Posts from ethanedwards in thread „To The Shores Of Tripoli (1942)“

To the Shores of Tripoli starred John Payne, Maureen O'Hara,
Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly and Minor Watson.
The film was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and produced by Milton Sperling.

This fast paced thriller, is a splendid film.
It was Maureen's first movie in color,
She looked so wonderful in it,
it brought her the nickname of
'Queen of Technicolor'

User Review

Fast paced action comedy that gently stirs patriotism without overdoing it.December
Author: pcronin

Quote

This is probably John Payne's best vehicle. He plays the rugged individualist Pvt Chris Winters, an upstart booted from Culver who enlists in the marines, not coincidentally in the unit headed by his father's old officer buddy who not also coincidentally saved his life. Funny things start happening right away. First his girlfriend who he joined to get away from's father is the CO, so she always gets letters excusing him from duty to be with her. Ugh. Next Chris falls head over heels for beautiful 2nd Lieut Mary Carter, a cold nurse who quickly melts when he will stop at nothing to get near her, immediately feigning hit by a military truck to Aland him in the infirmary. She teaches him a hilarious but painful lesson, yet he is still determined. Then it gets serious when they're assigned C school duty and are called to "war games" at sea which consists of going into a mine field, where Chris' Sgt Dixie Smith played by Randolph Scott gets knocked out and is in grave danger of being blown up. Chris takes a boat from the sweeper and singlehandedly rescues him, returning to a heroes welcome. He has won over Mary, but gets angry because he is so principled and it is killing his spirit. Mary says goodbye, and he goes with his girlfriend to a cushy desk job in Washington, only in the car listening to the radio he hears that the Japanese have just bombed Pearl Harbor. His unit happens to be parading by on their way to war, so he leaps out and changes back from suit to uniform hiding among the ranks. That is humorous too. The final scene is the ship leaving the harbor with Mary in Chris' arms and everyone singing the Marine Hymn, "From the Halls of Montezuma!...", and you know the rest! Pick up a copy today!

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
Sergeant Dixie Smith has more raw recruits to turn into Marines, if he can.
Among them is cocky casanova Chris Winters, son of an officer,
who's just tried to "mash" Mary Carter, a major's niece. Once on base,
he finds Mary's a nurse and an off-limits officer.
Does this stop him? Of course not.
But his attitude problem soon puts him in a position
where he must redeem himself, with December 7, 1941 fast approaching.
Written by Rod Crawford

Full Cast
John Payne .... Pvt. Chris Winters
Maureen O'Hara .... Lt. Mary Carter
Randolph Scott .... Sgt. Dixie Smith
Nancy Kelly .... Helene Hunt
William Tracy .... Johnny Dent
Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom .... Okay Jones
Harry Morgan .... Mouthy (as Henry Morgan)
Edmund MacDonald .... Butch
Russell Hicks .... Maj. Wilson
Margaret Early .... Susie
Minor Watson .... Capt. Christopher Winters
Alan Hale Jr. .... Tom Hall
Richard Lane .... Lieutenant on Minesweeper
Joseph Crehan .... Uncle Bob (scenes deleted)
John Hamilton .... Gen. Gordon (scenes deleted)
Iris Adrian .... Okay's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews .... Doctor (uncredited)
Hugh Beaumont .... Orderly (uncredited)
Charles Brokaw .... Officer (uncredited)
Hillary Brooke .... Parade Spectator (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. .... Bellboy (uncredited)
Robert Conway .... Ens. Thomas (uncredited)
Esther Estrella .... Spanish Girl (uncredited)
Patricia Farr .... Girl (uncredited)
James Flavin .... Warden (uncredited)
Marissa Flores .... Spanish Girl (uncredited)
Chester Gan .... Chinese man watching parade (uncredited)
William Haade .... Truck Driver (uncredited)
Vinton Haworth .... Officer with binoculars (uncredited)
Gordon Jones .... MP at Main Gate (uncredited)
Knox Manning .... Newscaster (uncredited)
Patrick McVey .... Radio Operator (uncredited)
James C. Morton .... Bartender (uncredited)
Anthony Nace .... Corporal (uncredited)
Ted North .... Bill Grady (uncredited)
Frank Orth .... The Barber (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton .... Corporal (uncredited)
Walter Sande .... Pharmacist's Mate (uncredited)
Byron Shores .... Captain (uncredited)
Harry Strang .... Chief Petty Officer (uncredited)
Frank Sully .... Truck Driver (uncredited)
Charles Tannen .... Swifty (uncredited)
Elena Verdugo .... Spanish dancer (uncredited)
Basil Walker .... Joe Sutton (uncredited)
Dave Willock .... Sailor in Car (uncredited)
Harold Yager .... USMC Band Member (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Steve Fisher story
Lamar Trotti

Cinematography
Edward Cronjager
Harry Jackson
William V. Skall

Trivia
Maureen O'Haras' first film in Technicolor. She looked so good in it that she later earned the nickname "Queen of Technicolor".

Harry Morgan's film debut.

The exercise scene that takes place during Basic Training was filmed using actual Marines stationed at San Diego Recruit Depot as extras.

In the finale John Payne is trying to change clothes while marching with his Marine Corps platoon. He later said that trying to remove and put on his trousers for this scene was the hardest part of the movie.

When Chris and Helene hear the incredible news of the Pearl Harbor bombing on the radio, Helene exclaims that "It's Orson Welles!" She's referring to the notorious "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast of October 1938, when Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater of the Air convinced at least thousands of Americans that Martians had landed in New Jersey.

Goofs
Continuity: During the "night" time navy gunnery practice the naval commanders had daytime sky showing behind them.

Factual errors: In the naval target shooting scenes, the water pillars after a miss should be many times higher and not the two meters seen.

Factual errors: In the film, Smith's character is often addressed as "Sergeant" or even sometimes "Sarge". Smith wears three chevrons and two rockers of a Gunnery Sergeant. In the Marine Corps, NCO's are always addressed by their full rank. Thus, he would be addressed by all as "Gunnery Sergeant", or -if he allowed it- "Gunny".

Factual errors: In several scenes, Winters and his other members of his platoon are shown - while still in boot camp - wearing the Enlisted Service Uniform "A", complete with Marine Corps emblem. Recruits in boot camp are not issued such a uniform until graduation and are definitely not allowed to wear the Marine Corps emblem (the globe and anchor), as they are not considered to be Marines until they have graduated boot camp.

Factual errors: In one scene in which the John Payne character is in his Service Green uniform his pistol qualification badge has a second bar, meaning he has earned that rating two years in a row. Being a new recruit, there's no way he could have earned that second bar.

Factual errors: Under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, fraternization (personal relationship between an officer and an enlisted man) is prohibited. Mary Carter, as a lieutenant, would never be permitted to date Chris Winters, who was a recruit/private.

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In several instances Chris Winters (John Payne) and Sgt. Smith (Randolph Scott) are shown flicking lit cigarettes away, or grinding them into the ground. This would never be allowed as Marines were taught to field strip cigarettes, spreading the ashes and tobacco and rolling the paper into a tiny ball.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
(studio)
Marine Base, San Diego, California, USA

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