This John Ford movie has a very intriguing story on top of the brilliant filmmaking I’ve grown to expect from the legendary director. Though I wouldn’t fully call it an anti-war narrative there are definitely elements here which match that description which is wild considering the release date and the film outside of that, from the epic practical effects in the unforgettable action sequences to the well written dramatic script, is really really amazing and the result is one of my new favorites from the 40’s. I’ll start with the acting because I’m surprised to say John Wayne really worked for me in this one, he’s worked for me before in films like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Angel and the Badman but seeing him successfully portray this non-western role was a lot of fun and I now have a lot more appreciation for his ability and intrigue to see more. Next to him I thought both Donna Reed and Robert Montgomery were really good, I definitely could’ve done with more of Reed’s character as the chemistry between her and Wayne was really clicking for me but this spotlight being on the fantastic Robert Montgomery lead didn’t bother me one bit. Joseph H. August’s cinematography combined with Ford’s vision is a huge piece of the puzzle here and my lord is it gorgeous, truly some of the defining work of the 40’s I’ve seen so far through the epic ocean sequences and the well-designed shots all throughout. I also thought the score from The Wizard of Oz composer Herbert Stothart was great here, during the action sequences it built a very modern feel of tension and suspense which I quite enjoyed and outside of that it embodied the golden age orchestral sound which I’ve fallen in love with over the past couple years. It’ll probably be a long time before I come back to this but I’m gonna save any further deep dive on the themes until then, all in all this was an amazing watch that captured the hopelessness of soldiers in war so much better than I’d have expected from a 1945 American WW2 film but it is John Ford after all and with movie number 7 of his I’m learning to trust his vision no matter what.

This John Ford movie has a very intriguing story on top of the brilliant filmmaking I’ve grown to expect from the legendary director. Though I wouldn’t fully call it an anti-war narrative there are definitely elements here which match that description which is wild considering the release date and the film outside of that, from the epic practical effects in the unforgettable action sequences to the well written dramatic script, is really really amazing and the result is one of my new favorites from the 40’s. I’ll start with the acting because I’m surprised to say John Wayne really worked for me in this one, he’s worked for me before in films like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Angel and the Badman but seeing him successfully portray this non-western role was a lot of fun and I now have a lot more appreciation for his ability and intrigue to see more. Next to him I thought both Donna Reed and Robert Montgomery were really good, I definitely could’ve done with more of Reed’s character as the chemistry between her and Wayne was really clicking for me but this spotlight being on the fantastic Robert Montgomery lead didn’t bother me one bit. Joseph H. August’s cinematography combined with Ford’s vision is a huge piece of the puzzle here and my lord is it gorgeous, truly some of the defining work of the 40’s I’ve seen so far through the epic ocean sequences and the well-designed shots all throughout. I also thought the score from The Wizard of Oz composer Herbert Stothart was great here, during the action sequences it built a very modern feel of tension and suspense which I quite enjoyed and outside of that it embodied the golden age orchestral sound which I’ve fallen in love with over the past couple years. It’ll probably be a long time before I come back to this but I’m gonna save any further deep dive on the themes until then, all in all this was an amazing watch that captured the hopelessness of soldiers in war so much better than I’d have expected from a 1945 American WW2 film but it is John Ford after all and with movie number 7 of his I’m learning to trust his vision no matter what.

i wasn’t excepting donna reed to be in every scene but i was excepting her to be in more than three scenes

i wasn’t excepting donna reed to be in every scene but i was excepting her to be in more than three scenes

Can you believe it? Another solid ford flick. Man made alot of movies amd so far they're all keeping up a pretty good standard of quality. While this isn't one of his best, it's too long and at while a war movie too insignificant at times, it's still a solid movie. The acting is good, you know I love my man Wayne. And a war movie released in 1945 is always gonna be an interesting time capsule

Can you believe it? Another solid ford flick. Man made alot of movies amd so far they're all keeping up a pretty good standard of quality. While this isn't one of his best, it's too long and at while a war movie too insignificant at times, it's still a solid movie. The acting is good, you know I love my man Wayne. And a war movie released in 1945 is always gonna be an interesting time capsule

Another average and fine effort to have John Wayne in a war film. While nothing inherently bad about the film, in fact the story itself is interesting, it also hardly finds anything that did memorable.

Another average and fine effort to have John Wayne in a war film. While nothing inherently bad about the film, in fact the story itself is interesting, it also hardly finds anything that did memorable.