Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Keir Dullea, Jack Warner, James Philbrook, Kieron Moore | Written by Bernard Gordon
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 99 minutes | Directed by Andrew Marton
Not to be confused with the 1998 Terence Malick film also based on the novel The Thin Red Line by James Jones, this 1964 original nevertheless covers much of the same terrain, both physically and metaphorically. So just to recap, the US army is in Guadalcanal in the Pacific to protect convoy routes between the US and Australia from Japanese attacks.
The focal point of the story is Private Doll (played by Keir Dullea, who most memorably went on to star in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey) and his relationship with Sergeant Welsh (Jack Warner). With age and experience on his side, Welsh dishes out advice whether Doll wants it or not, thus creating the majority of the character-based tension. As is often the case in the more realistic films about war, it’s the infighting that’s at least as an important factor for soldiers to deal with as the combat with the enemy itself.
Allied to the psychological strain is the physical nature of battle, from literally getting to grips with the Japanese to being in the middle of ferocious firefights in the oppressive swamps and mountains of the island. For its time at least, it feels surprisingly violent and considerably more visceral than your average black and white World War II film.
Warner is laconic and assured while Dullea uses those expressive eyes of his to great effect as a man constantly on the verge of breaking down in these most trying of circumstances. The acting of the latter is prone to exaggeration but to an extent this is simply a sign of the times rather than a flaw. Director Andrew Marton finds just about the perfect balance between angst and action and the pacing is superb, with several memorable set pieces making this a more than worthy companion to Malick’s excellent version.
EXTRAS Just the trailer.