Movie and Television Productions Featuring U.S. Marines During World War II
Today is the U.S. Marines' birthday. To celebrate, I thought it would be nice to recommend ten movie and television productions (in chronological order) that feature U.S. Marines during World War II:
MOVIE AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS FEATURING U.S. MARINES DURING WORLD WAR II
1. "Pride of the Marines" (1945) - John Garfield portrayed real life Marnie, Al Schmid, a decorated hero who was blinded during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Eleanor Parker and Dane Cook co-starred. Delmer Daves directed.
2. "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) - John Wayne earned an Oscar nomination in this dramatization of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Directed by Allan Dwan, John Agar and Forrest Tucker co-starred.
3. "Battle Cry" (1955) - Raoul Walsh directed this adaptation of Leon Uris' novel about U.S. Marines in love and war during World War II. Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore, and Tab Hunter co-starred.
4. "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" (1957) - John Huston directed both Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr in this character study about a shipwrecked Marine and a nun, who wait out the war on an island in the Pacific.
5. "In Love and War" (1958) - Philip Dunne directed this adaptation of Anton Meyer's novel about three Marines on leave in San Francisco. Robert Wagner, Dana Wynter, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange and Bradford Dillman co-starred.
6. "Hell to Eternity" (1960) - Jeffrey Hunter portrayed real-life Marine hero Guy Gabaldon in this biopic about a homeless Latino in Los Angeles, who is adopted by a Japanese-American family and later becomes a hero at the Battle of Saipan. Phil Karlson directed.
7. "The Outsider" (1961) - Tony Curtis starred in this biopic about Marine Ira Hayes, one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima. Directed by Delbert Mann, the movie co-starred James Franciscus and Gregory Walcott.
8. "Windtalkers" (2002) - John Woo directed this account of the Navaho code talkers in the U.S. Marines and the men assigned to protect them. Nicholas Cage, Adam Beach, Frances O'Connor and Christian Slater starred.
9. "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006) - Clint Eastwood directed this account on three of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima. Ryan Phillipe, Adam Beach and Jesse Bradford co-starred.
10. "The Pacific" (2010) - Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg produced this 10-part award-winning miniseries for HBO about the experiences of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone - during World War II. James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazzello and Jon Seda starred.