Back home

With the Marines at Tarawa

11 votes

Documentary short film depicting the harrowing battle between the U.S. Marines and the Japanese for control of the Pacific island of Tarawa. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Archives and Records Administration in 2005.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1944-03-02

Runtime: 18 mins

Director: Richard Brooks, Louis Hayward

Spoken language: English

Genres: Documentary, War

Original title: With the Marines at Tarawa

Production Companies: United States Marine Corps Photographic Unit

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Narrator (voice)

William Lundigan

Reviews

Geronimo1967

With just about every Governmental agency behind it, this is clearly designed for US domestic consumption to bolster morale ahead of the looming D-Day - and it doesn't pull it's punches. On the other side of the world, a squad of marines is gathered on the deck of a destroyer attending a church service. They are aware that next day, they are to embark on a perilous mission to dispossess the Japanese of an airfield on the strategically important island of Tarawa. A successive series of naval and aerial bombardments over three days will hopefully soften up their opponents before the ground assault, but even then their tenacious enemy is never going to be a pushover and will test the mettle of these courageous soldiers with some fierce counter-attacking. The photography and, especially, the audio - really does convey the real dangers as bombs, grenades, and bullets are indiscriminately exchanged with seemingly little the invaders can do to unseat the well armed and dug-in defenders. With sand and smoke everywhere, well they just have to persevere, pray and hope. This is a testament to many things, but the wartime cameramen who managed to capture the horror of this unfolding battle whilst under fire certainly deserve recognition.

2024-02-07

Recommendations

2.4

Railway Station

1980-01-01

Warsaw's Central Railway Station. 'Someone has fallen asleep, someone's waiting for somebody else. M

3.2

Primary

1960-11-08

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphre

3.9

Marjoe

1972-07-24

Part documentary, part expose, this film follows one-time child evangelist Marjoe Gortner on the "ch

One Hand Don't Clap

1991-08-28

Kavery Kaul’s engaging documentary traces the history of calypso and soca music from their birth in

3.5

Powder Keg

2001-06-01

The Driver is drafted by the UN to rescue a wounded war photographer named Harvey Jacobs from out of

3.7

Patton

1970-01-25

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film

The Costume Designer

1950-07-13

This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The cost

Mystery of the Maya

1995-01-01

Filmed in IMAX, a young Mayan boy who lives close to the ruins becomes acquainted with an archaeolog

3.5

Man Hunt

1941-06-13

Shortly before the start of WW2, renowned British big-game hunter Alan Thorndike, vacationing in Bav

3.8

Who's Afraid of Cris Negão?

2012-08-01

Cristiane Jordan, or Cris Negão, as she was called, was a transvestite who worked as a bawd in downt

The Gulls

1944-04-01

Arne Sucksdorff’s short documentary observes gulls raiding nests and stealing eggs with ruthless per

3.4

The Magic of Flight

1996-01-01

Take a technological thrill ride The Magic of Flight takes you on a technological thrill ride faster

Between East and West

1949-06-09

Short by Stuart Schulberg. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

1.7

More Dangerous Than Dynamite

1941-11-07

A short film warning the unaware housewife of the dangers of “dry cleaning” with gasoline at home.

3.8

Chronos

1985-05-10

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinemat

3.3

Everest

1998-03-06

An international team of climbers ascends Mt. Everest in the spring of 1996. The film depicts their

Extreme

1999-03-25

EXTREME is a visually stunning 45-minute journey into the soul of adventure featuring a cast of worl

4.3

The Great American West

1995-01-01

2.9

Great North

2001-05-11

This film takes viewers through the rich, white majesty of the Inuit Great North. Along with doing j

2.6

The Greatest Places

1998-06-30

A journey to seven of the most geographically dynamic locations on earth. The film features spectacu