Battle Cry (1955)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

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 | Marine Corps US | Landing Craft | Intellectual

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 (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:

Revealing mistakes: When Andy Hookins chops down the tree in front of Pat's house, he visibly "chops" it with an axe - but when the tree falls the camera pulls back to show the tree falling from a perfectly smooth stump, obviously cut with a chainsaw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ellie Parker (2005)

Soundtrack:

(You May Not Be an Angel, but) I'll String Along with You

A goodie

This is one of the best of a whole slew of WW2 films that were made in the 50's, some others of which are also very good. This one stars Aldo Ray and James Whitmore, a young Tab Hunter and others destined to become stars. The action scenes are all done pretty well in most of these films and this one is no exception. By today's standards, there are no real special effects, but what little are in the film are state-of-the-art for the time. This film should be seen to appreciate what our soldiers, sailors and marines did for us in WW2.