Battle at Bloody Beach (1961)

Redundant and unnecessary.

One of my all time favorites.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A different way of telling a story

Audie Murphy (Craig Benson), Gary Crosby (Marty Sackler), Dolores Michaels (Ruth Benson), Alejandro Rey (Julio Fontana), Marjorie Stapp (Caroline Pelham), Barry Atwater (Jeff Pelham), E.J. Andre (Dr Van Bart), Dale Ishimoto (Blanco), Miriam Colon (Nahni), Pilar Seurat (Camota), Lillian Bronson (Delia Ellis), William Mims (M'Keever), Ivan Dixon (Tiger Blair), Kevin Brodie (Timmy Thompson), Sara Anderson (Mrs Thompson), Lloyd Kino (Japanese lieutenant).Director: HERBERT COLEMAN. Screenplay: Richard Maibaum, Willard Willingham. Based on a story by Richard Maibaum. Photography: Kenneth Peach. Supervising film editor: Jodie Copelan. Music composed and conducted by Henry Vars. Art director: John Mansbridge. Set decorations: Harry Reif. Wardrobe: Robert Olivas. Make-up: Vincent Romaine. Script supervisor: George Rutter. Property master: Wilbur L. Russell. Photographed in black-and-white CinemaScope. CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb. Production supervisor: Harold E. Knox. Assistant director: Francisco Day. Sound editor: Jack Cornall. Sound: Jack Solomon, Frank McWhorter. Sound facilities: Glen Glenn Sound Company. Producer: Richard Maibaum. Executive producer: Robert L. Lippert. An API Production for 20th Century-Fox. 2nd assistant director: George Batcheller. Made with the co- operation of the United States Defense Department and the United States Navy.Copyright 1 June 1961 by Associated Producers, Inc. New York opening at neighborhood theaters: 16 August 1961. U.S. release: June 1961. U.K. release: 23 July 1961. Never theatrically released in Australia. 80 minutes.U.K. release title: BATTLE ON THE BEACH.SYNOPSIS: During the Jap invasion of the Philippines, an American aids the guerrillas.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Not suitable for children.COMMENT: Yet another of those U.S.-Filipino war pics, this one is more routine than most. The direction only comes to life during the climactic battle. The rest of the film is pretty dull sledding, despite a few brief bursts of action and a heroine who tends to be more sultry than the script requires.OTHER VIEWS: Set during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, with Audie Murphy involved in a distinctly uneasy blend of marital problems and melodramatic heroics. The director handles the action scenes competently but both he and his cast are at the mercy of the unconvincing script when it comes to the personal affairs of the characters. It all rings much too hollow and the result is an overloaded melodramatic hodge-podge. — E.V.D.

(There are Spoilers) WWII movie involving a love triangle that takes placed on a Japanese occupied island in the Philippines. Since the fall of the Philippines in the spring of 1942 to the Japanese Army US contractor and foodstuff and ammunition supplier Craig Benson, Audie Murphy, has been trying to find out if his wife Ruth, Dolores Michaels, is either alive or dead. Sneaking onto the island to make contact with his US Army contemporary Sgt. Sackler, Gary Crosby, Craig is told that there are a number of guerrilla units in the area. Craig and his Philippine guide, provided to him by Sgt. Sackler, Blanco (Dale Ishimoto) hook up with this group of guerrilla's lead by an American named M'Keever, Williams Mims.It turns out that this M'Keever is nothing but a black market hustler who's playing both sides, the Japanese Army and Filipino guerrillas, down the middle and only want's the guns and supplies that Craig would supply to him and his men in order to sell them to the highest bidder. Attacked by M'Keever and his men when he got wise to him Craig and Blanco are then rescued by a real group of Philippine guerrillas lead by their handsome and charismatic leader Julio Fontana, Alejandro Rey. It's later found out to Craig's shock and surprise that his wife Ruth is part of Fontana's guerrilla unit and not only that she's also in loved with him.One of the few WWII movie's that authentic, not made in Hollywood, WWII war hero Audie Murphy ever made has him in hot water almost as soon as he lands on the island. With the Japanese attacking both Craig and the people, mostly American civilians, that he's assigned to bring back with him on a US submarine to Australia. Audie, or Craig Benson,is very troubled over his wife leaving him for another man, Julio, but the fact that he was thought to have been killed in the fighting against the Japanese in Battan/Carrigador two years earlier didn't mean that Ruth, whom at the time he was married to for about a week, betrayed or deserted him.With the US submarine delayed in it being spotted by a Japanese cruiser off shore Carig and Sgt. Sackler and about a dozen American and Filipino's hide out on an old battered and run aground ship waiting for either to be rescued by the US Navy or die fighting the Japanese Army.The Japanese, after they were first repulsed in very heavy fighting, in the person of Let. Lloyd Kino give the Americans an hour to surrender with Craig, who's a civilian combatant and not in uniform, to be shot if he surrenders or not; or else face a barrage of murderous Japanese artillery and mortar fire that would tear them and the ship that their hiding in apart.Earlier during the heavy fighting with the Japanese Sgt.Sackler dived into the ocean and in him trying to get to a nearby island for help and is attacked and killed by a shark. Picking up the ball, in so many words, and running with Craig goes on foot into the jungle to seek help from guerrilla units that are said to be in the area. Later when the Japanses are just about to overrun the ship and kill everyone on it, including Craig's estranged wife Ruth, Craig comes riding to their rescue with a full Philippine guerrilla company who put the Japanese attacker out on their heels and running for their lives. Heart-lifting ending with Ruth deciding to go back with Craig to the US submarine and the safety of friendly Australia instead of staying with Julio in his battle to liberate his people from the Japanese. For a while you would have thought that being with Jullio for some two years in the Philippine jungles would make Ruth forget about Craig, whom she thought was dead anyway. It's when Ruth was reunited with Craig and seeing just what a kind as well as the both modest, which Audie Murphy was in real life, and heroic person that he really was how in all sincerity could she let someone like him, who's just too good to be true, ever get away from her!

