Flying Leathernecks (1951)

Directed by Nicholas Ray
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

John Wayne commands a rag-tag group of flying marines in the Pacific. His second in command Robert Ryan has a soft heart and often questions the decisions of the tougher Wayne. The pilots wonder who is going to get it next, while trying to get rest or get drunk. I was often reminded of MASH, particularly the Line Chief who had a knack for stealing supplies and even looked a lot like Rizzo from the TV series. Stock footage is used for the battle scenes but it is well edited and flows with the rest of the film. However, the Stateside home scenes with Wayne and his wife are hilariously awful and cliche, luckily they are brief.