Not Rated | 1h 53min | Action, Adventure, Drama | 1951
“Halls of Montezuma” is an action-packed World War II film about U.S. Marines performing an amphibious assault on a Japanese-controlled island.
This film is presented as more of a character-driven drama—albeit in the form of some war-film archetypes. What could have resulted in a much more stock war film is helped greatly by not only its outstanding director—the great Lewis Milestone, who also directed the 1930 classic “All Quiet on the Western Front”—but also its excellent cast.
The film’s protagonist is U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Anderson (Richard Widmark), who was a high school chemistry teacher in his civilian life. From the outset, we can see that something is clearly off about Anderson as he makes his way around his battalion’s ship: A fine sheen of sweat seems to perpetually coat his forehead, and he has a far-away look in his eyes (greatly affected by Widmark)….