Beachhead

About half-way through the movie, there's an episode with a Japanese prisoner that's really chilling and unexpected. It's what I've remembered of this war film over the years, and I expect it took some nerve for the screenplay to treat the topic in such a cold-blooded way. Aside from that memorable scene, the chase across the island generates some suspense and having the Japanese tracker played by a bare-chested muscle man adds a colorful scary touch. Then too, filming in the jungles of Kauai makes events seem more real and interesting to look at.

At this stage of his career, Tony Curtis was considered little more than a light-weight pretty boy with a heavy Bronx accent. He was later to prove the critics wrong. Beachead is a better movie than might be expected, thanks to director Stuart Heisler who knows how to stage scenes and keep things moving. (Note the jolting way he stages Skip Homeier's death scene.) Pacing events is no small challenge since Heisler has to work in a romance between Curtis and Murphy in the midst of combat on a Pacific island.

Anyway, the acting is good, especially the always low-key Frank Lovejoy as the Marine sergeant-- too bad, he's now largely forgotten. I guess the producers had to protect Curtis's matinée appeal by including Murphy in the cast (note how her dress gets skimpier and skimpier as they scamper along!). Her role is okay if you can buy her and Curtis getting "intimate" in the middle of a life-and-death chase. Be that as it may, despite its potboiler status, this little programmer has some nice touches and holds interest throughout.

If the U.S. Marines had not put a few diversionary landings on the small island location of this film, Mary Murphy and Eduard Franz might have had to spend the rest of the war playing tag with the Japanese.

As it is their island as per the strategy of MacArthur is being hopped over for a landing on nearby Bougainville. But Franz knows where the minefields on Bougainville are located and he sends out a message. Of course it has to be confirmed so Frank Lovejoy is given a special mission for his squad to find Franz and verify.

Easier said than done, especially with the other men of the squad, Tony Curtis, Alan Wells, and Skip Homeier hating Lovejoy's guts over some business back at Guadalcanal. But they're going to have to get over it if the mission is to be accomplished.

Not usual for war films, but Mary Murphy in a tight blue dress is a nice diversion for the audience. She sure is a nice diversion for Tony Curtis who has to keep his mind on the war.

Beachhead does have some nice location photography on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a very realistic setting in a film about the Pacific War.

It's not the greatest of war films, but passably entertaining enough.

During WWII a commando is assigned a dangerous mission on an island of Pacific already inhabited by stranded Japanese forces . The American platoon is commanded by sergeant Fletcher (Frank Lovejoy) who rules over soldiers (Tony Curtis , Skip Homeier..) . At the beginning the Marines are successfully in wiping out Japanese . But they are spotted and descended upon by enemies forces . They must escort a French planter (Eduard Franz) and his daughter Nina (Mary Murphy) to the other side of the Pacific island , suffering exhaustion , encounters and the elements until they are rescued . Then the daredevil sergeant and the tough soldier find themselves vying during the escape . The group must try to survive enemy that undergo a chase and a mini-war , as they fight all by themselves and finally find how wrong his misconceptions are .

This is a flag-waver wartime movie with a typical crew of Marines battling the 'yellow menace' and retrieve important documents on a Pacific atoll . The film packs warlike action , thrills , drama and results to be quite entertaining . The story contains a brief studio character seeking human frailty beneath surface heroism . Splendid Frank Lovejoy as tough sergeant , in one of the best roles and Tony Curtis is impressive , no thanks to mediocre script . Director Stuart Heisler's skill with the thrills overcomes the artificiality of the story . Heisler made various films with known actors and diverse genres , such as Gary Cooper (Dallas) , Susan Hayward (Tulsa , Smash-up) , Linda Darnell (This is my love) , Jack Palance (Died a thousand times , a remake of High Sierra) and Tony Curtis , among others . A cool cast , nice direction from Heisler with riveting climax and enhanced by energetic score (Emil Newman) make this a must for warlike fans.

Other movies concerning the wartime sub-genre about American soldiers battling Japanese on the Pacific islands during the WWII are the followings : Guadalcanal diary (43) by Lewis Seiler with Anthony Quinn and Lloyd Nolan ; the classic Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) by Allan Dawn with John Wayne ; Objective Burma by Raoul Walsh with Errol Flynn ; None but the brave , directed and starred by Frank Sinatra ; and Between heaven and hell (1956) with Robert Wagner , among them.

Tony Curtis stars as a US Marine on a treacherous mission to locate a Frenchman on Bougainville who may have important information which will save the lives of hundreds of American troops. He's accompanied on the mission by Sergeant Frank Lovejoy, who failed in his last mission on Guadalcanal, and GIs Skip Homeier and Alan Wells. The film's title implies an invasion sequence, but Beachhead is more of a cat and mouse chase film, with our heroes--also burdened by the presence of attractive love interest Mary Murphy--being pursued by a squad of Japanese troops. Curtis looks hot and hunky and never has a hair out of place. It's not the most realistic or exciting war film you've ever seen, but the Kauai location footage adds flavour and Lovejoy is fairly good.

The other reviews pretty much cover the ground. The premise is pretty hokey. What was a French planter doing on islands that were never controlled by France. How could he have lived his whole life on those islands when he must have been born before the British, not the French, made them a protectorate? How did a planter living on an island occupied by the Japanese learn the location of sea mines planted around the island of Bougainville, 30 miles away?

One more complaint. Why do so many movies have the heroine trip and hurt her ankle. So many have silly scenes like that: "'help I've fallen and I can't get up."

I will next limit my comments to a few corrections.

One review refers to the scene of the action as an "atoll". Wrong, atolls are low islands built up from coral. This was obviously filmed on one of the high volcanic islands that dot the Pacific Ocean, Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.

Another comment call it a "wartime movie". Filmed in 1953, it was far too late for that. After all WW II ended in 1945.

One review mentioned similar movies, described as those with

"American soldiers battling Japanese on the Pacific islands during the WWII are the following: ..... Objective Burma by Raoul Walsh with Errol Flynn"

Sorry, but Burma is a whole country all its own on the Asian mainland. It is not an island in the Pacific or any other ocean. The only coastline it has faces the Indian Ocean. The movie really frosted the Brits when it came out in 1944 since they knew full well that Burma was the objective of the British XIVth Army which re-conquered it from the Japanese. The Brits angrily objected to Americans claiming that victory in the movies. Ironically the XIVth Army was made up largely of divisions from the Indian Army.