On B List of Movie Reviews
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Beachhead (1954)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
2/24
2/24:
Although the rating should be a point lower, there are several reasons to like Beachhead.
The technicolor serves Tony Curtis well as he looks impossibly handsome. It's why the girl fell in love with his character.
She sure forgot about her father's death in record time. The longer the show goes on, the better the group's chemistry is,
allowing me to get to used to their adventure. Frank Lovejoy is an asset while Mary Murphy is familiar as the love attraction for
Marlon Brando's character in The Wild One.
Of course, instances show up that are hard to believe. There have been many times that Tony Curtis and Frank Lovejoy are shown
wearing (Converse?) sneakers when boots will have made sense. Why did they dig a foxhole out in the open when they should be
hiding in the woods? That'll cut down their survival rate to near 0%. All a Japanese soldier has to do is
climb a tree and pick them off one by one.
How about the girl's bright blue dress? Anyone can spot her easily, especially when the Japanese are all over the place atop
the ridge. How were the Bouchards able to survive on the island for so long? I wonder what they did before the Marines
came along because it seemed to be working out for them. And they're French? Ha! No such accent can be heard whatsoever, but the
father's ability to speak Melanesian is something else.
The ending is ridiculous just like the Japanese soldier in his Pillsbury Doughboy uniform coming out of nowhere before he's
taken hostage. So, Tony Curtis jumps into the water, swims 100 yards, and throws a grenade to blow up the Japanese
destroyer that's supposed to be far away? It doesn't help when the filmmakers put the two reels together to make me believe
there's fighting on sea.
All in all, Beachhead isn't a great movie, but having Tony Curtis on board makes a big difference.