Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

tieman64 An adaptation of a Leon Uris novel, "Battle Cry" is an overlong, sappy and clichéd war film which attempts to delve into the lives of a handful of soldiers during the early years of WW2. It was one of the top four box-office hits of 1955.More interested in soap opera than squibs, "Battle Cry" spends most of its running time observing as US soldiers bed and breakup with various hilariously voluptuous women (Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson, Dorothy Malone, Anne Francis). The film boasts fine widescreen photography, a likable performance by Aldo Ray and, as it received support from the US military, a number of logistically spectacular outdoor sequences. Raoul Walsh directs. 2/10 – Worth no viewings.

MARIO GAUCI For all its box-office potential (notable credits, star cast, epic production), this WWII effort in color and widescreen does not seem to enjoy that much of a reputation. Having watched it for myself, I can understand why: the film spends a great chunk of its nearly 2½ hours exploring (or is that exploiting?) the dreary love lives of the various members of a marine unit; this atypical approach may prevent the film from being yet another routine actioner, but, it does come perilously close to soap opera at times – which is worse! Director Walsh was an action expert but, as I said, here this element is relegated to the last 20 minutes or so; popular novelist Leon Uris's screen adaptation of his own novel was by all accounts a watered-down affair (actually common practice for Hollywood at the time). Incidentally, Walsh would helm the similarly mild film of a classic war novel by another renowned author – Norman Mailer's THE NAKED AND THE DEAD (1958), for which he 'recalled into service' a number of actors from BATTLE CRY itself. The cast, then, includes established and up-and-coming stars: Van Heflin (despite being top-billed his role is virtually that of an observer), Dorothy Malone, Raymond Massey (a mere cameo), Nancy Olson, Aldo Ray (who comes off best) and James Whitmore (basically retreading – albeit effectively – his Oscar-nominated role in BATTLEGROUND [1949]) in the former category and William Campbell, Anne Francis, Tab Hunter, L.Q. Jones (formerly Justus McQueen, he stuck to his character's name here professionally thereafter!), Perry Lopez and Fess Parker in the latter. The narrative features, at least, three ongoing romances: Tab Hunter is even involved with two women (Mona Freeman, absurdly third-billed, and an unlikely dalliance with frustrated Dorothy Malone), bookworm John Lupton has an even less believable relationship with floozie Anne Francis, while tough/beefy Aldo Ray demonstrates his sensitive side when he falls for New Zealander Nancy Olson. These are developed intermittently between the training sessions and the aforementioned climactic action bout (which despite some obvious stock footage is fairly well handled on a grand scale); joining the various dots, as it were, within this episodic structure is Whitmore's sympathetic narration.

holy1 Not the world's best movie But not its worst. What I am especially interested in this movie is that much of it is set in my home city of Wellington, New Zealand, and features the U.S. Marines saving us from invasion by the Jpanese. Leon Uris's novel, on which the movie is based, catches very much the mood of the 1942-1943 period when the men of successive Marine divisions passed through Wellington en route to the fighting in Guadalcalal and elsewhere in the Soloman Islands. The movie makes a fair effort to translate this to the screen. What also interests me is that a previous comment I made on this movies along the above lines has not been retained among the user comments in International Moview Date Base. I greatly admire IMDb and make much use of it. Has Amaerica's paranoia grown to the extent that even favourable comments are not welcome if they come from outside the United States ?

greenstone110 My father was a Marine and a writer for the entertainment section of the Stars & Stripes. My dad, Staff Sargent Charles R. Cain, my mom, and sister and I, went daily, to where outside scenes were being rehearsed and filmed. I was 6 yrs. old. My dad and L.Q. became long time friends. My dad still has letters from Mr. Jones. In one he writes that he can't imagine himself in a mustache. Years later he did wear a mustache. It looks great! At one point during a scene, a rattlesnake made it's unwanted appearance. The filmmakers and actors were at a momentary loss about how to take care of the matter, so my dad, being the ham that he is, grabbed the snake behind the head and carried it off beyond harms way. On another assignment, Jack Webb offered my dad a part in the movie "The D.I." but my dad turned it down. That's part of the reason we're not rich and famous today.