They Were Expendable |  | Director: John Ford
Actors: Murray Alper, Leon Ames, Robert Barrat, Ward Bond, Donald Curtis
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $7.22
as of 2/10/2010 00:00 EST details
You Save: $17.76 (71%)
New (4) Used (11) from $2.49
Seller: hoy49
Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 104258
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0792841689
UPC: 027616766120
EAN: 9780792841685
ASIN: 0792841689
Theatrical Release Date: December 20, 1945
Release Date: May 18, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
They Were Expendable is the greatest American film of the Second World War, made by America's greatest director, John Ford, who himself saw action from the Battle of Midway through D-day. Yet it's been oddly neglected. Or perhaps not so oddly: for as the matter-of-fact title implies, the film commemorates a period, from the eve of Pearl Harbor up to the impending fall of Bataan, when the Japanese conquest of the Pacific was in full cry and U.S. forces were fighting a desperate holding action. Although stirring movies had been made about these early days (Wake Island, Bataan, Air Force), they were gung ho in their resolve to see the tables turned. They Were Expendable, however, which was made when Allied victory was all but assured, is profoundly elegiac, with the patient grandeur of a tragic poem. "They" are the officers and men of the Navy's PT boat service, an experimental motor-torpedo force relegated to courier duty on Manila Bay but eventually proven effective in combat. Their commander is played by Robert Montgomery, who actually served on a PT and later commanded a destroyer at Normandy; James Agee called his "the one unimprovable performance" of 1945. In addition to giving it, Montgomery codirected the breathtaking second-unit action sequences (and took over the first unit for a week when Ford broke his leg). John Wayne's costarring role as Montgomery's volatile second-in-command initially looks stereotypically blustery, but as the drama unfolds--the death of comrades, a friendship-that-never-gets-to-be-a-romance with an Army nurse (Donna Reed)--Wayne sounds notes of tenderness and vulnerability that will take Duke-bashers by surprise. They Were Expendable is a heartbreakingly beautiful film, full of astonishing images of warfare, grief, courage, and dignity: the artificial "rainfall" that lashes the beached Wayne as his PT boat explodes in the surf; the glow around a communally improvised dinner for nurse Reed; an old ship-repairer (Russell Simpson, The Grapes of Wrath's Pa Joad) settling in grimly to wait for the Japanese, with "Red River Valley" as benediction; the propeller spray that hangs over a jungle inlet, like the dust from one of Ford's cavalry pictures, as the PTs round a bend and disappear into history. This is a masterpiece. --Richard T. Jameson
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 72
 they were expendable January 17, 2010
Paul B. Elwell (Vancouver, WA.)
I have already seen the movie on TV. I ordered it from amazon but never received it. It was lost in the UPS shipment so I canceled the order.
 Captures the Pain of Early Pacific-War American Defeats January 11, 2010
Jan Peczkis (Chicago IL, USA)
The situation was grim. Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the US fleet was gone, notably the oft-discussed USS Arizona. American land forces in the Philippines were greatly outnumbered by Japanese forces. The Japanese had aerial supremacy, and had battleships and other large naval vessels. The US Navy, and the naval lieutenant played by John Wayne, had PT boats, which some called "motorized canoes". The Americans were told in no uncertain terms that they were to be sacrificed--in effect, bunting so that some successive American forces could score the home run.
The worth of the PT boats was proved by the sinking of a large Japanese military vessel by sustained torpedo fire. They were also used to evacuate General McArthur and other important military figures.
Bataan fell. The PT boat officers were evacuated by planes to the US to develop PT strategy. McArthur said: "I shall return".
Excellent WWII movie November 13, 2009
Bruce Fox (Lone Tree, Colorado USA)
An excellent movie about early WWII. Not only shows combat for an unusual part of the navy (PT boats), but deals with the difficult decisions that commanders must make. John Wayne, Robert Montgomery and Donna Reed are all very good. One of John Ford's best.
Monkeys not Racist July 29, 2009
Wade Heaton (Lafayette, LA USA)
I as surprised to read in more than one review of John Ford's "They Were Expendable" that several reviewers have an issue with the song sung by the ordinary seamen during a farewell party: "The Monkeys have no tails on Zamboanga." They interpret the song to refer to Filipinos in a racist insult. However, sailors have called ordinary seamen "deck apes," "powder monkeys" and the like for centuries. One can find discussions of this in many online dictionaries. The lyrics in the film say "the monkeys have no tails, they've been bitten off by whales," a rather whimsical view of maritime life. The verse, "He won't go back to Subic anymore" obviously is meant for the "Doc" who sheds a silent "tear" as one of the "monkeys." Clearly, the audiences since 1945 have forgotten the naval slang. I'm satisfied that no insult toward our WWII allies even contemplated by cast and crew. Great film filled with great scenes.
 Don't know July 6, 2009
Donna Landers (Maine)
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Don't know if I liked this movie. I ordered it on 6/5/09. It's now 7/6/09. Guess I'll have to contact customer service.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 72
|
|
|
