Battle Cry (1955)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Leon Uris (novel)
Leon Uris (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 February 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

THE SCORCHINGLY PERSONAL BEST-SELLER! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A group of young Marines have adventures in love and war.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | New Zealand | Landing Craft | Unfaithfulness | Tarawa

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Van Heflin	...	Major Sam Huxley (CO, 2nd Bn., 6th Marine Regt.)
Aldo Ray	...	Pvt. / Pfc Andy Hookens
Mona Freeman	...	Kathy, later: Mrs. Danny Forrester
Nancy Olson	...	Mrs. Pat Rogers
James Whitmore	...	MSgt. Mac / Narrator
Raymond Massey	...	Maj. Gen. Snipes
Tab Hunter	...	Pvt. Cpl. Dan 'Danny' Forrester
Dorothy Malone	...	Mrs. Elaine Yarborough (USO manager in San Diego)
Anne Francis	...	Rae
William Campbell	...	Pvt. 'Ski' Wronski
John Lupton	...	Pvt. / Cpl. Marion 'Sister Mary' Hotchkiss
L.Q. Jones	...	Pvt. L.Q. Jones (as Justus E. McQueen)
Perry Lopez	...	Pvt. Joe Gomez aka Spanish Joe
Fess Parker	...	Pvt. Speedy
Jonas Applegarth	...	Pvt. Lighttower (Navajo Phonetalker)

Runtime:

149 min | West Germany:136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Navajo

Colour:

Colour (archive footage) | Black and White (archive footage) | Colour (Warnercolor) (as WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) (magnetic prints) | Mono (RCA Sound Recording) (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:G | Brazil:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The movie is based on the novel by Leon Uris, who also wrote the screenplay, and was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh. It received an Academy Award nomination for Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the unit arrives at Guadalcanal, as they march off some of the men in the first group have wet trousers from the landing on the beach, but the men in the second group have completely dry trousers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ellie Parker (2005)

Soundtrack:

Wedding March

A Reel War

It's not surprising many war veterans like this film. Dramatically framed with a voice-over by James Whitmore as the epitome of a Marine Sergeant who cares about his men but knows the mission is all, the film quickly draws us into the lives of these men and their women in a suspenseful and satisfying way. There is enough good acting by Whitmore, Van Heflin, Dorothy Malone, John Lupton and others to get us past the less well acted and more cliched moments. Some scenarios, such as the tragedy-to-triumph of the lumberjack womanizer(Aldo Ray)and the New Zealand farm widow (Nancy Olson)are superbly plotted and played. There are many memorable moments in the film and Uris' varied characters are well represented.(Please note that Navaho code-talkers are credited here.) Combat and training imagery and sound is generally high quality, but the outstanding aspect of the film is the way it explores the human qualities of those men and women who face the tests of war.