Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writers:

Harry Brown (screenplay) &
James Edward Grant (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 March 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War | Romance

Tagline:

Fightin' . . Laughin' . . Lovin' !

Plot:

A dramatization of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Iwo Jima | Combat | Sergeant | Tarawa

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Sgt. John M. Stryker
John Agar	...	Pfc. Peter Conway
Adele Mara	...	Allison Bromley
Forrest Tucker	...	Pfc. Al Thomas
Wally Cassell	...	Pfc. Benny Regazzi
James Brown	...	Pfc. Charlie Bass
Richard Webb	...	Pfc. 'Handsome' Dan Shipley
Arthur Franz	...	Cpl. Robert Dunne / Narrator
Julie Bishop	...	Mary
James Holden	...	Pfc. Soames
Peter Coe	...	Pfc. George Hellenpolis
Richard Jaeckel	...	Pfc. Frank Flynn
William Murphy	...	Pfc. Eddie Flynn (as Bill Murphy)
George Tyne	...	Pfc. Harris
Hal Baylor	...	Pvt. 'Sky' Choynski (as Hal Fieberling)
John McGuire	...	Capt. Joyce
Martin Milner	...	Pvt. Mike McHugh
Leonard Gumley	...	Pvt. Sid Stein
William Self	...	Pvt. L.D. Fowler Jr.
David M. Shoup	...	Himself (as Col. D. M. Shoup U.S.M.C.)
H.P. Crowe	...	Himself (as Lt. Col. H. P. Crowe U.S.M.C.)
Harold G. Schrier	...	Himself (as Capt. Harold G. Schrier U.S.M.C.)
Rene A. Gagnon	...	Himself (as Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon)
Ira H. Hayes	...	Himself (as Pfc. Ira H. Hayes)
John H. Bradley	...	Himself (as PM3/c John H. Bradley)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Conrad Binyon	...	Marine (uncredited)
David Clarke	...	Wounded Marine (uncredited)
Fred Datig Jr.	...	Marine (uncredited)
Bruce Edwards	...	Marine (uncredited)
Dorothy Ford	...	Tall Girl (uncredited)
Carole Gallagher	...	USO Woman (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Officer (uncredited)
Don Haggerty	...	Colonel in Staff Car (uncredited)
Gil Herman	...	Lt. Baker (uncredited)
William Hudson	...	Marine (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Forrestal (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Scared Marine (uncredited)
Billy Lechner	...	Marine (uncredited)
Mickey McCardle	...	Marine (uncredited)
Roger McGee	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Al Murphy	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Waiter in Bar (uncredited)
Judy Sochor	...	USO Woman (uncredited)
Glen Vernon	...	Marine (uncredited)
Steve Wayne	...	Marine (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Grenade Instructor (uncredited)
Ted White	...	Marine (uncredited)
John Whitney	...	Lt. Thompson (uncredited)
Joy Windsor	...	USO Woman (uncredited)

Directed by
Allan Dwan

Writing credits
Harry Brown		(screenplay) &
James Edward Grant		(screenplay)
Harry Brown		(story)

Produced by
Edmund Grainger	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Reggie Lanning		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Richard L. Van Enger

Art Direction by
James W. Sullivan		(as James Sullivan)

Set Decoration by
John McCarthy Jr.		(set decorations)
Otto Siegel		(set decorations)

Makeup Department
Peggy Gray	....	hair stylist
Bob Mark	....	makeup supervisor
Vern Murdock	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Lee Lukather	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nathan Barragar	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
T.A. Carman	....	sound
Howard Wilson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Howard Lydecker	....	special effects
Theodore Lydecker	....	special effects
Jack Caffee	....	special effects (uncredited)
The United States Marine Corps	....	demolition effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Fred Graham	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Don Nagel	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Donald Biddle Keyes	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Herbert Kirkpatrick	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Nels Mathias	....	grip (uncredited)
Sid Swaney	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adele Palmer	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Ernest Gold	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Victor Young	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
David O. Selznick	....	John Agar by arrangement with
Ernest I. Thomas Jr.	....	historical note (as Sgt. Ernest I. Thomas Jr. U.S.M.C.)
Herbert J. Yates	....	presenter
Sid Davis	....	stand-in: John Wayne (uncredited)
Leonard Friebourg	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Jack Lewis	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Holland M. Smith	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Robert Walker	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Republic Pictures (I) (as A Republic Production)

Distributors

• Republic Pictures (I) (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• British Lion Film Corporation (1950) (UK) (theatrical)
• Les Films Fernand Rivers (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Republic Pictures (1950) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Gloria Filmverleih AG (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Gloria Filmverleih (1952) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Republic Pictures (I) (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (colorized)
• Republic Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Maple Pictures (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Emerald (????) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Olive Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• United States Marine Corps  to, whose exploits and valor have left a lasting impression on the world and in the hearts of their countrymen. appreciation is gratefully acknowledged for their assistance and participation which made this picture possible (as the United States Marine Corps)
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  optical effects
• Republic Pictures  VHS package design (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min | Germany:97 min | USA:109 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #14111) | West Germany:12 (f) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (1996) (2002) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Portugal:M/12 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, Oceanside, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Trivia:

Due to the assistance of the US Marines, producer Edmund Grainger and director Allan Dwan were able to keep the production budget for this movie to around the US $1 million mark.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Sgt. Stryker dances with Choynski, he stands a little way from Choynski. The next shot shows them both side by side.

Quotes:

[During live fire training a Marine recruit accidently lets a grenade slip out of his hand and it rolls toward an unsuspecting platoon waiting their turn]
Sgt. Stryker:Grenade. Hit the deck.
[the platoon runs, except for Conway, who is reading a love letter and has to be tackled to safety by Stryker when the grenade goes off]
Sgt. Stryker:You idiot. When are you gonna wake up? You wanna see that dame again, keep your mind on your work.
Al Thomas:You may not know this, boy, but you just got your life saved.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: Episode #22.13" (2005)

Important for John Wayne fans

John Wayne did a bunch of war movies, always playing the heroic soldier. It is ironic then that he was considered medically unfit for service in WWII. Nonetheless, "Sands of Iwo Jima" is certainly the definitive John Wayne war movie. He got his first Oscar nomination for this movie which is enough to make it important just for that (he was only nominated one other time, winning for "True Grit").

The movie plot is just straight formula and has the same collection of ethnic types that you find in every war movie ever made---the fast-talking big city guy, the farm boy, the wisecracking Italian, etc. The battle scenes had to be sanitized for audiences back then and the treatment of the Japanese as the enemy in this movie is outrageously stereotyped by today's standards. Every time the Japanese come on camera the background music turns sinister and the little Japanese actors have an appropriate villainous and fanatical look to them. The only war movie I can think of where the Japanese are humanized in any way is "Bridge on the River Kwai" while there are many movies where the German soldiers and especially General Rommel, are portrayed if not sympathetically, at least respectfully.

Catch the last scene where the three real-life survivors of the Iwo Jima flag raising are given the flag by the Duke to raise on Suribachi. One of the flag-raisers, John Bradley, was so modest about his exploits afterwards that he didn't even have a copy of the famous flag-raising photo hanging up in his home. It wasn't until after he died that his children learned that he had won the Navy Cross for his heroism in the war. The book written by his son, "Flags of Our Fathers" is being made into a movie by Steven Spielberg and is sure to be sensational. No doubt that it will be immediately compared to "Sands of Iwo Jima" which, until "Flags" comes out, is the definitive movie about that battle.