Beachhead (film)

Last updated

Beachhead
Beachhead - 1954 - Poster.png
1954 theatrical poster for Beachead!
Directed by Stuart Heisler
Written by Richard Alan Simmons
Based onI've Got Mine by Richard G. Hubler
Produced by Howard W. Koch
Aubrey Schenck
Starring Tony Curtis
Frank Lovejoy
Mary Murphy
Skip Homeier
Cinematography Gordon Avil
Edited byJohn F. Schreyer
Music by Arthur Lange
Emil Newman
Production
company
Aubrey Schenck Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • 5 February 1954 (1954-02-05)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$450,000
Box officeUS$1,400,000

Beachhead! is a 1954 American Technicolor war film based on U.S. Marine Corps Captain Richard G. Hubler 1945 novel I've Got Mine about World War II. It was filmed on Kauai island in the Hawaiian Islands chain in the mid - Pacific Ocean by Aubrey Schenck Productions, released through United Artists studio and directed by Stuart Heisler.

Contents

Plot

In late October 1943, a battalion of U.S. Marines have landed on Choiseul Island to create a diversion for the impending Allied attack and invasion of Japanese held Bougainville Island in the Northern Solomon Islands, northeast of the large island colony of New Guinea in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

Four of them have been selected to carry out a reconnaissance patrol to find a French planter and his daughter. The planter has sent a solitary radio message to the Allies concerning the area the Japanese have mined; if the information is true it could save a projected 18% of the Marine invasion force. The patrol must confirm that the message is authentic, and that the planter is still alive, as he can give the Marines valuable information needed for a successful amphibious landing by the Allied forces. Once obtaining the information the small party is to make a rendezvous on the coast with a US Navy PT boat. The members of a patrol are the sole survivors of their sergeant's platoon on Guadalcanal with both the patrol members and the sergeant blaming their demise on their sergeant's leadership.

Cast

Production

Filmed on Hawaiian locations on Kaua'i, including Hanalei Pier, [1] the film was budgeted at US$450,000 with the producers arranging to release Tony Curtis from his contract with Universal-International studios. [2] The producers used Hawaiians for many of the roles in the film such as Sam "Steamboat" Mokuahi, [3] Democratic Party organiser Dan Aoki, and Akira Fukunaga, the latter two being veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

The producers went to the US Marine Corps to seek technical assistance for the making of the film. Although the Corps liked the idea of the film, they refused to provide cooperation. As two of the four Marines were killed in the screenplay, the Public Information Officer said that the Marines would not provide any assistance to any film showing the Corps taking 50 per cent casualties as they were in the midst of a new recruiting campaign emphasising a new less danger-seeking image. [4] The producers visited the Pentagon and were provided with Navy, Coast Guard, and Hawaiian National Guard assistance in making the movie. [4] The film was titled Missione Suicido (Suicide Mission) in Italy.

Mary Murphy felt that Stuart Heisler was trying to make her look like a version of the director's own wife. She was also nearly attacked by a drunken cameraman on the film's isolated Hawaiian location. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanalei, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Hanalei is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County, Hawaii, United States. The population was estimated at 299 as of 2019. Hanalei means "lei making" in Hawaiian. Alternatively, the name Hanalei also means "crescent bay" and may be indicative of the shape of Hanalei Bay. Hanalei can also be translated as lei valley, referring to the rainbows that color the valley and encircle Hanalei like a wreath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">III Marine Expeditionary Force</span> Military unit

III Marine Expeditionary Force is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) to amphibious assault and high-intensity combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Strank</span> United States Marine Corps sergeant

Michael Strank was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal. Of the six Marines depicted in the photo, Strank was the only one to be correctly identified from the beginning; the other five were either assigned the wrong locations, or, were given the names of Marines who were not in the photo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Guam (1944)</span> WWII battle in the Pacific theater between US and Japan

The Battle of Guam was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the United States in the First Battle of Guam in 1941 during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was a critical component of Operation Forager. The recapture of Guam and the broader Mariana and Palau Islands campaign resulted in the destruction of much of Japan's naval air power and allowed the United States to establish large airbases from which it could bomb the Japanese home islands with its new strategic bomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

