ferbs54
Based on the real-life war exploits of American soldier Al Schmid, the 1945 Warner Brothers picture "Pride of the Marines" tells a very moving story of bravery and personal triumph. The film was a huge box office hit back when, and for good reason. In it, the great John Garfield plays Schmid, and the actor had spent a good deal of time with the wounded warrior in his preparations before filming began. The result: Garfield turns in a performance here that is an Oscar-worthy one.The film cleaves pretty evenly into four discrete sections. In the first, we see Schmid in his hometown of Philadelphia, rooming with a young married couple, Jim and Ella May Merchant (played, respectively, by John Ridgeley, Eddie Mars from "The Big Sleep," and Ann Doran, the child psychiatrist from "Them!"), and their young daughter, Loretta. Ella May is constantly trying to play matchmaker for Schmid, and one day has her friend Ruth Hartley come by for dinner. Al and Ruth do not exactly "meet cute" in this film; as a matter of fact, their first date is marked by bickering, wrangling, insults and general nastiness. But somehow, the two DO manage to take to each other, as Al begins to wear the beautiful young woman down. And as played by Eleanor Parker, 23 years old here, Ruth certainly is a beauty indeed. All seems to be going well until a radio broadcast announces the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a news flash that does not bother the Merchant household overly much; indeed, none of them even seem to know where Pearl Harbor is! But Al wastes little time in signing up for the Marines, shipping off just after he and Ruth declare their love for one another. "I bet it would be more fun shooting Japs than bear," Al declares before he leaves, and brother, does he ever get a chance to do so!In the film's second section, we see Al's harrowing experiences at Guadalcanal in 1942. He and two others, NYC Jew Lee Diamond (another convincing "everyman" portrayal by the great character actor Dane Clark) and Johnny Rivers (Anthony Caruso; Bela Oxmyx from the classic "Star Trek" episode "A Piece of the Action"), bravely defend their machine gun nest against hundreds of advancing Japanese, but Rivers is killed in the battle, Diamond is severely wounded, and Al...well, he seems to be doing well, killing no fewer than 200 (!) of the enemy, until a grenade that is exploded very close to his position results in his near-total blindness. In the third section, an understandably bitter and depressed Al is shown in the veterans hospital in San Diego, where he is assisted by a kindly rehab officer, Virginia Pfeiffer (Rosemary De Camp, from William Castle's "13 Ghosts"). Al decides to call it quits with Ruth, not wanting to be a burden on her. Finally, in the last section, Al returns home to Philly to be awarded the Navy Cross, and Ruth and the Merchants make a desperate attempt to make the despondent war vet feel loved and wanted."Pride of the Marines" was expertly helmed by director Delmer Daves, who had earlier worked on the WW2 film "Destination Tokyo" and would go on to direct such classics as "Dark Passage" (one of this viewer's personal faves), "Broken Arrow" and "3:10 to Yuma." He elicits wonderful performances from all his players and incorporates some startling elements into his film as well. He makes the jungle-fighting sequence truly nerve wracking and does a fine job with Schmid's surrealistic dream sequence (utilizing negative images). The film contains any number of very fine scenes, besides that trippy dream segment and the Guadalcanal carnage. In one, the wounded vets in San Diego talk about their fears of returning to civilian life and their doubts about ever landing a decent job, beating "The Best Years of Our Lives" to the punch by a good 15 months. In another, Ruth desperately tries to convince Al of her devotion, lying next to him beside a fallen Christmas tree. And then there is the final scene, in which Al receives his Navy Cross while Ruth watches; a very moving segment, indeed. But if there is any particular element of the film that most contributes to its success, it would have to be the exceptionally fine performances of both Garfield and Parker. Garfield had just starred with Parker the year before in "Between Two Worlds," and in the next four years would appear in a string of classic films, including "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Humoresque," "Body and Soul," "Gentleman's Agreement," "Force of Evil" and "We Were Strangers"; a truly remarkable streak. As for Eleanor, I had never watched her in a '40s film before (I believe 1950's "Caged" was the furthest back I'd ever seen this terrific actress), and was very happy to discover that she was both remarkably beautiful here ("Yeah, that's a nice face," Virginia declares of her photograph, and for me, that face would only grow more beautiful as Parker advanced into the 1950s) and more than capable of holding her own in dramatic scenes with the dynamic Garfield. Parker had only been a screen actress for three years at this point, but her talent is simply undeniable here; anyone could tell that this young actress would be "going places" soon enough....
