Battle Cry (1955)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Leon Uris (novel)
Leon Uris (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 February 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

THE SCORCHINGLY PERSONAL BEST-SELLER! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A group of young Marines have adventures in love and war.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | New Zealand | Marine Corps US | Landing Craft | Intellectual

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Van Heflin	...	Major Sam Huxley (CO, 2nd Bn., 6th Marine Regt.)
Aldo Ray	...	Pvt. / Pfc Andy Hookens
Mona Freeman	...	Kathy, later: Mrs. Danny Forrester
Nancy Olson	...	Mrs. Pat Rogers
James Whitmore	...	MSgt. Mac / Narrator
Raymond Massey	...	Maj. Gen. Snipes
Tab Hunter	...	Pvt. / Cpl. Dan 'Danny' Forrester
Dorothy Malone	...	Mrs. Elaine Yarborough (USO manager in San Diego)
Anne Francis	...	Rae
William Campbell	...	Pvt. 'Ski' Wronski
John Lupton	...	Pvt. / Cpl. Marion 'Sister Mary' Hotchkiss
L.Q. Jones	...	Pvt. L.Q. Jones (as Justus E. McQueen)
Perry Lopez	...	Pvt. Joe Gomez aka Spanish Joe
Fess Parker	...	Pvt. Speedy
Jonas Applegarth	...	Pvt. Lighttower (Navajo Phonetalker)

Runtime:

149 min | West Germany:136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Navajo

Color:

Color (Warnercolor) (as WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) (magnetic prints) | Mono (RCA Sound Recording) (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:G | Brazil:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The movie is based on the novel by Leon Uris, who also wrote the screenplay, and was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh. It received an Academy Award nomination for Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the unit arrives at Guadalcanal, as they march off some of the men in the first group have wet trousers from the landing on the beach, but the men in the second group have completely dry trousers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (1990)

Soundtrack:

Marine Hymn

Peyton Place set to the Marine Corp hymn.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed this film and have watched it perhaps a half dozen times. The comments by Mr. Glassey do seem unfair to me. This movie doesnt show us the guts and bloodshed and realism that is accepted and maybe even expected by todays standards but it does show the loss of war. The fear of war and the heroism that was a part of being a marine in WWII. It shows us 3 dimensional characters like "High Pockets" who loves his men as much as he loves the Marines. Yes, I suppose some of the situations are glossed over but that is to be expected when you are trying to tell a story this big in the time alloted. The beginning and middle of the film which focus' on training and shipping over seas to New Zealand is first rate entertainment. The last third where we go into combat with the cast is not as realistic as modern films, but how can it be? It is 1955 when this movie was made and the technology to show how war really looks was not possible then. And even if one may argue that it was, the desire and allowable limits of the day would have precluded that sort of realism anyway. All in all, this is a fair if not excellent portrait of marines going to war.