Beachhead is a 1954 Technicolor war film based on Captain Richard G. Hubler USMCR's 1945 novel I've Got Mine. It was filmed in Kauai by Aubrey Schenck Productions, released through United Artists and directed by Stuart Heisler.
A four man U.S. Marine Corps amphibious reconnaissance patrol (Frank Lovejoy, Tony Curtis, Skip Homeier and Alan Wells) is landed on Japanese held Bougainville Island prior to the Allied invasion. They meet a French planter (Arthur Franz) and his daughter (Mary Murphy) who have valuable information needed for a successful amphibious landing by the Allied forces.
Production
Filmed on Hawaiian locations, the film was budgeted at US$450,000 with the producers arranging to obtain Tony Curtis from his contract studio of Universal-International.[1] The producers used Hawaiians for many of the roles in the film such as Sam "Steamboat" Mokuahi,[2], Democratic Party organiser Dan Aoki, and Akira Fukunaga the latter two veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
The producers went to the Marine Corps to seek technical assistance for the making of the film. Though the Corps liked the idea of the film, they refused to provide cooperation. As two of the four Marines were killed in the screenplay, the Public Information Officer said that the Marines would not provide any assistance to any film displaying the Corps taking 50 per cent casualties as they were in the midst of a new recruiting campaign emphasising a new less danger seeking image.[3] The producers visited the Pentagon and were provided Navy, Coast Guard, and Hawaiian National Guard assistance in making the film.[4] The film was titled Missione Suicido (Suicide Mission) in Italy.
Mary Murphy felt that Stuart Heisler was trying to make her look like a version of the director's own wife. She also was nearly attacked by a drunken cameraman on the film's isolated Hawaiian location.[5]
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External links
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