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     Sands of Iwo Jima

1949  NR  ACTION  1h 40min

CAST— John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara, Forrest Tucker, Arthur Franz, Julie Bishop, Richard Jaeckel, Wally Cassell, Richard Webb

MUSIC— Victor Young  DIRECTOR— Allan Dwan

     A gripping, action-packed WWII tale chock full of goodies; from John Wayne’s gruff sergeant to thrilling battle sequences, this one has it all. Wayne (in his first Oscar-nominated role) plays a tough as nails sergeant assigned to whip a group of young men into shape, if, that is, they are to become Marines. He puts them through the grinder and back again, toughening them up; all the while his recruits hate his very guts from morning to night. But the finished product? Another platoon of young men ready to serve their country as part of the United States Marine Corps. There are additional stories going on here as well, such as a half baked love story between a recruit and a native New Zealand girl (who sounds nothing like anyone born anywhere even remotely close to New Zealand), but the real attraction is the action, which there’s plenty of. Two key battle sequences highlight this wartime drama and you won’t want to miss a moment of it. Semper Fi.

OUR RATING— ***