During WWII a commando is assigned a dangerous mission on an island of Pacific already inhabited by stranded Japanese forces . The American platoon is commanded by sergeant Fletcher (Frank Lovejoy) who rules over soldiers (Tony Curtis , Skip Homeier..) . At the beginning the Marines are successfully in wiping out Japanese . But they are spotted and descended upon by enemies forces . They must escort a French planter (Eduard Franz) and his daughter Nina (Mary Murphy) to the other side of the Pacific island , suffering exhaustion , encounters and the elements until they are rescued . Then the daredevil sergeant and the tough soldier find themselves vying during the escape . The group must try to survive enemy that undergo a chase and a mini-war , as they fight all by themselves and finally find how wrong his misconceptions are .
This is a flag-waver wartime movie with a typical crew of Marines battling the 'yellow menace' and retrieve important documents on a Pacific atoll . The film packs warlike action , thrills , drama and results to be quite entertaining . The story contains a brief studio character seeking human frailty beneath surface heroism . Splendid Frank Lovejoy as tough sergeant , in one of the best roles and Tony Curtis is impressive , no thanks to mediocre script . Director Stuart Heisler's skill with the thrills overcomes the artificiality of the story . Heisler made various films with known actors and diverse genres , such as Gary Cooper (Dallas) , Susan Hayward (Tulsa , Smash-up) , Linda Darnell (This is my love) , Jack Palance (Died a thousand times , a remake of High Sierra) and Tony Curtis , among others . A cool cast , nice direction from Heisler with riveting climax and enhanced by energetic score (Emil Newman) make this a must for warlike fans.
Other movies concerning the wartime sub-genre about American soldiers battling Japanese on the Pacific islands during the WWII are the followings : Guadalcanal diary (43) by Lewis Seiler with Anthony Quinn and Lloyd Nolan ; the classic Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) by Allan Dawn with John Wayne ; Objective Burma by Raoul Walsh with Errol Flynn ; None but the brave , directed and starred by Frank Sinatra ; and Between heaven and hell (1956) with Robert Wagner , among them.