Although only 45 years since it was made, almost everyone associated with the "Battle AT (not of) Bloody Beach" (actors-writers-directors) has been dead for a while now. It is unlikely that this project was given a prominent spot in any of their obits.I'm one of the unlucky few who paid to see this in a theater during its original summer of 1961 release. This type of low budget black and white junk was typical Saturday matinée fodder-although I think "Battle At Bloody Beach" was weak even by those standards. As a ten year-old who loved to play army the title was a real draw. We were driven to the theater by my friend's uncle who had us laughing the whole trip with funny variations on the title. The trip to the theater was a lot more entertaining than the movie. There is a beach, Catalina Island impersonating a small island in the Philippines during WWII, but there is no blood-just some fake looking combat and "day for night" filming. The middle (65% of the total running time) of the movie showcases a long hike by an assorted group of civilians from one side of the island to the other. The Japanese invaded the Philippines and other territories as part of their plans to create what they called a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Basically the idea was to expel foreign economic and military interests and to set up governments agreeable to Japan's plans for the region. Japan's industrial development was dependent on these areas for raw materials like oil, rubber, and iron ore. The Japanese are essentially faceless and behave moronically (tactically and otherwise), about the same treatment Japan got in propaganda films made during the war. There is a plot of sorts. Sgt. Marty Sackler (Gary Crosby) of the U. S. Army is living on a Japanese occupied island supplying Filipino insurgents with weapons to resist the Japanese occupation. Craig Benson (Audie Murphy), a civilian, comes to the island by submarine to set up a resistance network. He is also looking for his wife Ruth (Dolores Michaels) who he had to leave behind when he evacuated the place at the start of the war. Meanwhile she has fallen for Alejandro Rey who seems to be some kind of revolutionary insurgent. This is an incredibly lousy film which is rarely shown, so it should be easy to avoid. If you are forced to watch just be glad you are not a 10-year-old who just blew part of his meager allowance for a ticket.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

This movie gets beaten up on quite a bit by critics, so my expectations were as low as they could be before watching...perhaps that is why I was so surprised to find some nice moments in this film.There is no question that this could never be considered a war classic, but to dismiss it outright simply by its reputation, or ones pre-conceived notions, is to do oneself a disservice. For being a low budget movie, there was some nice location shooting, quality set design, decent special effects (for the time), and good quality stock footage. There is some poor editing here and there, and a few technical goofs in the film, but, that aside, I must say that I found the direction to be quite good, overall, for a drive-in movie...and the score was nicely done, as well.With only one or two exceptions, the cast was very competent, with Audie Murphy and Gary Crosby doing a nice job, as well as a few enjoyable performances supporting them. The plot had great potential, but the script was poorly written and we didn't get to spend enough time with the people we are supposed to care about. Dolores Michaels is gorgeous, so we can understand why Audie Murphy and Alejandro Rey would both be attracted to her, but she has no real chemistry with either man, so it is hard to get swept up in the love triangle. The characters are written to be very one-dimensional, so the plot points and drama never get a chance to make an impact.The feeling I got at the end of watching this film was that all of the elements were there for a good movie, but it just missed. That being said, I give it a 5 out of 10 for the enjoyment of watching Audie Murphy, as well as a few nice acting and directorial moments. Prepare yourself for a 1960s drive-in movie level of quality, and you will find moments to enjoy throughout.