When you wanted to portray toughness, the late Jack Warden was one of the first actors who came to mind. He often played persons in authority positions, as in the TV series "N.Y.P.D." and "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" (in both, a captain).
In this movie he plays a top sergeant in the Army, the man who will keep you alive no matter how ruthless an enemy you will face. He's no sweetheart. He's nobody's buddy but he is cool under fire, wise, experienced and no mean player at psychological games. When some green and incautious solders in his platoon want to pick up some war souvenirs at the start of the film, it is the sergeant who casually demonstrates that the soldiers have come within an ace of getting themselves blown up. The "souvenirs" were booby trapped by the cruel, clever Japanese!
In counterpoint is the character of Pvt. Doll--young, delicate looking, self-contained, and determined to survive. The casting of Kier Dullea with his expressive eyes was spot on.
When Guadalcanal is mentioned most people think of the Marines. The Marines did fight a tough and heroic campaign on that island. However, the Marines were eventually relieved by the Army. The Army was left to clean out what remained of the Japanese on Guadalcanal, particularly a strongly held natural feature: Mt. Austen, called the "Dancing Elephant" in the movie but in history the "Galloping Horse" because of its shape.
The story centers on the taking of Mt. Austen by the Army, with the full horror of facing for the first time an enemy determined to fight to the last man.
No movie I have ever seen captures so perfectly the grimness of war, its squalor, occasional moments of exultation and the byplay of men at different levels of command but all trapped in an essentially insane situation.
In this movie he plays a top sergeant in the Army, the man who will keep you alive no matter how ruthless an enemy you will face. He's no sweetheart. He's nobody's buddy but he is cool under fire, wise, experienced and no mean player at psychological games. When some green and incautious solders in his platoon want to pick up some war souvenirs at the start of the film, it is the sergeant who casually demonstrates that the soldiers have come within an ace of getting themselves blown up. The "souvenirs" were booby trapped by the cruel, clever Japanese!
In counterpoint is the character of Pvt. Doll--young, delicate looking, self-contained, and determined to survive. The casting of Kier Dullea with his expressive eyes was spot on.
When Guadalcanal is mentioned most people think of the Marines. The Marines did fight a tough and heroic campaign on that island. However, the Marines were eventually relieved by the Army. The Army was left to clean out what remained of the Japanese on Guadalcanal, particularly a strongly held natural feature: Mt. Austen, called the "Dancing Elephant" in the movie but in history the "Galloping Horse" because of its shape.
The story centers on the taking of Mt. Austen by the Army, with the full horror of facing for the first time an enemy determined to fight to the last man.
No movie I have ever seen captures so perfectly the grimness of war, its squalor, occasional moments of exultation and the byplay of men at different levels of command but all trapped in an essentially insane situation.