None But the Brave (1965)
American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
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RELEASED IN 1965 and directed by Frank Sinatra, "None but the Brave" chronicles events on a small Pacific island during World War II where Japanese and American military personnel must make a temporary ceasefire and cooperate to survive. Clint Walker plays the captain-pilot while Sinatra plays his right-hand man and medic.This was Sinatra's first and only official stab at directing a feature film, although he had practice with numerous movies beforehand without credit. It's the first American-Japanese co-production and perhaps the first American production to show the Japanese in a balanced, fairly positive light. It's more of a jungle drama than a conventional war flick, but there is quite a bit of war action, including the downbeat ending. It's mostly serious, but with whimsical, caricaturist elements.Walker is great as the main protagonist while Tommy Sands (Sinatra's son-in-law) is notable as the gung-ho Marine Lieutenant. People complain about his over-the-top performance, but it's what Sinatra wanted and I'm pretty sure there were more than one green "butter bars" very similar to him in the USMC during WWII. Laraine Stephens has a glorified cameo.THE FILM RUNS 106 minutes and was shot in Kaua'i, Hawaii. WRITERS: John Twist & Katsuya Susaki (script) and Kikumaru Okuda (story).GRADE: B-
an old idea done better in many other movies, i.e opposing sides find themselves in the same boat and fight and wonder why; odd part if the several misplaced performances; start with sinatra doing the typical club singer vegas performance except in uniform in the south pacific; follow that with the most bizarre- tommy sands, then a teen idol singer (oh, and sinatra's son in law) who was a little person with a little voice somehow not realizing what a fool he was acting by pretending to be a big tough marine booming out orders; it's just laughable; anyway, the best version of this is lee marvin in hell in the pacific; still a war movie but thoughtful, interestingly shot
Just caught this one again recently. It's difficult to write an honest, objective review of a movie that's this bad. Hard to believe that anyone remotely connected to the military had anything to do with the script or direction of this turkey. Ever war movie cliché ever uttered turns up here somewhere. Hard to decide if Tommy Sands' performance as the hard-as-nails rookie lieutenant is howlingly funny or just outrageously bad. This is Hollywood's version of war. It's watchable only if you don't mind being clubbed over the head with the "message" every few minutes (that being "why can't we all just get along?") As a lifelong fan of Sinatra, I'm hugely disappointed.
Across the wide theater of war, there are many stories which are never included in the massive volume of war. This surprising movie which arrive in 1965 is called " None but the Brave. " It's the story of a squad of Japanese soldiers who have become stranded on a tiny island when their war time empire begun retreating. Idealic in its setting they become complacent but have adapted well. Still their unit commander one Lt. Kuroki (Tatsuya Mihashi) keeps a personal journal detailing his thoughts. Left undisturbed, boredom becomes their only companion until one day a U.S. transport plane loaded with American marines crash lands on the island. The men are raw recruits led by an inexperienced Marine 2nd Lt. named Blair. Were it not for an experienced pilot, one Capt. Dennis Bourke,(Clint Walker) the small detachment would have blazed into the Japanese camp and been massacred. Realizing this, Bourke assumes command and with the help of a boozing Pharmacist Mate (aptly played by Frank Sinatra) the detachment in kept under control. The Japanese commander also has his problems when Sgt.Tamura (Takeshi Kato) opts to immediately attack the Americans causing dissension between him and Kuroki. The film displays well both the animosity and the humanity of both sides and briefly allows all to realize their future. This is best illustrated during a typhoon when everyone must work together to survive. Vetran actors like Brad Dexter, Richard Bakalyhi and Sammy Jackson as Cpl. Craddock give the picture its professional veneer. The acting is first rate, the story is tempered with compassion, dramatic action and tragedy, resulting in cultural sympathy for both sides. As a consequence, this has become a war time Classic. ****