<i>Beach Red</i> 1967 film by Cornel Wilde

Beach Red is a 1967 World War II film starring Cornel Wilde and Rip Torn. The film depicts a landing by the United States Marine Corps on an unnamed Japanese-held Pacific island. The film is based on Peter Bowman's 1945 novella of the same name, which was based on his experiences with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the Pacific War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bradley (United States Navy)</span> United States Navy corpsman

John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy Hospital corpsman who was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving with the Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. During the battle, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raid on Choiseul</span> World War II US Marines action in the Solomon Islands campaign

The Raid on Choiseul was a small unit engagement that occurred from 28 October to 3 November 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific War. The raid was launched to divert the Japanese from the Allied landings at Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Oliver Hansen</span> United States Marine Corps sergeant (1919-1945)

Henry Oliver Hansen was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was killed six days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Battalion, 28th Marines</span> Military unit

The 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion which is part of the 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Six Marines of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines were featured in the historical photo by Joe Rosenthal of the U.S. flag raising on top of Mount Suribachi.

Harold George Schrier was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who served in World War II and the Korean War. In World War II, he was awarded the Navy Cross for leading the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. In the Korean War, he was wounded in North Korea during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir while commanding a rifle company.

<i>Halls of Montezuma</i> (film) 1951 film by Lewis Milestone

Halls of Montezuma is a 1951 American World War II war film directed by Academy Award-winner Lewis Milestone and starring Richard Widmark. It also stars Robert Wagner in his first credited screen role and features Richard Boone in his feature-film debut. The story is about U.S. Marines fighting on a Japanese-held island, and the title is a reference to the opening line from the Marines' Hymn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Air Station Barbers Point</span>

Naval Air Station Barbers Point, on O'ahu, home to John Rodgers Field, is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa Airport. Parts of the former air station serve as a film and television studio for the Hawaii State Film Office.

Gung Ho! is a 1943 American war film directed by Ray Enright and starring Randolph Scott. The story is based somewhat on the real-life World War II Makin Island raid led by Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson's 2nd Marine Raider Battalion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Goettge</span> United States Marine Corps officer

Frank Bryan Goettge was a United States Marine Corps intelligence officer in World War II. He led the ill-fated Goettge Patrol in the early days of the Guadalcanal campaign and was killed during that operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion</span> US military unit

The United States Marine Corps's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, formerly Company, was a Marine Corps special operations forces of United States Marine and Hospital corpsman that performed clandestine operation preliminary pre–D-Day amphibious reconnaissance of planned beachheads and their littoral area within uncharted enemy territory for the joint-Navy/Marine force commanders of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. Often accompanied by Navy Underwater Demolition Teams and the early division recon companies, these amphibious recon platoons performed more reconnaissance missions than any other single recon unit during the Pacific campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanalei Pier</span> United States historic place

Hanalei Pier is a pier built into Hanalei Bay on the northern shore of the island of Kauaʻi in the state of Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Coconut Grove</span>

The Battle of the Coconut Grove was a battle between United States Marine Corps and Imperial Japanese Army forces on Bougainville Island during the Pacific War. The battle took place on 13–14 November 1943 during the Bougainville campaign, coming in the wake of a successful landing around Cape Torokina at the start of November, as part of the advance towards Rabaul as part of Operation Cartwheel.

Tarawa Beachhead is a 1958 war film directed by Paul Wendkos. It stars Columbia Pictures contract star Kerwin Mathews in his first leading role and the husband and wife team of Ray Danton and Julie Adams. The working title of the film was Flag over Tarawa and was originally to have starred Ronald Reagan.

<i>Hold Back the Night</i> 1956 film by Allan Dwan

Hold Back the Night is a 1956 American war film about the Korean War based on the 1951 novel by Pat Frank, who had been a war correspondent in Korea. The film was directed by Allan Dwan; his third film with John Payne and his third film about the United States Marine Corps, the others being Abroad with Two Yanks (1944) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

References

  1. "Hawaiian Encyclopedia : Hanalei History Part 5". Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  2. Mirisch, Walter, I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History, 2008, p. 75, University of Wisconsin Press
  3. "Honolulu Star-Bulletin Obituaries". Archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 p.125 Suid, Lawrence M. Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film 2002 University of Kentucky Press
  5. The Wild One's Sweetheart: Mary Murphy Interviewed, Paul and Donna Parla.[ dead link ]