Salute to the Marines
Tags: romantic

Plot synopsis:
Having being stationed in the Philippines for years as a member of the United States Marine Corps, NCO Sgt. Maj. William Bailey (Beery) is retired after serving for 30 years. This happens several months prior to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and their laying siege to the South Pacific.
When the Japanese invade the Philippines, Bailey confronts and strangles a Nazi secret agent, who is now spreading anti-American, pro-Japanese propaganda. The spy had posed as a religious pacifist until a devastating Japanese air attack caused many casualties against the unarmed civilians that Bailey, his wife, and daughter (Maxwell) had been living among.
Bailey then takes command of the local Filipino militia that he had earlier trained just prior to his retirement. They fight a series of delaying actions against a Japanese ground invasion force, slowing their attack, while waiting for the U.S. Marine island forces to arrive and counter-attack.
Later, while wearing his one time "dress blues" uniform jacket, he takes out an enemy machine gun emplacement as Marines blow up a vital bridge, halting the Japanese advance. Sgt. Major Bailey is suddenly killed by an air bombing attack after his heroic delaying actions have succeeded.
Years later at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA, Sgt. Major Bailey is posthumously awarded, by his former commander in the Philippines, the corps' highest medal for valor. His daughter, now a Marine sergeant, gratefully accepts the medal for her late father, as the entire base's assembled corps passes in review.

Review: Classic Wartime Film.
First one needs to remember this film was made DURING the war.
Anti Japanese resentment following Pearl Harbor and things like the Bataan Death March were running high.
And make no mistake, this film is pretty heavy on the anti Japanese message.But that is also one of the things that makes it interesting.
It is a glimpse into how people at the time were actually thinking.
And while the "dirty japs" were portrayed as squinty, murdering savages we must remember that at the time it wasn't a completely unfair criticism.The film is also unique in that it has a light "comedy" aspect to it.
Wallace Beery manages something like an Archie Bunker quality.
Probably much needed comic relief given that the news from the war was not always uplifting.But the final thing one needs to keep in mind is the purpose of this film and ones like it.
And that is how wars are won.
And if the worst thing that happens is our enemies are portrayed in a negative light, well that is hardly the worst thing that happens during wars..
Mr. Rap's 2003 review of this movie, its context, and the characterization by Wallace Berry, needs a reply.
First, the movie was released in 1943 -- at which time the US was not doing particularly well in the Pacific Theatre.
Second, the lead character is a career combat NCO who has never seen combat -- yet his outfit has left for the field leaving him behind.
Third, America used the theater as a way of seeing familiar faces (actors/actresses) in roles that many would be unable to fulfill, regardless of patriotism, fervor, or desire.
Besides Mr. Rap's comments seemingly being out of context as to what was happening in the film (e.g. drinking and fighting, BUT because he was ashamed at being left behind after 30 years of service), the comments also seem downright petty, juvenile, and mean-spirited ("old," "fat," "pot-bellied" etc.).
My assumption is that Mr. Rap has other motivations to examine and overcome, unrelated to the movie, but stimulated by the character of Beery..
A good balance of humor and drama & telling it like it was..
Wallace Beery is a fine, wonderfully rugged actor with a touch of tongue n' cheek hanging around in his lines.
He did a marvelous job in this old vintage Hollywood movie.
I had not thought of him as a leading man, but by golly he carries it off in fine form.
The Marines should be proud!
The movie with heart & humor.
It tells the story of a real war hero who won a medal.
It tells a fine tale, the characters are genuine and not too polished.
If I am not mistaken, there are real Marines in the parade sequences.
May God Bless em' and may we always honor their service..
A film I'll never forget.
I was only about 8 years old when I saw this film, I'm 69 now,but I never forgot it.
In fact it may have played a part in my joining the Marine corps 10 years later.
As I recall the story takes place in the Phillipine islands at the beginning of WW2.
Sgt. Baily is a crusty old recently retired Master Sergeant who does his best to repel the invading Jappanese with the help of a Phillipino boy.
