Merrill's Marauders (1962)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
The place: World War II Burma. The mission: Drive a fatal wedge between an enemy linkup. The troops: the 5307th Composite Unit, led by Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill (Jeff Chandler) and manned by Stock (Ty Hardin), Chowhound (Will Hutchins), Kolowicz (Claude Akins) and other young dogfaces who, after a few weeks of basic training, have the fate of the world loaded on their backs. Director Samuel Fuller, whose later The Big Red One is a benchmark work about GIs in World War II's European theater, turned to the war in the Pacific for Merrill's Marauders. Few movie makers capture life among the grunts as well as Fuller. He brings you up close and personal to the intense, gritty heroics of our World War II combat veterans. - Actors:
- Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Charlie Briggs, Chuck Roberson, Chuck Hayward, Jack C. Williams, Chuck Hicks, Vaughan Wilson, Pancho Magalona, Paul Edwards, Mark Slade
- Directors:
- Samuel Fuller
- Producers:
- Milton Sperling
- Writers:
- Milton Sperling, Samuel Fuller, Charlton Ogburn Jr
- Aka:
- Merilovi vojnici
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
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Reviews (1) of Merrill's Marauders
Burma Campaign. - Merrill's Marauders review by Steve
Platoon film set on the Burmese front during WWII which looks at the conflict through the eyes of the ordinary soldier. These special operations GIs have been together since Bataan and find they no longer run missions, but fight one seemingly endless battle. As malaria and typhus become endemic, they are physically and mentally burned out.
This is a psychological war film. The message is reinforced by the army doctor (Andrew Duggan) who runs a commentary on the state of exhaustion. This isn't really about combat with the Japanese, but the human cost of being out in the field for so long. Sam Fuller excels at presenting the group as a well drilled team, and the corrosive pathology of stress.
Jeff Chandler is extraordinarily convincing as Frank Merrill, the leader who has to live with the guilt of ceaselessly pushing his men against their limitations. Even the mule gives up... but still the men march on through the jungle! The location shoot in the Philippine jungle gives a realistic impression of the arduous terrain.
The CinemaScope is skilfully used, especially for a B picture. And this is a Hollywood Burmese War picture which acknowledges the presence of the British and Commonwealth army and the suffering of the local population. It's a very moving experience and if it presents these soldiers as being exceptional and heroic, then, probably they were.