John Wayne's old studio home, Republic, made this 1949 drama about the
heroic capture of an important island in the Pacific by marines in World War
II. Director Allan Dwan (Brewster's Millions), a pioneering filmmaker from the
silent days of cinema who easily crossed over into sound, handles the
action sequences like a consummate pro, while Wayne works hard as the
tough sergeant molding new recruits into fighters. John Agar plays a
contentious surrogate son to Wayne, though the relationship is hardly the
stuff of Red River.