5/10
An overloaded melodrama!
4 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Audie Murphy (Craig Benson), Gary Crosby (Marty Sackler), Dolores Michaels (Ruth Benson), Alejandro Rey (Julio Fontana), Marjorie Stapp (Caroline Pelham), Barry Atwater (Jeff Pelham), E.J. Andre (Dr Van Bart), Dale Ishimoto (Blanco), Miriam Colon (Nahni), Pilar Seurat (Camota), Lillian Bronson (Delia Ellis), William Mims (M'Keever), Ivan Dixon (Tiger Blair), Kevin Brodie (Timmy Thompson), Sara Anderson (Mrs Thompson), Lloyd Kino (Japanese lieutenant).

Director: HERBERT COLEMAN. Screenplay: Richard Maibaum, Willard Willingham. Based on a story by Richard Maibaum. Photography: Kenneth Peach. Supervising film editor: Jodie Copelan. Music composed and conducted by Henry Vars. Art director: John Mansbridge. Set decorations: Harry Reif. Wardrobe: Robert Olivas. Make-up: Vincent Romaine. Script supervisor: George Rutter. Property master: Wilbur L. Russell. Photographed in black-and-white CinemaScope. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Production supervisor: Harold E. Knox. Assistant director: Francisco Day. Sound editor: Jack Cornall. Sound: Jack Solomon, Frank McWhorter. Sound facilities: Glen Glenn Sound Company. Producer: Richard Maibaum. Executive producer: Robert L. Lippert. An API Production for 20th Century-Fox. 2nd assistant director: George Batcheller. Made with the co- operation of the United States Defense Department and the United States Navy.

Copyright 1 June 1961 by Associated Producers, Inc. New York opening at neighborhood theaters: 16 August 1961. U.S. release: June 1961. U.K. release: 23 July 1961. Never theatrically released in Australia. 80 minutes.

U.K. release title: BATTLE ON THE BEACH.

SYNOPSIS: During the Jap invasion of the Philippines, an American aids the guerrillas.

VIEWER'S GUIDE: Not suitable for children.

COMMENT: Yet another of those U.S.-Filipino war pics, this one is more routine than most. The direction only comes to life during the climactic battle. The rest of the film is pretty dull sledding, despite a few brief bursts of action and a heroine who tends to be more sultry than the script requires.

OTHER VIEWS: Set during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, with Audie Murphy involved in a distinctly uneasy blend of marital problems and melodramatic heroics. The director handles the action scenes competently but both he and his cast are at the mercy of the unconvincing script when it comes to the personal affairs of the characters. It all rings much too hollow and the result is an overloaded melodramatic hodge-podge. — E.V.D.
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