John Wayne made many films. Many of them involved action. This is definitely one. It is also one of his best. It also stars Forrest Tucker. It was directed by Alan Dwan.
Wayne plays Sgt. John M. Stryker, a tough Marine sergeant, who’s tasked with getting his company ready for battle in the Pacific theater. He has one Marine, PFC Al Thomas, who holds a grudge against him, for being responsible for taking away his sergeant stripes. He has another one who can’t seem to get the feel of using a bayonet. He tries aggressive tactics, which result in the soldier getting hit with the butt of Stryker’s rifle in the jaw. After the soldier recovers from his training exercise injury, he tells Stryker, he’ll never get the feel of bayoneting. He requests a transfer. Stryker solves this problem by dancing with him, while the marine holds the bayonet, and then he gets it. It’s a humorous scene, before the heavy fighting begins. The company gradually comes to like and respect him, except for PFC Thomas. While on patrol, with two other marines, Thomas sees a marine drinking coffee, and asks for a cup. While he’s taking his coffee break, the other two marines are killed by Japanese soldiers. Stryker finds out, and gets into a fight with Thomas. The two are spotted brawling by an officer. When questioned, Thomas says its nothing. After this, the two develop a grudging respect for each other.
Stryker and his company of Marines move onto Iwo Jima, where they experience heavy fighting. The battle scenes are done well by Alan Dwan. Unfortunately the Marines suffer heavy casualties, which was the case during this battle. The flag is raised, and all seems well. One of the Marines asks for a cigarette, and Stryker reaches for it. Unfortunately as he hands it to him, he’s shot and killed, by a Japanese sniper. One of the company, then finds the sniper and kills him. A letter is found in Stryker’s pocket, addressed to his son and read aloud, but it’s incomplete. The Marine who reads it, says he’ll finish it. After this the film ends.
This film was the perfect vehicle for John Wayne as the tough as nails sergeant. He was so good in this movie, he was nominated for an academy award. Unfortunately, he had to wait twenty more years, for the academy to recognize his acting ability in True Grit. This film is also part of movie trivia. It is one of the few films in which the Duke dies. There is nothing trivial about this movie, though, about the real life battle of Iwo Jima, where thousands of brave men lost their lives. This is a film that depicts the bravery of those men, and it is very good.