They Were Expendable

directed by John Ford
Category: "War"
Year of Release:1945
Date Added:02/27/2020
Date Watched:02/27/2020
Description:Based on a book of actual events. Account of PT boat crews in the Philippines at the beginning of WWII. The six-boat unit was led by Lt. John Brickley (Robert Montgomery). His second in command was Lt. Rusty Ryan (John Wayne). The fought off Japanese attacks as the boats and crew were one-by-one destroyed. This was the unit that took Douglas MacArthur off the islands. Ryan fell in love on Bataan with an Army nurse, Lt. Sandy Davyys (Donna Reed). The movie ends with Brickley and Ryan being evacuated on the final plane to Australia to raise more PT boat crews. The whereabouts of Davyss were unknown (although the real Davyss was around after the war to complain about how her character was portrayed).
My Rating:6

Reviews for They Were Expendable

Review - They Were Expendable

Rather slow-moving because it the point wasn't really a story but a account of the final months of the unit. The characters were likable, and it gave a fairly decent portrayal of the war, albeit with no actual Japanese troops.

Reviewed by Roger on 2020-02-27 20:22:52

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