Pride of the Marines
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Pride of the Marines
Plot
John Garfield stars as Al Schmid, a true-life marine who served in World War II. Schmid becomes a hero at Guadalcanal, defending a machine gun post and killing 200 Japanese before he is permanently blinded by a grenade. Despite being awarded the Navy Cross, Schmid returns home embittered by his disability. After a long and grueling convalescence, he is shaken back to life by his girl friend Ruth (Eleanor Parker) and his best pal (Dane Clark), neither of whom allow Al to wallow in self-pity. The pride in Pride of the Marines comes from Al Schmid's ultimate realization that his sacrifice was worthwhile, and that his sightlessness need not prevent him from leading a full and rewarding life. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Pride of the Marines is a stirring, powerful, hard-hitting World War II drama. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say it's a post-War drama, as the real meat of the picture concerns a wounded soldier's return to civilian life. While Pride is undeniably patriotic, it also is not afraid to ask some serious, hard questions or to present war as less than a grand adventure. It really features only one battle sequence, which lasts some ten minutes; it's an amazing, gripping sequence, but it doesn't glorify battle as many similar films do. The men involved are fighting for their lives, and they react exactly as people really do react in such a situation. Similarly, the discussion about what life will be like when they return home dares to present the possibility that things will not be all roses, a rather bold suggestion for a 1945 film. Finally, the anguish, torment, and bitterness that the lead character experiences is striking and affecting. Pride benefits from a very strong screenplay, but that screenplay is helped by Delmer Daves' excellent direction. He employs some fairly experimental techniques (e.g., shooting a dream sequence in reverse negative) to highlight the emotionalism of the piece, but never goes too far. Pride also benefits from its superb cast, lead by John Garfield in a performance that never hits a false note. It's arguably Garfield's best and most powerful performance and is searing. He is well supported by Eleanor Parker and Dane Clark, who play their parts to near perfection. Pride of the Marines is an especially fine film. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- John Garfield - Al Schmid
- Eleanor Parker - Ruth Hartley
- Dane Clark - Lee Diamond
- Ann Doran - Ella Merchant
- John Ridgely - Jim Merchant
- Rosemary de Camp - Virginia Pfeiffer
Credit
Leo K. Kuter - Art Director, Milo Anderson - Costume Designer, Delmer Daves - Director, Owen Marks - Editor, Franz Waxman - Composer (Music Score), Leo F. Forbstein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Perc Westmore - Makeup, J. Peverell Marley - Cinematographer, Jerry Wald - Producer, Walter F. Tilford - Set Designer, Robert Burks - Special Effects, Edwin DuPar - Special Effects, Stan Jones - Sound/Sound Designer, Marvin Borowsky - Screenwriter, Albert Maltz - Screenwriter, Roger Butterfield - Short Story Author| Pride of the Marines (1936 Film), Pride of the Bowery (1941 Film) | |
| Pride of the Navy (1939 Film), Pride of the Plains (1944 Film) |
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Pride of the Marines
| Pride of the Marines | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
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| Directed by | Delmer Daves |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Written by | Roger Butterfield (book) Albert Maltz Marvin Borowsky (adaptation) Delmer Daves (uncredited) |
| Starring | John Garfield Eleanor Parker |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | J. Peverell Marley |
| Editing by | Owen Marks |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 24, 1945 |
| Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
Pride of the Marines is a 1945 biographical war film starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker. It tells the story of U.S. Marine Al Schmid in World War II, his heroic stand against a Japanese attack during the Battle of Guadalcanal, in which he was blinded by a grenade, and his subsequent rehabilitation. The film was based on the Roger Butterfield book, Al Schmid, Marine.
Albert Maltz was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay.
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Contents
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Plot
The film is divided in three parts. The first takes place prior to the war where cocky Philadelphia steel worker and "Man's man" Al Schmid (John Garfield) despises the idea of marriage and losing his independence until he meets his match in Ruth Hartley (Eleanor Parker). Ruth takes no nonsense from him and impresses Schmid by enjoying a hunting trip he takes her on.
