Raising The Flag For The Old Days

Of Movies and Afternoons On the Living Room Floor

The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) – Sergeant John Stryker is a driven, hated, inflexible leader of a squad of young Marines headed into battle during World War II.  When their boots hit the sands of a tiny island in the Pacific, both the source of his drive and benefits of it will reveal themselves.

Directed by Allan Dwan

Starring : John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara, Forrest Tucker

Why I Liked It – Part nostalgia, part respect for one of the best World War II movies of all time.

It is easy, perhaps even fashionable, to dismiss John Wayne and his movies.  While his politics are the opposite of my own, and his behavior was that of a past (and by most unlamented) age, you dismiss the movies at your own peril.  At his best, the man known as “Duke” was a skilled actor who brought emotional and intellectual depth to many of his roles.

This movie holds a special place for me because it was a staple of the weekend movie programs on the television of my youth.  Over the years, I saw this one and a range of his other movies a dozen times or more.  Lying on the floor of the family living room, usually with my brothers, watching something from the ‘40s or ‘50s.  Always in black and white, of course!  Old science fiction, horror, and war movies.  Between those afternoons at home, and evenings wrapped in blankets in the back of the family station wagon at the drive-in, my love of the movies put down roots.

Coming back to the movie now, I discover there is more than simple escapism.  Wayne’s character (Stryker) is not a cardboard cutout.  There are ghosts that haunt the sergeant, decisions he made, lives that he changed.  His unit has to absorb the anger that he has nowhere else to express.  There is the other John Stryker still inside him. He’s never found the balance between the two.

The movie is a part of a very elect group.  Of the approximately 140 movies where he had an important role, the Duke only died in 14 of them.  Wayne was the hero, almost superhuman.  With his distinctive walk, the swagger of a man who fears nothing, most especially death, made John Wayne one of the great Hollywood stars.  

It’s worth doing a quick history lesson for younger fans.  Iwo Jima is an island roughly half way between the Philippines and Japan.  It was a vital location as American forces fought their way toward the Japanese home islands.  The battle for the 8 square miles of land (a volcano, no less) lasted more than a month, and resulted in the deaths of 22,000 Japanese soldiers, and over 24,000 American casualties.  No battle comes close in Marine Corps history or tradition.  If you know the Marine Corps War Memorial, then you’ve seen the classic image from the Battle of Iwo Jima, raising the flag on Mount Suribachi.

Underlining all the rest is a solid movie.  The cast is not always stellar around Wayne, but it doesn’t matter.  This is John Wayne’s movie, start to finish.  There are better movies to be found in his filmography, but he earned an Oscar nominee for this one.

Rating – *** Worth A Look