They Were Expendable / Flying Leathernecks

Starring:James Bell, Janis Carter, James Dobson, Jay C. Flippen, Gordon Gebert, William Harrigan, Maurice Jara, Barry Kelley, Brett King, Harry Lauter, Brit Norton, Robert Ryan, Michael St. Angel, Milburn Stone, Don Taylor, John Wayne, Adam Williams, Adam York, Carleton Young
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

John Wayne and Robert Montgomery star in and John Ford directs a resolute tale of World War II courage: They Were Expendable. The two stars portray PT-boat skippers who defend the Philippines and give the U.S. war effort time to regroup after the crippling losses at Pearl Harbor. Wayne takes to the skies with the Flying Leathernecks, leading embattled Marine fighter squadron VMF 247 at Guadalcanal and also campaigning to coordinate ground combat with low-flying aerial sorties. Nicholas Ray directs, mixing in actual battlefield and dogfight footage. Robert Ryan co-stars.

Customer Reviews:

One of 10 best war movies ever.......2007-06-14

Maybe because I was just a little kid, and the war was still raging, but nearing an end. Maybe it was partially because my grandfather took me to see this movie as he took me to see other movies every Saturday, and maybe it was because my Polio was gone and I could walk and run again, but mostly because my uncle was the skipper of a PT boat and knew JFK. Great Direction by John Ford, with his regular crew plus Robert Montgomery, (John Wayne, Donna Reed, Ward Bond) and many other great stars gave outstanding performances in an authentic, tropic the ambience in which and the black and white film was appropriate.

The missions, struggles, disappointments, anmiable characters just doing their jobs, nice guys but tough guys doing a very tough job in an underappreciated job, playwood PT boats which the navy and marines used but didn't entirely trust. Would Monty and Wayne bring home a winner, or switch to submarines? A short history of the coming of age of a PT boat fleet, the hopelessness that hung above like a black cloud just above their heads in what then seemed a losing effort, but which they kept pushing away with the stiff-upper lip, hard bitten, toughness of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things, the grit and hope, that showed and the look to the future, still worried about people missing whose fate were unknown gave one a feeling of what it really must have been like. When my uncle came back from action a year later, he said it was one of his favorite war films-authentic and revealing.

The second film in technicolor is Flying Leather Necks, directed by Nicolas Ray and starring Wayne, Robert Ryan and an excellent supporting cast was a typical fighter pilot film, well done, conflicts, misunderstandings, emotional struggloes with tensions of death and mistakes and orders which are hard to follow at times. A good film but less of a classic than the Black and white above.
Besides all of that, one Great film, one good film and a terrific price.

Nice old Wayne films, well worth watching.........2006-11-08

Since I saw these when they were first released, this was a trip back down a nostalgic memory lane. Good examples of the movies of the period during WWII and shortly after. John Wayne movies are always a good choice.

They Were Expendable / Flying Leathernecks

Average customer rating:

"Expendable" alone is worth the price..."Leathernecks" an added value

They Were Expendable / Flying Leathernecks
Starring: James Bell , Janis Carter , James Dobson , Jay C. Flippen , and Gordon Gebert
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Bataan/Back to Bataan
In Harm's Way
Operation Pacific
Flying Tigers/The Sands of Iwo Jima
The Fighting Seabees

ASIN: B0009UZG6Y
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Description

Customer Reviews:

"Expendable" alone is worth the price..."Leathernecks" an added value.......2006-12-24

"They Were Expendable" has to be among the most underated war movies ever!
There is little else to say except that this is an outstanding movie.
"Leathernecks" is a good one also, and provides an interesting comparison for the movie buff. Side by side like this, one can easily come to a conclusion about the repective directors. A critical look at these two together shows just how good John Ford was. Not to knock "Leathernecks", but Ford is the best director Hollywood likely ever had, and it shows in making a terrifc movie about...excuse me....but, P.T. boats??! Who else ever tried that and hit a home run?

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