The scene I remember the best was when US forces were trying to blow up a bridge and kept getting shot as they tried to set the charges.
I remember It was filmed in color.
I would sure like to see it again but I'm sure it must have been destroyed by time and neglect..
Wallace Beery, a consummate actor....
The jungle scene near the end of the movie is one of most moving scenes that I've ever witnessed.
This film deserves preservation consideration.
In this leisurely-paced Technicolor flag-waver, grizzled, beer-bellied lout Wallace Beery plays a thirty-year sergeant major stationed in the Philippines just before the war.
When he's forced into retirement, long-suffering wife Fay Bainter has to cope with his refusal to adapt to civilian life in their sleepy island village.
He antagonizes the peace-loving neighbors with his gross manners and anti-Japanese sentiments, trains the local children in military maneuvers, and gets into brawling confrontations with shifty Niponese sailors.
But once Pearl Harbor is attacked and the enemy advances on their town, Beery rallies the villagers to defense and goes out in a blaze of glory.The climactic combat action is a long time coming, since the bulk of the movie is devoted to Beery's fatuous, self-aggrandizing antics.
Whether condescending to his native troops (he refers to them as "little fellers" as though they were exotic incarnations of Jackie Cooper) or pouring on the 'aw shucks' geniality to a passel of adoring kids, this slob-king is a grating, grandstanding humbug.
Perhaps as a fanciful role model for home front-bound middle-aged men -- the run-to-seed but still vital codger.)No less phony is the hubba-hubba Marilyn Maxwell as his incessantly smirking daughter; it's tough enough to believe the refined, genteel Bainter could have ever had a booty call with Beery, much less produced so dishy a specimen from such rot-gut sperm.If one can last through all this spurious slop, the final thirty minutes deliver a Johnny-come-lately wallop.
As Japanese bombers hover over a crowded church, director S.
What follows is a grand scale action set-piece that is eye-filling and surprisingly fierce, weakened only by the unhinged spectacle of the tubby, lead-footed Beery traipsing through brush to single-handedly knock out an enemy machine gun emplacement.
The movie seems to be telling us that a regiment of lumbering, dissipated fat men could have shortened the war by years.
A classic Hollywood Patriotic War Film!
I enjoy watching war films and have seen countless films from the 30s onward to today.
An above-average war film.This film is a classic Hollywood War Film made during WWII in order to uplift the nation during its darkest days, sell War Bonds, and generate the much needed support for the United States Armed Forces in a time war!
But, you have to understand that this was a way for many in Hollywood who chose not serve or could not serve for various reasons to assist in the war effort.
In addition, it does a very good job as portraying the Marines as the best fighters of the US Military forces, no offense intended to the other branches.
The Marines are known for hitting the beaches first and leaving last.Wallace Beery does an excellent job telling the story of the tough drill Sergeant who has passed on his skills and knowledge for thirty years waiting for his chance to see combat.
He does his job well but wants what every Marine wants, to put his skills to the test.One rarity in Hollywood is the parts of the Filipinos and Japanese fighters are not being portrayed by White Men.In response to the Star-spangled hogwash review by Fred_Rap, I agree with Wholeben that Mr Rap's comments are out of context and unnecessarily harsh.The film was well made and made good use of scenery.
While the "green screen" scenes are obvious, the actors deliver their performances well.
The weakest part may be the overly friendly competition for the Helen Bailey's affections.The standout performance and reason to see this film is Wallace Beery's portrayal of a Marine who is a Marine regardless of whether he is in uniform.
His speech after the Japanese bombing to Colonel Casper was very powerful.
In addition the bar brawl against the Merchant Marines was great fun!
Sergeant Major William Bailey will not allow anyone to disrespect his Marine Corps!
My favorite scene in the film is the final moments with Beery in his Dress Blues sitting with his wife who has stayed behind to help instead of leaving with the other women and children.
While she prayed for peace, when war came she stood by her husband and does what she can to help in his "War"!PS: The Japanese soldiers in this film were also portrayed fairly considering when the film was made.
There is even a comment made about how smart their officers are in leading their troops.
