First off a word about the "jingoism" battles that seem to be raging in regards to this movie. Get over it! Of course it's racist propaganda, it was made in 1943 for crying out loud. And really the only reason you can call it racist is because the Japanese are the bad guys. They aren't really made out to be any worse than the Germans in other films of the era. But, because of the different race, it is called racist. I haven't seen any Japanes films of the same period but I suspect they were equally as harsh in their portrayal of the Americans. I have seen print examples of Japanese propaganda from that time and they were much worse.
On to the more relevant part of the review. The acting was not bad and the story was exciting. Direction and cinematography were okay but nothing to get excited about. The script, as you might expect, was a bit long on melodrama and short on accuracy.
The lack of accuracy may be the reason that the names of all the characters were changed from the actual Raiders that took part. It seems very strange for a film to have a subtitle mentioning Carlson's Raiders with the main character being called Colonel Thorwald. The only name that was kept was the nickname of Transport. And the real Transport didn't die in the raid. In fact he was one of the film's technical advisors.
I kind of wonder why they bothered with technical advisors, because the movie has basically zero percent of the actual raid in it. The most puzzling thing is the omission of the second in command of the 2nd. Raider Battalion. I really have no idea why the movie propaganda machine of the time would miss a chance to trumpet the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Major James Roosevelt, was there. Perhaps that ties in with the reason that the characters were fictionalized. Or perhaps there were security concerns.
The portrayal of Carson/Thorwald is somewhat accurate but probably sanitized for public consumption. His time in China had basically turned him into a communist. The actual questioning of the candidates to join the battalion included questions about the political significance of the war and the training included a certain amount of political indoctrination.
As I said the actual raid isn't really present in this film. The raid actually lasted much longer than a single day. The last men made it off the island about 11PM the second night. And Carlson at one point actually tried to surrender, partially out of concern for the presence of Major Roosevelt. This fell through mostly because there were so few Japanese left alive on the island. The entire American flag plot line was completely made up and had no basis in reality.
The raid was considered by some to be a failure, or at least ineffective in causing the Japanese to be distracted from Guadalcanal and the Solomons. The Solomons were invaded 10 days before the Makin Island raid took place, and the raid was intended as a distraction and intelligence gathering operation. Carlson himself was thought by some to have done a poor job, and he later admitted that he hadn't been at his best.
Regardless of the effectiveness of the raid itself and Carlson's performance, the 2nd. Raiders went on to do a much better job on Guadalcanal. But that's another story. Both raider battalions were disbanded not long after Guadalcanal, because it was felt that elite units were not required when all Marines were elite soldiers already.
In spite of the falsity of the story it was still an enjoyable film. Especially if you like war movies. Despite the cries of revisionists and appologists, it would seem strange if a film made in 1943 did NOT have a propaganda content. It is a pretty accurate portrayal of the sentiments of the American public of the time. So it's a slice of history in that sense. Tom Sawyer is still a great book, in spite of it's racist content. And Gung Ho is still a decent movie in spite of it's content.
On to the more relevant part of the review. The acting was not bad and the story was exciting. Direction and cinematography were okay but nothing to get excited about. The script, as you might expect, was a bit long on melodrama and short on accuracy.
The lack of accuracy may be the reason that the names of all the characters were changed from the actual Raiders that took part. It seems very strange for a film to have a subtitle mentioning Carlson's Raiders with the main character being called Colonel Thorwald. The only name that was kept was the nickname of Transport. And the real Transport didn't die in the raid. In fact he was one of the film's technical advisors.
I kind of wonder why they bothered with technical advisors, because the movie has basically zero percent of the actual raid in it. The most puzzling thing is the omission of the second in command of the 2nd. Raider Battalion. I really have no idea why the movie propaganda machine of the time would miss a chance to trumpet the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Major James Roosevelt, was there. Perhaps that ties in with the reason that the characters were fictionalized. Or perhaps there were security concerns.
The portrayal of Carson/Thorwald is somewhat accurate but probably sanitized for public consumption. His time in China had basically turned him into a communist. The actual questioning of the candidates to join the battalion included questions about the political significance of the war and the training included a certain amount of political indoctrination.
As I said the actual raid isn't really present in this film. The raid actually lasted much longer than a single day. The last men made it off the island about 11PM the second night. And Carlson at one point actually tried to surrender, partially out of concern for the presence of Major Roosevelt. This fell through mostly because there were so few Japanese left alive on the island. The entire American flag plot line was completely made up and had no basis in reality.
The raid was considered by some to be a failure, or at least ineffective in causing the Japanese to be distracted from Guadalcanal and the Solomons. The Solomons were invaded 10 days before the Makin Island raid took place, and the raid was intended as a distraction and intelligence gathering operation. Carlson himself was thought by some to have done a poor job, and he later admitted that he hadn't been at his best.
Regardless of the effectiveness of the raid itself and Carlson's performance, the 2nd. Raiders went on to do a much better job on Guadalcanal. But that's another story. Both raider battalions were disbanded not long after Guadalcanal, because it was felt that elite units were not required when all Marines were elite soldiers already.
In spite of the falsity of the story it was still an enjoyable film. Especially if you like war movies. Despite the cries of revisionists and appologists, it would seem strange if a film made in 1943 did NOT have a propaganda content. It is a pretty accurate portrayal of the sentiments of the American public of the time. So it's a slice of history in that sense. Tom Sawyer is still a great book, in spite of it's racist content. And Gung Ho is still a decent movie in spite of it's content.