IMDb > 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943)

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'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943) -- The true story of Carlson's Raiders and their World War II attack on Makin Island.

Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   499 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Ray Enright
Writers:
W.S. LeFrançois (story)
Lucien Hubbard (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 December 1943 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | History | War more
Tagline:
Battle cry of the Marine raiders! more
Plot:
The true story of Carlson's Raiders and their World War II attack on Makin Island. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Dated and Dateless... more (36 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Randolph Scott ... Colonel Thorwald
Alan Curtis ... John Harbison
Noah Beery Jr. ... Cpl. Kurt Richter
J. Carrol Naish ... Lieutenant C.J. Cristoforos
Sam Levene ... Leo 'Transport' Andreof
David Bruce ... Larry O'Ryan
Richard Lane ... Captain Dunphy
Walter Sande ... 'Gunner' McBride
Louis Jean Heydt ... Lieutenant Roland Browning

Robert Mitchum ... 'Pig-Iron' Matthews
Rod Cameron ... Rube Tedrow
Grace McDonald ... Kathleen Corrigan
Milburn Stone ... Cmdr. Blake
Peter Coe ... Kozzarowski
Harold Landon ... Frankie Montana
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Gung Ho! (USA) (short title)
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Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Actor Harold Landon, who plays Frankie Montana in the film, relates that the actors who played Japanese soldiers were actually Filipino and Chinese. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: U.S.S. Nautilus and U.S.S. Argonaut were the submarines used in the Makin Is. raid. Both subs mounted two deck guns. And due to their size could not be mistaken for Gato class subs. The Nautilus carried 6" deck guns and was used to shell shipping in the harbor at Makin. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Loose Women (1996) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
Dated and Dateless..., 4 February 2002
Author: (patrick.hunter@csun.edu) from Northridge, Ca

You can say the film is dated. But then again, Shakespeare is also dated. Shakespeare is also dateless, and this film is too. We won't get another Randolph Scott and here he stars in perhaps his most entertaining, if not most sobering, war film. Sure, it's jingoistic, racist, preachy, and cliché-ridden. It's not exactly historical, except in showing how Americans viewed themselves and the Marines at the time.

The real history behind this highly romanticized dramatization has been covered well by the other commentaries. The Makin Island raid was a folly that movie glamorizes, and Carlson was an idealist whose comrade-oriented methods had little influence on later commando tactics. However, even he didn't like the Hollywood result. Despite seeing his name on the credits and Randolph Scott ideally cast to portray him, Carlson walked out of the movie theatre in disgust when he first viewed the film.

When will this gem get remastered and restored? They truly don't make 'em like this anymore.

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