While the Japanese are portrayed as being "sneaky" in using the fishing fleet to prepare for invasion this is entirely understandable considering that the Attack on Pearl Harbor happened only two years prior to the film's release..
"Salute to the Marines" ranks as a first-class example of Technicolor World War II propaganda.
The action opens and closes with the rousing Marine Corp anthem.
The first thing that we see is Marines splashing ashore from transports, bailing out of a C-47, flying fighters at low altitude, and careening through the jungle in tanks.
Not surprisingly, MGM released "Salute" the same year it released one of its more memorable last stand sagas "Bataan" with Robert Taylor, Lloyd Nolan, and Robert Walker.
In both movies, the heroes must destroy a bridge that the Japanese enemy needs to spearhead its advance, and our rough and tough leatherneck heroes perish in the process.
Basically, the title tells the tale about a veteran Marine drill instructor, Sergeant-Major Bailey (Wallace Beery of "The Champ") that's spent 30 years in the Corp, but has never acquired first-hand combat experience.
As the storm clouds of war huddle on the horizon, his long-time friend and Commanding Officer, Colonel Mason (the great Ray Collins of "Citizen Kane"), dispatches him to train Philippine civilians, an assignment the hard-nosed, blustering hero reluctantly carries out.
Thick-waisted Wallace Beery looks a mite long in the tooth to be playing such a vigorous man of action, but he delivers one of his best performances.
The dressing down that he gives a Marine about shoelaces during a barracks inspection is a great scene.
Look closely and you'll spot future "Dallas" TV star Jim Davis as a Marine private who butts heads with Beery's gruff sergeant-major.
Watch Beery during a barroom brawl scene as he drunkenly runs one hand over his head before he wades into a crowd of Merchant Marines and throws punches, eventually knocking everybody out cold on the floor about the time that the MPs enter the saloon.
When "Salute" isn't a hymn to the Marines, the filmmakers pay tribute to the valiant Philippines natives.
Initially, Beery condescends to these "little fellows." Before long, however, he alters his way of thinking and grows to admire them.
Beery trains the Phillipinos in the use of the bayonet.
The Beery character is inexplicably married to a woman (Fay Bainter) who hates the Corp and pleads with Bailey to hang up his bayonet and live a quiet peaceful life in her community of peace-lovers.
Clearly, this community of anti-war advocates serves as a metaphor for the United States before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
Like other movies of its day, "Salute" chronicles the premeditated nature of the Asian Axis enemy.
The Japanese are portrayed as subhuman vermin.
The showdown between the captain of the steel-hulled Japanese fishing boat and Bailey is a classic, one-upsmanship encounter.
Later, the Nipponese strafe and bomb a church during worship service.
We watch in horror as a white woman running with a baby in her arms falls down between large explosives and lies strewn in the dirt dead.
A Japanese tank runs over a Philippine soldier.
Were that not enough, a young Robert Blake dies as the hands of the Japanese.
Of course, "Salute to the Marines" isn't very politically correct now, because the Japanese are no longer our enemies.
S. Sylvan Simon directs the action scenes with lean, muscular economy.
"Salute to the Marines" never runs out of steam..
Well, I am a fan of the Marine Corps.
True, I spent my four-year military career in the Coast Guard but it was just as rugged as the Marine Corps.
It was very nice to be served breakfast in bed by the attractive, blond, seventeen-year-old Swedish maids but there must be no expression in Swedish for "medium rare" because they kept fouling up the steak and eggs.
But I taught the Marines at Camp Lejeune for several years and they were among the best of students.
It's also the only service in which the officers' dress uniforms were less gaudy than the enlisted man's.With that prologue out of the way I can now go on to say that Wallace Beery is no marine.
He was fine as the comically sly Long John Silver but as a by-the-book top sergeant, he's plain incredible.
It's almost painful, watching him rearrange the manifold dimples and gyri of his face into one or another expression.The movie, told mostly in flashback, begins in 1941 in the Philippines.
Beery's job, as it must be in all such movies, is to bear down on his men and kick them into shape, the Filipino troops included, before he retires.
