Halls of Montezuma
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.
John Chard@John Chard
From the Halls of Montezuma. To the Shores of Tripoli.
U.S. Marines battle to take control of a Japanese held island in the Pacific…
Directed by Lewis Milestone, Halls of Montezuma is unabashed in its flag waving paean to the U.S. Marines. With a strong ensemble cast to act out the play, Milestone intercuts real war footage with skilled recreations of the guts and glory mission undertaken by the men.
Film is very keen to let us know what sort of men are fighting this war, keeping the characterisations intimate, it’s a roll call of the brave, the stupid, the scared and the insane. Flashbacks help fill in the gaps of the men’s psychological make ups, and the futility of war message is deftly handled by the astute director.
Colour photography is glossy and impressive, even if it strips away some of the grittiness the story needs to thrive on, and the musical score is kept to a minimum and suitably deals in plays on army anthems. All told it’s a thoroughly engrossing and potent war movie and highly recommended to fans of such fare. 7.5/10