Halls of Montezuma (1951)

Cast

Richard Widmark

Lt. Carl Anderson

Jack Palance

Pigeon Lane

Reginald Gardiner

Sgt. Randolph Johnson

Robert Wagner

Coffman

Karl Malden

C.E. "Doc" Jones

Richard Hylton

Stuart Conroy

Richard Boone

Lt. Col. Gilfillan

Skip Homeier

Riley "Pretty Boy" Duncanon

Don Hicks

Lt. Bill Butterfield

Jack Webb

Correspondent Dickerman

About Halls of Montezuma

Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.

Popularity

2.4

Release

Jan 4, 1951

Genres

War, Drama

Director: Lewis Milestone

Writer: Michael Blankfort

IMDb

Gallery

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Reviews (1)

John Chard

Apr 6, 2014

7.5

From the Halls of Montezuma. To the Shores of Tripoli. U.S. Marines battle to take control of a Japanese held island in the Pacific… Directed by Lewis Milestone, Halls of Montezuma is unabashed in its flag waving paean to the U.S. Marines. With a strong ensemble cast to act out the play, Milestone intercuts real war footage with skilled recreations of the guts and glory mission undertaken by the men. Film is very keen to let us know what sort of men are fighting this war, keeping the characterisations intimate, it’s a roll call of the brave, the stupid, the scared and the insane. Flashbacks help fill in the gaps of the men’s psychological make ups, and the futility of war message is deftly handled by the astute director. Colour photography is glossy and impressive, even if it strips away some of the grittiness the story needs to thrive on, and the musical score is kept to a minimum and suitably deals in plays on army anthems. All told it’s a thoroughly engrossing and potent war movie and highly recommended to fans of such fare. 7.5/10

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