The Halls Of Montezuma
(1951)
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Once again returning to the genre to which he was perhaps best-suited, director Lewis Milestone traces the fate of a Marine platoon during WWII. The film stars Richard Widmark as the no-nonsense Lt. Carl Anderson, an officer charged with the responibility of leading his unit on a scouting mission to capture prisoners from an experimental rocket-launching facility and bring them back for interrogation. Among his platoon are veterans Pidgeon Lane (Jack Palance), Doc (Karl Malden), and Sgt. Zelenko (Neville Brand), as well as raw recruits Coffman (Robert Wagner) and Cpl. Stuart Conroy (Richard Hylton). Anderson is skilled at subtly motivating the varied group of characters, while suffering himself from crushing headaches. The platoon attacks the island, taking losses on the heavily defended beach. When they try to take a strategic ridge, they're pinned down by rocket fire whose source is impossible to locate. In desperation, Anderson is ordered to take a hand-picked patrol behind enemy lines to bring back prisoners. After some painful losses, they finally return with prisoners. Despite occasional war movie cliches, this is a solid, exceptionally well acted effort, which gives full weight to the terrible human cost of war. The film is also notable for great performances by Malden, Palance, Widmark, Webb, and the very young Wagner. |
This big-budget, ferociously patriotic 20th Century-Fox Second World War movie was directed by one of the all-time greats of the genre, Lewis Milestone, who was responsible for the original All Quiet on the Western Front, A Walk in the Sun and Pork Chop Hill. The action here isn't up to the standard of those classics, but it's extremely enjoyable, thanks largely to an excellent cast — the cream of the Fox crop headed by Richard Widmark, and backed up by Jack Palance (still billed as Walter), a pre-Dragnet Jack Webb and Robert Wagner as the youngster of the outfit. Karl Malden and Richard Boone also bring some style to the expected stereotypes, and the Technicolor photography is quite outstanding. Incidentally, there's no unnecessary Hollywood romance in this one.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Well-mounted, simple-minded actioner.