Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

An Exercise In Nonsense

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie was just excellent from start to finish with the acting being excellent and the script was well written. The cinematography was well done especially in the battle scenes and I liked that the plot of the movie mostly followed the book that it was based on which is why I gave it 10 stars.

Lt. John Bulkeley was the PT commander who, against great odds, evacuated MacArthur (on orders from the President) and his family from the Philippines before the surrender in 42. A decent film with a good cast and usual fine directing from John Ford, it's worth seeing for the military enthusiast, just for the PT Boats!

Released at the end of World War II, with the ink on the final surrender documents still fresh, "They Were Expendable" is a rousing yet sobering look back when American service personnel faced total defeat at enemy hands. It's not a question of "if" for them, just "when," and this is director John Ford's way of paying tribute.We open in December, 1941, as Lt. John Brickley (Robert Montgomery) is trying to make his superiors see the value of the squadron of PT- boats he commands, presently stationed on Cavite in the Philippines. The brass is not impressed, but then the Japanese begin their offensive and Brickley and his men are put to the test. Can these "high-powered canoes" be counted on to help turn the tide of Japanese cruisers and destroyers?Not really, not for long.Surprisingly for a film made while the war in the Pacific still raged, there is an overall tone of resignation bordering on despair, beginning with the title. A lot of things turn out expendable in this movie, not just the PT-boats and the rest of the American forces in the Philippines, but comradeships formed within the squadron, too. Brickley's second-in-command Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) even has to shed a promising romance with nurse Sandy Davyss (Donna Reed) as the exigencies of war take precedence.The message of "do-and-die" is presented early by Brickley's commander: "You and I are professionals. If the manager says sacrifice, we lay down a bunt and let somebody else hit the home runs."Wayne is the reason people watch "Expendable," but Montgomery is why it sticks. A combat veteran just back from the war, he keeps it real with a low-key performance. There's no shouting when he issues commands, just firm authority. No longer the pretty boy of 1930s cinema, Montgomery is haggard-looking here, with bags under his eyes, a five-'o-clock shadow, and a noticeable paunch. He's not trying to impress anyone, which is why he is so impressive."Who are you working for?" is something he asks Rusty at key moments in the beginning and at the end of the film. This is the moral of the picture, reminding us of the sacrifice being laid.For Ford and screenwriter Frank "Spig" Wead, that sacrifice takes precedence over story. "They Were Expendable" is an episodic, sometimes rambling affair, with more than a bit of hyperbole about what the PT-boats accomplished. Much time is taken up with the squadron's part in the evacuation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, whom Ford treats as such a holy thing he is never referred to by name. He's simply called "certain key personnel" and draws admiring stares from all. It's understandable given MacArthur's credited role in turning the war, but it does grate.The pathos is deep, but never overwhelming. A deathbed scene between Brickley and one of his officers, whom we earlier see being introduced to the rest the squadron on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, is a masterful study of actorly control by both Montgomery and Paul Langton. Several key players in the Ford acting troupe have standout scenes, and with Ford manage to incorporate needed doses of humor in small but strategic ways.I really like Wayne in this movie; already a star, we see him here beginning to emerge as an actor, whether grousing about PT-duty early on, making a hash of an attempt at telling Sandy he loves her on a bad telephone connection, or reciting verse over two dead comrades. While Montgomery sets the tone of the film, Wayne provides the crucial backbone for it to work.In a way, the great strength of "They Were Expendable" is also a weakness; that it was made when the subject was not only fresh but still an open wound. It was hard for Ford and his cast to be as objective and detached from the matter as great art often is, to find a way of dealing with the hard truth that the fight for the Philippines was not just a defeat but a useless one where PT-boats proved of minimal help. All the talk of duty gets frustrating when one thinks of the overwhelming futility behind it."They Were Expendable" best works as a requiem, speaking of loss and man's hope for nobility in the face of same. It reminds us of whatever bad turns fate has in store for us, we need to be strong and face them out with determination, not necessarily because it will do any good but because it is the best we can do.

...given the subject matter, as well as the overwhelming influence of the 45+ cohort voting on this site (many of them undoubtedly John Wayne fans), this somewhat turgid, fictionalized account of PT-boat action at Corregidor and the Bataan peninsula during the Japanese invasion of the Philippine Islands in late 1941 marked the first war drama directed by the inestimable John "The Grapes of Wrath" Ford, and the continuation of a long association with rising screen icon, John Wayne. Based on an account published mere months after the event, the screenplay by naval-aviator-turned-writer Frank "The Citadel" Wead (and apparently uncredited assistance from expatriate script-doctor Jan "The White Cliffs of Dover" Lustig) incorporates dialog wholesale from the source, hewing closely to the somewhat unhistorical record of the travails of PT Squadron 3, which after significant combat action eventually carried Douglas MacArthur to his escape rendezvous on Mindanao Island when the Allied defense of the P.I. finally collapsed."They Were Expendable" is notable for its relatively non-propagandistic approach (in part, no doubt, because victory in Europe had already been achieved during filming, and victory in the Pacific was foreseeable--though painfully so--and in fact had been achieved by the film's release date), as well as its somewhat melancholic depiction of a battle that the United States was inevitably forced to lose to fight another day. It helps that Wayne isn't the lead (naval veteran Robert "Private Lives" Montgomery had that honor), and that an utterly lovely Donna "The Picture of Dorian Gray" Reed did the heartstring-tugging. The ensemble support isn't too shabby, either, featuring the likes of a young Marshall "Daktari" Thompson, Cameron "The High Chaparral" Mitchell, and established character actors like Jack "Cat People" Holt and Ward "The Maltese Falcon" Bond. The cinematography from esteemed lensman Joseph H. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" August keeps things dark and moody; sadly, this co-founder of the A.S.C. died a few years later.Quite watchable, though not nearly as good as better known Ford (or Wayne) productions, "They Were Expendable" remains one of the best (and last) wartime Hollywood releases.