sol
***SPOILERS*** On of the first WWII movies coming out of Hollywood that shows how the war effected those GI's, or in this case US Marines, who fought in it.21 year old Al Schmid, John Garfield, was just starting to live with a well paying job-earning some $40.00 a week-at the local steel mill and girl Ruth Hartley, Elenore Parker, whom he was about to marry when the Japs spoiled everything for him, and millions of likewise young Americans, by attacking the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Doing his duty as an American citizen Al immediately joined the US Marine Corps hoping to get back at the Japs knowing, correctly as it was to turn out, that the Marines would be the first American combat units to get a crack at them.Al finally got his chance when his unit, the 1st Marine Division, landed on August 7, 1942 at Guadalcanal in the far flung Solomon Islands to engage the Japanese who were were in control of it. It was during the battle of the Ilu River that Al almost single handed stopped a massive Japanese Banzai attack holding off, with his machine gun, wave after wave of suicide attacks by the determined Japs until help, or reinforcements, finally arrived. It was during the bloody fighting Al was hit in the face by a Jap grenade that ended up blinding him.Now back in the states convalescing at a naval hospital Al is faced with something far more harder to overcome then battling a battalion size attack of Japanese or German soldiers. He's faced with a future where he'll never see again and having to depend on others to look after, or for, him!We get to see in the film "Pride of the Marines" Al battle himself far harder then he did the Japanese troops on Guadalcanal in just coming to terms with his disability. Not wanting anyone, especially his girlfriend Ruth, to feel sorry for him Al in fact is the one who feels sorry for himself more then anyone else in the movie. It's with the help of Navy Nurse Virginia Pfeiffer, Rosemary DeCamp, and Ruth together with his US Marine buddy Lee Diamond, Dane Clark, that in the end gives Al the courage to face his blindness with the same strength that he faced wave after wave of Japanese troops on Gudalcanal. A courage Al thought he lost back in that God-forsaken island hell in the South Pacific.Based on the true story of US Marine Sergeant Albert Schmid "Pride of the Marines" showed what we were to expect from the tens of thousands of wounded US Servicemen coming back from the war. We get to see how it in many ways was far more difficult for those fighting the war to adjust to a peacetime America when they left something, like in the case of Al Schmid, behind on the battlefield. Al's battle with his personal demons was a lot harder then the Japanese that he fought in that they were part of him and thus had to fight himself in order to overcome and eventually defeat them. Despite the help that he got from both Nurse Virginia and his girlfriend Ruth as well as his Navy doctor-who has a striking resemblance to actor Gregory Peck-it still was up to Al to overcome the fears that he faced. Fears which he and only he had to both battle and overcome, like he was told by everyone in the movie, all by himself.
haridam0
Of the many fine talents in the Warner Bros. "stock company," the three leads in "Pride of the Marines" may be considered the "cream of the crop." John Garfield, Eleanor Parker and Dane Clark really never gave a bad performance. Each seemingly could take on any role and make it his/her own.No matter how weak the script may be, these professionals could work wonders with their honed skill and formidable natural talent. In the case of this film, they had very good material to work with, and their chemistry is invigorating.Garfield, Parker and Clark are at the peak of their careers here, and it's a pleasure to watch them move from light comedy to serious drama effortlessly. Franz Waxman's score is likewise to be commended, along with the secure direction and razor sharp cinematography.A most enjoyable and moving film.
