First to Fight

Chad Everett is a Marine who survives a brutal Japanese attack on his unit, and because of his heroism is sent Stateside on a morale-building tour, where he falls for the beautiful woman assigned as his guide. This film is actually better than it sounds; Everett is quite effective as the Marine who didn't think much about his own mortality while in combat, but begins to realize that circumstances are entirely different now that he has a wife to worry about. The supporting performances are generally competent, though Marilyn Devin's inexperience as an actress is obvious in her role as Everett's new wife (she later left the industry and became a newscaster). Gene Hackman and James Best are quite good as two of Everett's fellow Marine combat veterans. The battle scenes are well done, the story moves along at a good clip, though it does lag in spots, and overall it's one of director Christian ("The Thing") Nyby's better efforts.

After seeing this and being familiar with the series, The Pacific, it seems this is a fictional and weaker version of the real story of Sgt. John Basilone.

Nevertheless, this is a decent film and does convey some of the hell our men went through in the early stage of the war over there.

The Pacific portrayed it all much better.

It is 1942 Guadalcanal. The Marines are stranded with limited support and pounded by the Japanese. Sergeant "Shanghai" Jack Conell (Chad Everett) is the sole survivor of a Japanese attack and is rewarded with the Medal of Honor. Instead of going back into the fight, he is sent off on a tour around the country to sell War Bonds. He falls for Peggy Sandford (Marilyn Devin) who lost her previous beau to the war. He marries her, but she makes him promise not to go back into the war. He trains new recruits at Camp Pendleton. After his friend is killed, the war calls him.

First to Fight is a phrase describing the Marines' tendency to be the first ground forces entering the fight. For me, it is most compelling for Gene Hackman before his star making turn in Bonnie and Clyde. He's also a former Marine. The movie deals with a lot of personal struggle and goes through a lot of story in ninety minutes. This is an old fashion war film, but some subject matter is rather modern.

This film starts during the early stages of World War II with a Marine unit fighting a fierce battle against Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. During the fight, although the rest of his platoon is killed, a young Marine named "Sergeant Jack Connell" (Chad Everett) stands firm and kills many enemy soldiers attacking his position. For his heroism, Sergeant Connell is sent back to the United States, but not before being promoted to lieutenant and receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. While stateside, he meets a young woman named "Peggy Sandford" (Marilyn Devin), falls in love, and they later marry. However, although he is quite happy with married life, after learning that a close friend has been killed in action, his attitude changes, and things take a drastic turn for the worse. I won't reveal more, but I recall watching this movie when it first came out in the late 1960s, and it remains quite enjoyable today. Admittedly, partly because none of the cast members were considered top-tier during this time, the film has a B-movie feel to it, which is perhaps expected. Nonetheless, it's still a decent movie, and I've rated it accordingly.

I've always had a warm spot in my heart for this "B" movie because I watched some of it being made and some scenes were shot immediately in front of the quonset hut in which I lived at that time, at the Second Infantry Training Regiment, San Onofre area, Camp Pendleton, where I was stationed in the training section. It was pretty neat to watch and is the only movie I've ever seen "made" and I had the pleasure of driving Chad Everett and Dean Jagger around in a Jeep for two or three days. (Some other lucky Marine got to drive the heroine!) I got Chad Everett's autograph, but way back then he wasn't as famous as he would be later.

The movie itself is pretty good - but I'm favorably prejudiced toward any USMC movie!