Product Description

One of the greatest war movies of all time, combining action-packed, high-caliber battle sequences with quintessential foxhole-buddy camaraderie. Released in 1943, its authenticity and power remain undiminished.

The story follows one squad of Marines through the bloody assaults on the Solomon Islands during the opening stages of the war in the South Pacific. There's the tough sergeant (Lloyd Nolan), a cab driver from Brooklyn (William Bendix), a Mexican (Anthony Quinn) and a chaplain (Preston Foster). A battle-weary narrator reads from a diary, commenting on the typical grunt's everyday life, and death. Battles and dates of engagement are named, putting the explosive action into a solid historical context.

Based on Richard Tregaski's best-selling book, the script is by renowned screenwriter Lamar Trotti, who also wrote the screenplay for the wartime classic "To the Shore of Tripoli."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19566 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.com
This is a far cry from The Thin Red Line, but it's engaging and efficient World War II propaganda about the opening of the South Pacific campaign that would ultimately turn the tide of the war. Anxious and unsuspecting Marines land on the Solomon Islands and quickly learn how to engage the Japanese in foxhole warfare. It's full of archetypal characters (tough sergeant Lloyd Nolan, Brooklyn cabby William Bendix, lusty Mexican Anthony Quinn, and gravel-mouthed Lionel Stander) and well-staged battle scenes. There's even a battle-weary narration to provide authenticity and historical perspective. All around, a good grunt film. --Bill Desowitz

Customer Reviews

"boys with a memory of death in their eyes"
Based on Richard Tregaskis' popular book of his account of the action at Guadalcanal, when the first detachment of U.S. Marines landed in the Solomon Islands in August of 1942, this is a tough and gritty war film with a sturdy ensemble cast, who do a wonderful job of recreating the diverse characters in the story, from Anthony Quinn who dreams of his señoritas, to the young Richard Jaeckel, who is always writing home to mom.
Preston Foster, William Bendix, Lloyd Nolan and Richard Conte are the other actors that contribute to make the film interesting, along with the narration by Reed Hadley which contrasts with the everyday speech of the dialogue and at times is quite poetic.

Enduring the humid jungle, often plagued with torrential rain, and at one point running out of food and needing reinforcements, the narrator says of October 10th, "...for we are tired, after days of heat and rain, dust and disease, mud and malnutrition, weeks of constant fighting...", the film depicts a lot of heroism, the caring for one another, and much patriotism.
The battle cinematography by Charles Clarke is visually exciting, though all very sanitized, as none of the intense fighting is graphic, and one must remember that this is a 1943 film, and the language used is far from politically correct; those who can't put it into historical perspective should avoid seeing it.
Total running time is 93 minutes.

The Island of Death
Anthony Quinn (Pvt. Jesus "Soose" Alvarez), Preston Foster (Father Donnelly), William Bendix (Cpl. Aloysius "Taxi" Potts), Minor Watson (Col. Wallace Grayson), Lionel Stander (Sgt. Butch), Lloyd Nolan (Sgt. Hook Malone), and Richard Jaeckel (Pvt. Johnny "Chicken" Anderson) star in this fine movie about America's first amphibious assult of World war II. This movie was made just shortly after the actual capture of Guadalcanal in February of 1943.

The movie begins with the journey of the First Marine Divison across the Pacific Ocean aboard transport ships. The Marines' time was spent either lying on deck, playing cards, or shooting the bull. The journey was long and monotinous, but the Marines were finally informed of their destination and readied themselves for battle. Upon landing, the Marines set up a perimeter and set out to engage the enemy. Some of the fiercest fighting of the war occurred on Guadalcanal. Both sides were undersupplied and suffered from lack of food. However, while the Americans were hungry, the Japanese starved. Thus, the island became known to the Japanese as "the island of death".

After six months of brutal fighting, the Americans finally captured the island. The Japanese managed to remove their remaining troops under the cover of darkness using destroyers.

This movie does a very good job of describing the action which occurred during the battle from the initial landings in August until the Army relieved them in December. The performances by the cast are very good, and I especially thought that the narration added some valuable insight to the movie. Also, I was impressed by the historical accuracy of the movie. Each of the early encounters with the Japanese is described, including the battle of Teneru River to the horrible shelling of Henderson Field by the Japanese Navy. Based on the book by correspondent Richard Tregaskis, "Guadalcanal Diary" does a fine job of telling the story of the First Marine Divison and their struggles during the early days of the Guadalcanal campaign. This movie differs greatly from today's war movies such as "Saving Private Ryan". There is no blood and guts death scenes in this movie, as well as no political correctness. Routinely throughout this movie, the Americans refer to the Japanese as "monkeys" and "gooks". These terms may not be popular, but that's exactly what the Marines called them in 1942-43.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. The characters are realistic and believable, the action is very good, and the historical correctness is excellent. Watch this movie and see how two enemies fought over a strategically important island in the South Pacific for six long, brutal months in the early days of World War II.

Just Want To Go Home.
Set in the early days of WWII in the Pacific, the film follows a unit of Marines as they battle everything from disease and treacherous terrain to just being tired of not being at home. The Marines go from one battle to another, fighting to stay alive and keep there hopes up. There is a rogue Sgt. (Lloyd Nolan), a simple cab driver from Brooklyn (William Bendix), and a troubled Marine (Anthony Quinn)! With well done battle's and a outstanding script, this film is considered to be one of the best films done during WWII! If you can put aside that it was made in 1943, and it is not as realistic as it would be today. It is sure to get the message across and deliver the goods. One of the best war films of all time!
Grade:A