CONSENSUS #94 - Sands of Iwo Jima

SYNOPSIS:   “Sands of Iwo Jima” is the quintessential Marine Corps movie and the movie that sealed John Wayne’s reputation as the poster boy for American warriors.  Wayne plays the iconic Sgt. Stryker.  He has to mold a heterogeneous squad into a fighting machine.  Two of those men hate him so we get two resent to respect arcs.  The battles are Tarawa and Iwo Jima and they are loaded with actual footage.

BACK-STORY:  The movie was made with the full cooperation of the Marine Corps which saw it as part of its effort to survive in the cutthroat world of the military branches after WWII.  Director Alan Dwan got the commandant of Camp Pendleton to provide the meanest drill instructor to toughen up the cast in three days of boot camp.  It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Wayne), Editing,  Sound Recording, and Writing.  Wayne lost to Broderick Crawford in “All the King’s Men”.  The screenplay was co-written by Harry Brown (“A Walk in the Sun).    Dwan directed about 125 movies, but “Sands” was by far his biggest hit. 

TRIVIA:  imdb, Wikipedia, TCM, Guts and Glory

1.  Kirk Douglas was going to get the Stryker role until Wayne made a big push and when the studio heard he was interested they jumped at him.  Wayne originally did not want the role because he thought he was too old at 42 and he felt the public was tired of WWII movies.

2.  When Stryker instructs Pvt. Choynski (Hal Baylor), you are watching a man who got out of serving, instructing a Marine veteran of Saipan and Tinian.

3.  When Wayne was immortalized at Graumann’s Chinese Theater, sand from Iwo Jima was mixed with the cement.

4.  The dialogue included the first use of the phrase “lock and load” in a movie.

5.  The movie used actual footage from Tarawa and Iwo Jima.

6.  The $1.4 million budget was the largest ever for a Republic Pictures film.

7.  The movie was required viewing for Marine recruits into the 1980s.

8.  Several real heroes appeared in the movie including the three surviving flag-raisers – Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley.  Note:  Recently it was proven that Bradley was not in the famous picture.  One wonders what he felt as he reenacted the raising for the movie.  If his original credit was a misunderstanding, surely he knew during the production that he had not participated in the photo.

9.  Wayne was pleased with the Academy Award nomination, but felt he was better in “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”.

10.  The cast was put through such strenuous training that they were left exhausted, then physically fit.  They stopped carousing with Wayne at night.

11.  The movie created the image of Wayne as the iconic American soldier.

12.  The movie is the prime example of how the Marines made use of Hollywood for recruiting more than any of the other branches.  The Corps was the easiest to get cooperation from and was the least hands-on when it came to the scripts.  It provided a technical adviser and he jumped out of his seat on set when Stryker butt-strokes a private.  He insisted the scene be changed, but the higher ups decided not to insist on it.

13.  The movie actually covers Tarawa more and better than Iwo Jima.

Belle and Blade  =  3

Brassey’s              =  4

Video Hound       =  4.4

War Movies         =  4.4

Military History  =  not on list

Channel 4             =  76

Film Site                =  no

101 War Movies  =  yes

OPINION:   “Sands of Iwo Jima” helped make John Wayne a superstar and there is a lot of nostalgia associated with the movie.  It is undoubtedly a classic, but it does not hold up well in comparison to modern war movies. Just compare it to “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima” to see what I mean.  Essentially a small unit movie, it is full of clichés and stereotypes.  The humor is lame and the acting, aside from Wayne, is average.  But the main problem is the two big set piece battles are lacking in realism and bang for your buck.