John Ford and John Wayne join forces and tell this WWII story about the Pacific Theater. What's surprising is how John Wayne isn't actually the man in charge here, that role went to Robert Montgomery whose Lieutenant John Brickley is everything one would expect from a great American leader. The warriors in this story make up a rag-tag team of torpedo boats as they go on missions to sink Japanese destroyers. What's welcome about this one is it demonstrates how ugly and exhausting war is and the devastation it wrecks. Sure the soldiers are made up of that typical stereotype cast but it doesn't annoy here but feels genuine. In the end I must say this is one of Ford's best movies and one of the better Pacific theater point of view films I've seen. Grade: A
FYI - In reading about this film I was stunned to learn that the real people these characters are based on, John Wayne and Donna Reed's characters, were not happy with the final product. I guess they didn't realize it was just a movie.
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