They Were Expendable (1945)

Director: John Ford
Starring: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed

Synopsis:
PT crews struggle with intransigent Navy brass as the Japanese advance on the Philippines in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Impressions:
It's interesting that immediately after the end of the war John Ford would make a movie about one of the bleakest points in the conflict for the American side. The film suffered at the time for coming out when audiences had their fill of war movies and definitely didn't want to see one about the fall of the Philippines. If it'd been released a year or two earlier, it probably would've enjoyed contemporary success. Anyway, it's a solid film with good battle sequences and with lead actor Robert Montgomery having served as an actual PT boat commander, it's more true to life than many films. John Wayne really caught a lot of flak from Ford, but Montgomery was a real class act and stepped in. This didn't manage to hurt Wayne and Ford's professional relationship too much, though, as they collaborated on quite a few projects after this. This is one of the better war films out there and it's worth giving a watch.

Rating:
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