-movies on the same topic.

Many war movies just following WWII were of the John Wayne tough guy type. However, Halls of Montezuma, is refreshing in that it looks in depth at the psychology of the soldier. Really at how men change when laying there lives on the line. The cinematography was also well done when you consider this movie was made half a century ago. You won't see the blood and guts as in a Saving Private Ryan, but the movie may make you think twice before signing up for active duty.

The interesting and uncharacteristic film is a gripping war story from Lewis Milestone in that's all patriotic and all flag-waving with valiant US soldiers facing on Japanese enemy in the Pacific Basin . The Marines assault a strongly held enemy island in the Pacific to track down a Japanese rocket base . We follow them from the beach to a Japanese rocket site throughout enemy infested jungle , being commanded Lt. Anderson , an ex-school teacher (Richard Widmark) along with his old pupil Conroy (Richard Hylton) and other Privates as Coffman (Robert Wagner) , Pretty Boy (Skip Homeier) , Whitney (Martin Milner) , Slattery (Bert Freed) ; furtermore , a Sgt. called Zelenko (Neville Brand) , Sgt. Johnson (Reginald Gardiner) , Doc (Karl Malden) and a War Correspondent named Dickerman (Jack Webb) . Along the way , all of them are transformed into battle veterans.

This thrilling , large WWII yarn capably put together by a good filmmaker , concerns a company of Marines led by a two-fisted Lieutenant whose squad becomes a tight fighting unit , while races against the clock by hunt down a Japanese rocket base . Being a fast-moving , rather thoughtful little film about battles between Marines and Japanese and their strong resistance to the invasion , though some feats are hard to believe . It is all plenty with glory-glory , propaganda and martial music in the background , being compellingly made by the same man who 21 years earlier directed the landmark anti-war film ¨All quiet on the Western Front¨. This unnerving epic depicts the war horror , including atrocities by both sides while happen attacks during the invasion . Thought-provoking screenplay , including dramatic scenes in overall effects , also has moments of astounding power with some overwhelming war images . It is competently acted by a strong cast which plus stars Richard Widmark , there are Karl Malden , Skip Homeier , Robert Wagner and Jack Palance . In addition , Richard Boone as tough Lt. Col. Gilfillan , Reginald Gardner in a rare dramatic character and Jack Webb as a war correspondent.

The motion picture was well and powerfully directed by Lewis Milestone, who cut in actual combat footage along with the mock-up set-pieces filmed in the United States at Camp Pendleton . Lewis was born in the Ukraine , but emigrated to America at 18 and he served in WWI . He often made chronicles of wartime conflicts and persisted in showing horror war from the point of view of the ordinary soldier , providing a grimmer stuff as well as quieter moments . As he showed WWI (All quiet on the western front) , WWII (A walk in the sun , Purple heart , Halls of Motzuma , Edge and darkness) and Korean war (Pork Chop Hill) ; and directed several other excellent movies in different fields , drama (Of mice and men , Strange love of Martha Ivers) , adventures (Mutiny on the Bounty) and heist-comedy (Ocean's eleven) , among others . Rating : Better than average , 7/10 . Well worth watching .