Guadalcanal Diary is just one of those pictures you know they made with good intentions. The problem is that it was just too early to be making a picture like this. 1943 saw the start of the Pacific campaign in WWII, and if they'd only known what they were up against, I'm not sure this movie would have been as "Gung-Ho" as it was.
Based on
the writings of war correspondent Richard Tregaskis, it follows a Marine squad as they set sail for Guadalcanal, and what happens to them there.
As a preview of what would be facing the Marines as they went from island to island trying to rout the Japanese from their occupation, I suppose it's worth a look. There's a lot of "dirty Jap" talk going on, which I suppose we have to allow them to some extent. I can't help but think (having not read the book) that the war department had a certain amount of pull regarding what made it to the screen, knowing how things were then.
Basically, they don't know what to expect. From the seemingly empty beachhead at their landing, to the Japanese holed up in the caves, its all there. The problem is that it all comes off as rather mechanical. Like they're sitting there reading the book turning pages, "uh huh, OK now they have to do this..." or something. I wish I could explain it better. At times it gets a little monotonous, and a little silly. Like when one of the squad takes a bullet to the belly and is back up on his feet a few days later. I don't know about you, but that'd probably put me down a bit longer.
Anthony Quinn makes an appearance as an upcoming private, but really doesn't deliver anything spectacular. Neither does the rest of the cast, which also leads to a bit of eye-rolling and chuckling at some of the situations.
I don't know, as a movie I wasn't too enamored with
Guadalcanal Diary. I'll give them points for effort, for pushing something like this out so quickly into the Pacific war. But I can't help thinking this was pushed out so early purely as a typical war-time "propaganda" film, to try and get more boys signing up for the Marines.
Guadalcanal Diary (1943) on Spout.com
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War Movie Reviews and News