They Were Expendable
John Ford is one of the most acclaimed directors in film history , responsible for such classics asThe grapeshot of Wrath(1940),Rio Grande(1950 ) , andThe Searchers(1956 ) . However , Ford ’s horse opera are often highlighted more than his World War 11 pictures , such as the tragicThey Were Expendable(1945),the third collaboration between the director and legendary actor John Wayne , which hit theaters just a few month after VJ Day . They Were Expendablefollows American Navy PT boat officers Rusty Ryan ( John Wayne ) and John Brickley ( Robert Montgomery ) in the former daytime after the attack on Pearl Harbor .
In addition to beingone of the most underrated World War II movies , it makes no attempt to glorify the conflict in the Pacific , instead focusing on the losses of young , wide - eyed soldier put up by the work party in the Philippines . Wayne shines as Rusty Ryan , whose war - ready bravado is only chasten by Lt . Sandy Davyss ( Donna Reed ) amid the intensify war . Less of a triumphant propaganda pic and more of a wartime elegy , They Were Expendablelives up in every way to its tragical claim .
John Wayne & John Ford’s They Were Expendable Is One Of The Most Underrated WWII Movies
They Were ExpendableIs Not Your Typical ’40s War Film
Despite its all - star director and cast , They Were Expendablehas failed to garner the same attention as other then - contemporaneous World War II movies likeSands of Iwo JimaandCasablanca . Though the film has several scenes featuring combat with the Japanese , most ofits runtime is dedicated to the chumminess between the US soldiersas they go about navigating the early stage of the American conflict in the Pacific .
Director John Ford in reality served in the US Navy during World War II .
One of the highlights of the film is the love story between Rusty and Sandy , which serve as a much - require dividing line to the greater war effort between the US and the Japanese . Rusty , while in the typical way of the masculine hero archetype , is a role far more lovesome than some of John Wayne ’s more splendidly rugged characters . Furthermore , Robert Montgomery — another Navy veteran — offers a realistic , everyman penetration into the waras he seek to command a squadron of PT boat amid the doomed campaign in the Pacific .
Is They Were Expendable Based On Real-Life WWII Events?
The Film Drew Inspiration From Real-Life Heroes
They Were Expendableis based on the 1942 novel of the same name by war correspondent William L. White , whodrew inspiration from the feats of the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three , a US PT boat that was critical in America ’s campaign in the Pacific against the Japanese . Furthermore , the characters of John Brickley and Rusty Ryan were free-base on their veridical - life similitude of John D. Bulkeley and his executive officer , Robert Kelly .
As a Hollywood legend of unmatched proportions , many of the cracking John Wayne movies were actually based on or inspired by rightful stories .
Ultimately , there are few moving-picture show today with such firsthand experience of warfare asThey Were Expendable . John Ford ’s counseling ( and experience in the Navy ) offers a sense of authenticity that is rarely accomplished , made all the more powerful due to the cinema ’s proximity to the end of the Second World War . Yes , the film is bleak , tragic , and easy one ofJohn Wayne ’s finest war movies ; above all that , however , it ’s a fine portraiture of the valour of youth in the face of impossible odds .
Image credited to Ana Nieves
They Were ExpendableKey fact Breakdown
Budget
$ 2.9 million
Box Office
$ 4.3 million
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score
92 %
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
73 %
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