Sands of Iwo Jima
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| Sands of Iwo Jima | |
|---|---|
 Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Allan Dwan |
| Produced by | Edmund Grainger |
| Written by | Harry Brown, James Edward Grant |
| Starring | John Wayne, John Agar, Forrest Tucker |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war film which follows a group of Marines from boot camp to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. It stars John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara and Forrest Tucker. The movie was written by Harry Brown and James Edward Grant and directed by Allan Dwan. It was produced by Republic Pictures.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (John Wayne), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.
[edit] Plot
Tough-as-nails career sergeant John Stryker (John Wayne) is greatly disliked by his men for the rigorous training he puts them through in boot camp. He is particularly despised by private Peter Conway (John Agar), the arrogant, college-educated son of an officer Stryker served with and admired, and private Al Thomas (Forrest Tucker), who blames him for his demotion. During a training exercise, a recruit drops a live hand grenade. Everybody drops to the ground except Conway, who is distracted reading a letter from his wife. Stryker knocks him down, saving his life, and then proceeds to bawl him out.
When he leads them into combat in the Pacific, the men begin to appreciate his methods. All except Thomas. During a battle, he goofs off when he goes to get ammo for his pals, stopping to savor a cup of coffee. As a result, he returns too late - his defenseless friends are overrun; one is killed, the other badly wounded. When Stryker finds out, they get into a fistfight. Thomas breaks down and abjectly apologizes for his dereliction.
Stryker shows his soft side while on leave in Honolulu. He picks up a bargirl and goes to her apartment. He becomes suspicious when he hears somebody in the next room, but when he investigates, all he finds is a hungry baby boy she is supporting the best way she can. He gives the girl all his money and leaves.
Returning to combat, Stryker's unit is involved in the battle for Iwo Jima, in particular the iconic flag raising on Mount Suribachi. Afterwards, while the men are resting during a lull in the fighting, a sniper pops up out of a hole and kills him. His men find a letter on him, addressed to his ex-wife and son, saying all the things he wanted to say, but never got around to.
[edit] Trivia
- Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley, the three survivors of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who raised the flag on Suribachi, appear briefly in the film just prior to the re-enactment. Hayes was also the subject of a film biography, The Outsider, and Bradley the subject of a book by his son, Flags of Our Fathers.
- A scene from this movie can be seen in the 2006 film Thank You For Smoking.
- This movie appears to be the origin of the now very popular phrase: "Lock and Load", meaning get ready for action. In Saving Private Ryan the phrase also appears, although at the period portrayed, it would have been "Load and lock". Part of its current popularity may be linked to its assonance with "Rock and Roll", which has a similar meaning in these contexts.
- Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers has a song entitled "The Sands of Iwo Jima" on its album The Dirty South. It is sung from the perspective of a young boy who loves John Wayne movies. He asked his great-uncle, a World War II veteran, if "The Sands of Iwo Jima" represented the war properly; the old man smiled, shook his head and responded "I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima".
- In the television show King of the Hill it is metioned that this is the favorite film of Cotton Hill, father of main character Hank Hill. Hank recalls that in his childhood his father would travel around Texas searching for showings of this film.
