Marines, Let's Go
| Marines, Let's Go | |
|---|---|
20th Century Fox | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,665,000[1] |
Marines, Let's Go is a 1961
Plot summary
During the Korean War, an infantry unit from the 1st Marine Division is given R&R in Yokosuka, Japan. The group is led by PFC Desmond "Let's Go" McCaffrey, a veteran of the Guadalcanal campaign and the Battle of Okinawa with over 16 years of service in the Corps, yet he is repeatedly demoted from the rank of Sergeant. McCaffrey, described as "a headache to the enemy, a migraine to the M.P.s" is incapable of behaving himself on leave due to his penchants for excessive alcohol consumption and hand-to-hand combat with people on his own side.
When PFC Skip Roth, a World War II "retread" called the "brain" for being a scheming con-man loses the gang's money during gambling, he concocts an elaborate scheme to pay for their R&R. He converses with Private Pete Kono, a Japanese-American World War II veteran on a
Other Marines in the group include: PFC David Chatfield, who McCaffrey hates because he is from a well-to-do
The group is told to keep their eye on McCaffrey as he is due to be promoted to his old rank and awarded the Silver Star, but Roth schemes to get McCaffrey into trouble by forging unknown love letters, then blaming them on a sailor to goad him into a brawl. McCaffrey gets his revenge by having Fuji, a girlfriend's Sumo champion brother go after Roth.
The Marines are called back to Korea to repel a Chinese offensive in the area where Chatfield's "Moose" and her father live.
Cast
- Tom Reese as Pfc. McCaffrey
- Tom Tryon as Pfc. Roth
- David Hedison as Pfc. Chatfield
- Linda Hutchings as Grace
- Barbara Stuart as Ina
- David Brandon as Pvt. Newt Levels
- Steve Baylor as Pvt. Chase
- Peter Miller as Gunnery Sgt. Howard Hawkins
- Rachel Romen as Mrs. Ellen Hawkins (as Adoree Evans)
- Hideo Inamura as Pvt. Pete Kono
- Vince Williams as Hank Dyer (war correspondent)
- Fumiyo Fujimoto as Song Do (Chatfield's girl)
- Heihachirô Ôkawaas Yoshida (hotel manager)
- Shohei "Giant" Baba as Fuji
- Roy Jenson as a Sailor
Production
Walsh filmed the movie on location in Japan with extras from the US Marine Corps, who were pulled off filming due to the possibility of their being sent to
The Marine technical advisor of the film was Colonel Jacob G. Goldberg (1911–2008), who served 30 years in the Marine Corps.[3]
Tom Reese was a former Marine and a military policeman, Roy Jenson a former sailor.
Reception
When the White House was interested in Warner Bros. making a film on John F. Kennedy's exploits as the commander of PT 109, Jack L. Warner sent a print of Marines, Let's Go to display Raoul Walsh's expertise for making the movie about Kennedy. The president hated the film,[4] however, and Warner Bros. had to choose a new director for PT 109.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
- ^ American Cinematographer, Volume 42 (1961), p. 473.
- ^ MarineChat.com
- ^ Suid, Lawrence H. Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy, Naval Institute Press, 1996, p. 153
External links
- Marines, Let's Go at IMDb
- Marines, Let's Go at AllMovie
- Marines, Let's Go at the TCM Movie Database
- Marines, Let's Go at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Howard Thompson, "'Marines, Let's Go!' Comes to Paramount" (review), The New York Times, August 16, 1961.
- Marines, Let's Go film clip on YouTube
 | This article about a film on the Korean War is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |