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
- 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
Sam Fuller's platoon film set in the Burma operation of WWII looks at the conflict from the perspective of the ordinary soldier. A group of special operations GIs, who have been together since Bataan, find they are no longer running missions, but fighting one seemingly endless battle. As malaria and typhus become endemic, they are physically and mentally spent.
This is a psychological war film. We definitely get the message because the army doctor (Andrew Duggan) runs a commentary on the men's state of exhaustion. This isn't really about the combat with the Japanese, but the human cost of being out in the field for so long. Fuller's very good at presenting the group as an experienced, well drilled team, but also of the damaging pathology of stress.
Jeff Chandler is extraordinarily convincing as Frank Merrill, the leader who has to live with the guilt of pushing his men ceaselessly against their limitations. Even the mule gives up... but still the men march on through the jungle! The film benefits from being shot in the Philippine jungle, which gives a realistic impression of the arduous terrain.
The CinemaScope is utilised exceptionally well, especially for a B picture. This is a Hollywood Burmese War film that acknowledges the presence of the British and Commonwealth soldiers and the terrible 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.