That impending retirement is an event he dreads because he has never won any "battle decorations." He gets his chance.
He retires at the proper time but just as he's finding out that inactivity doesn't suit him the Japanese invade the Philippine Islands pari passu.
A determined Beery struggles into his dress blue blouse, mobilizes the American and Filipino troops, and stops the enemy long enough for the women and children to escape across the bridge.They're successful despite the bombs delivered by Japanese airplanes.
The Japanese airplanes are dull-colored Vought Vindicators, an obsolete American dive bomber of the period, called disparagingly by pilots the "Vibrator" or "Wind Indicator." The Vindicator also plays itself, when American airplanes rush to the rescue of the beleaguered bridge defenders.Fans of old movies may enjoy it.
There are a lot of familiar names in the cast but you won't notice them on the screen.
But it's really made for Saturday afternoons when people went to the movies and didn't really care much about what was on the screen.
Kennedy -- claimed that he was seduced into joining the Marines after seeing the snazzy uniforms in "The Shores of Tripoli." One look at Wallace Beery wrestling to get into his tent-sized blouse, and Manchester would have joined the Coast Guard..
Class/caste system and scenes from the battle.
First of all, the Marine who forgot his extra shoelaces would have been verbally chewed out with foul language, probably a physical beating, and doing extra chores.
The sergeant would not be giving any rational explanation why you should be carrying extra shoe laces.
Back in those days, sergeants did not have to give any logical, practical, reasonable explanations for stuff like that.
They tell you to do something,and you did it.Like the movie The War against Mrs. Hadley, it is totally impossible for children of enlisted men and NCOs to have a relationship with officers.
The same thing could be said for people of different economic backgrounds to marry each other.
Let's face it America was a social class/caste system based the monetary system and political and religious ideologies.
Almost all of the officers for the 19th and 20th centuries came from the upper and rich classes families.
They only marry people within their social, political, and economic classes.
Even today, there is no contact between the officers, NCOs, and enlisted particularly their children when they are off duty and rich people do not marry people from the lower social and economic backgrounds plus the kind of job you have.
Why do you think Goucho Marx made fun of the rich people in many of his movies because he knew what they were really like (Bush, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Rothchilds, Duponts, etc).Om his speech the ex-sergeant told the local population, that people are sick, they see a doctor.
Well, back in those days the true is many people could not afford a doctor.
Finally, some of the air combat scenes were used in the 1977 movie Midway starring Henry Fonda and Charles Heston.
I wonder why they don't show more movies like that and the War against Ms. Hadley more often?
The Marines Deserved Better.
MGM did this 1943 film in color which was rare doing wartime in those years for any studio to use.
Probably 20th Century Fox filmed in color the most, still even their output was limited.Salute To The Marines stars Wallace Beery in one of his few color features and he brings his gruff, but lovable persona into the part of a training sergeant who is stationed in the Phillipines training new recruits for jungle combat which was thought by some to be inevitable.
This is what the Beery character is working at when he gets an assignment to train Filipino civilians to fight.But a character like Beery would NEVER have been training anyone.
The plot premise is that Beery, a thirty year veteran of the Corps would have missed every combat engagement in the Marines had which included Mexico, World War I, Haiti, Nicaragua etc.
Now somewhere down the line he'd have been assigned some action or he wouldn't be training anyone, let alone rise to the rank of Sergeant Major.Still train he does and his civilian trainees prove adequate to the task even though they're not the most disciplined bunch.The climax is when the Japanese come Beery also proves adequate in fighting a delaying action after the Japanese bomb the church where he and wife Fay Bainter are attending services.
This was on the same day where the Japanese were also doing a job on Pearl Harbor.
MGM did a far better film a year earlier about the Phillipine campaign and the last stand on Bataan with Robert Taylor.
That one holds up far better than Salute To The Marines.Shoehorned into the story is a kindly German store owner played by Reginald Owen who shows his true Nazi colors as the first Japanese troops land.
Beery makes short work of him.
The US Marines deserved a far better film than Salute To The Marines which is a dated relic of dubious propaganda value even then.