mraculeated
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Michael_Elliott
With the Marines at Tarawa (1944)*** (out of 4)Richard Brooks and Louis Hayward co-directed this WWII short that shows us the battle at Tarawa where less than a thousand American soldiers were killed battling the Japanese. If you watch these old WWII films you'll be struck by how brutally honest they are. These films were made to show people back in the States what was going on in the war and a lot of times these shorts were made to build up support for our troops. There were some films that were deemed too controversial to release including some by the great John Huston. This one here certainly isn't a masterpiece but at the same time it's pretty remarkable that you get to see so much of the battle footage and of course the harsh realities of the aftermath. The film was shot in color, which also helped bring the realism to life. This here certainly won't appeal to everyone but history buffs should be entertained by the footage.
SnoopyStyle
Director Louis Hayward delivers an important Oscar-winning documentary short about the Battle of Tarawa in the South Pacific. America suffered almost 1700 dead which shocked the country. The movie has colored war footage filmed by combat reporters right in the thick of the fight. It proved to be too graphic to exhibit until President Roosevelt approved it himself. It brings war documentary to a new level of realism. As propaganda, this is a very risky move by Roosevelt. The bloody fight could have sapped the resolve of the American people. Instead, the people rose to the occasion and come to understand the difficult fight yet to come.
rsoonsa
Winner of an Academy Award in 1945 for Best Documentary Short Subject, this brief (less than 20 minutes) piece provides highly dramatic footage of the 20/22 November 1943 assault by an American combined military force upon Japanese-held Tarawa Atoll, a Pentagon size islet that housed a strategically important air base for Japan, being located at the outer rim of its Pacific defense formation. Over a 76 hour period, nearly 10,000 lives were lost during fierce fighting that pitted the Second U.S. Marine Division against resolute opposition, visually recorded here as it occurred by 19 Division cinematographers under the supervision of Captain Louis Hayward, well-known film actor who, in addition to acquiring the Academy Award, earned a Bronze Star for his efforts. The film's initial scenes depict the approach, by U.S. Naval and Coast Guard convoy, of the Marines, supported by carrier aircraft, and we watch as sealed orders are physically transferred by steel cable between a transport to the command vessel, divulging the mission objective, following which troops prepare extra ammunition for loading, exercise to allay tension, and receive a briefing from their officers along with a blessing from the Division chaplain. The actual attack upon Tarawa is preceded by a four hour bombardment of the atoll from Naval artillery and aircraft that consumed more than four million pounds of explosives, for what was hoped would have a highly destructive effect upon an entrenched enemy. However, the defenders were not to be caught flat-footed, and before the gruelling battle was over, 1009 Marine and Naval personnel had died. It was one of the most savagely fought struggles within the Pacific Theater during the Second World War, and matters were made more difficult for the Americans due to drastic misreading of tide patterns by their leaders. This bungle becomes particularly meaningful after a viewer observes a religious service given by a Roman Catholic priest the night prior to opening of hostilities during which, as the camera eye pans over young Marine faces, the narrator states flatly: "Many of these men were killed the following morning." This concise but engrossing military documentary garnered an Academy Award for Warner Brothers, while its co-production unit, United States Office of War Information, would be able to take credit for sharply increasing the sale of war bonds to an aroused citizenry.
