Realistic combat movie which does not glorify war.

Guts-or-glory , jingoist WWII movie depicts the Marines fighting the Japanese at a Pacific island

I know this, as my father was in boot camp at the time and his squad were used as extras for four days at this location, for this film.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, USA

William Holden and Eleanor Parker in Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)

Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Nancy Coleman in Desperate Journey (1942)

Dana Andrews and Richard Conte in A Walk in the Sun (1945)

Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan in Edge of Darkness (1943)

William Holden, Richard Widmark, Janice Rule, and Victoria Shaw in Alvarez Kelly (1966)

Anthony Quinn, William Bendix, Richard Conte, Preston Foster, and Lloyd Nolan in Guadalcanal Diary (1943)

Robert Taylor, Edmond O'Brien, Richard Todd, and Dana Wynter in D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)

Wasn't there a comment by your General Sherman about war?

Yeah, he said, "War is Hell." What did he know, that eight-ball never left the States.

Jack Palance and Richard Widmark in Halls of Montezuma (1951)

Neville Brand in Halls of Montezuma (1951)

Richard Widmark in Halls of Montezuma (1951)

Martin Milner in Halls of Montezuma (1951)

Richard Widmark

Jack Palance

Reginald Gardiner

Michael Blankfort

A company of Marines races against the clock to find a Japanese rocket base.

Lewis Milestone

Halls of Montezuma

A &quot;Small&quot; War Movie


* Despite it&apos;s grand name, Halls of Montezuma is a small war film. What I mean is that the movie focuses more on a small group of men and their fears and problems than it does on a grand plan for Allied victory. It&apos;s a very personal movie. We get to see these men up-close and we begin to develop feelings for them. I wouldn&apos;t doubt that this is one of the first films to show a U.S. Lieutenant so battle scarred that he resorts to using pain killers just to function. Unlike other war films of this era, not all of these men are going to make it to the end. War is like that. It doesn&apos;t pick and chose people to live because we like them. So in that regard, it&apos;s also more realistic than some other war movies made in the 50s.



* To succeed as a small, personal war movie as I&apos;ve described, the cast has to be able to act. This cast does not disappoint. Richard Widmark, Jack Webb, and Karl Malden are all excellent in their respective roles. I was especially impressed with Webb who has an acting style that can grate on the nerves. He&apos;s more subdued here and it works. But as good as these three are, Jack Palance is the highlight of the movie for me. He was undoubtedly the most believable. I could really picture him doing the things in real life that were called for in the script.



* I have no difficulty recommending Halls of Montezuma to fans of war films. It&apos;s a very welcome addition to my DVD collection.


Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNGNhODNhZGItZjIzZC00NGExLThjZTUtMDliYmE0Nzc1M2EyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg


* Despite it's grand name, Halls of Montezuma is a small war film. What I mean is that the movie focuses more on a small group of men and their fears and problems than it does on a grand plan for Allied victory. It's a very personal movie. We get to see these men up-close and we begin to develop feelings for them. I wouldn't doubt that this is one of the first films to show a U.S. Lieutenant so battle scarred that he resorts to using pain killers just to function. Unlike other war films of this era, not all of these men are going to make it to the end. War is like that. It doesn't pick and chose people to live because we like them. So in that regard, it's also more realistic than some other war movies made in the 50s.



* To succeed as a small, personal war movie as I've described, the cast has to be able to act. This cast does not disappoint. Richard Widmark, Jack Webb, and Karl Malden are all excellent in their respective roles. I was especially impressed with Webb who has an acting style that can grate on the nerves. He's more subdued here and it works. But as good as these three are, Jack Palance is the highlight of the movie for me. He was undoubtedly the most believable. I could really picture him doing the things in real life that were called for in the script.



* I have no difficulty recommending Halls of Montezuma to fans of war films. It's a very welcome addition to my DVD collection.


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Halls of Montezuma

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