In part two, at the Battle of the Tenaru River on Guadalcanal, Schmid is in the crew of a M1917 Browning machine gun with his buddies Lee Diamond (Dane Clark) and Johnny Rivers (Anthony Caruso) of "H" Company 2nd Battalion First Marines. While the three wait for an enemy attack, they practice gun emplacement procedures– establishing fields of fire, practicing with the range card to estimate firing distances, and determining the optimal traversal and elevation settings for each anticipated line of attack. The subsequent onslaught by the enemy is particularly heavy. Rivers is killed by a bullet through the head, Diamond wounded by three machine gun bullets in his right arm, and Schmid is blinded by a Japanese soldier dropping a hand grenade at the front of the gun pit. In spite of the heavy attack, Schmid is able to fire his weapon by following Diamond's instructions. Together, they kill 200 of the enemy.
The third part is Schmid's humbling rehabilitation, in which he resents being dependent upon others. He hopes that an operation will restore his sight, but the medical procedure wasn't successful. He doesn't want Ruth to know that he is nearly completely blind, and he attempts to break up with her. Schmid learns responsibility through Diamond, hospital rehabilitation officer Virginia Pfeiffer (Rosemary DeCamp) and the other wounded veterans. He is to be awarded the Navy Cross, but is dismayed that the ceremony will take place in his home town. He initially feels anger and discomfort when he becomes dependent upon family and friends, primarily because he doesn't want to be a burden to anyone. In spite of his resentment, Ruth stays by his side and helps him overcome his bitterness, and convinces him that he must learn to live with his new situation.
Production
During the Battle of Guadalcanal, two enlisted Marines, Mitchell Paige and John Basilone were awarded the Medal of Honor for their use of the M1917 Browning machine gun against massed Japanese charges. In Jim Proser's book I'm Staying With My Boys: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone USMC (ISBN 097554610 Lightbearer Communications Company 2004) Proser tells of Basilone's friendship with John Garfield and Eddie Bracken when they toured the United States selling war bonds.
Screenwriters A. I. Bezzerides and Alvah Bessie developed a 26 page treatment of Roger Butterfield's book Al Schmid Marine.[1] Martin Borowsky also did an adaptation of Butterfield's book that was rewritten by Albert Maltz who Garfield has spoken to about Butterfield's story. Prior to filming Garfield visited American soldiers in hospitals in Italy.[2]
Garfield met Schmid during his rehabilitation before a movie was ever planned.[3] Once the film was planned, Garfield lived with the Schmids for several weeks, becoming friends with the couple.[4]
Both Bessie and Maltz were later blacklisted over their "un-American" political opinions.
Cast
- John Garfield as Al Schmid
- Eleanor Parker as Ruth Hartley
- Dane Clark as Lee Diamond
- John Ridgely as Jim Merchant
- Rosemary DeCamp as Virginia Pfeiffer
- Ann Doran as Ella May Merchant
- Ann E. Todd as Loretta Merchant
- Anthony Caruso as Johnny Rivers
Adaptations
Pride of the Marines was adapted as a radio play on the January 31, 1945 episode of Lux Radio Theater and the June 15, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater, both with John Garfield reprising his role.
Notes
- ^ p.342 footnote Norden, Martin F. The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in Movies 1994 Rutgers University Press
- ^ p.71 McGrath, Patrick J. John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and Stage 1993 McFarland
- ^ p.115 Gerber, David A. In Search of Al Schmid quoted in Mitchell, David T. and Snyder, Sharon L. The Body and Physical Difference: Discorses of Disability 1997 University of Michigan Press
- ^ p.72 McGrath, Patrick J. John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and Stage 1993 McFarland
External links
- Pride of the Marines at the TCM Movie Database
- Pride of the Marines at the Internet Movie Database
- Pride of the Marines at AllRovi
- military.com biography of Albert A. Schmid
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