Nicholas Ray's Flying Leathernecks fits into an informal sub-genre of military films that attempt to glorify a particular branch or unit of the military via a paper-thin plot accompanied by copious stock and/or combat footage. Other films in this sub-genre include Will Zens' abysmal The Starfighters (1964) and Anthony Mann's dull-as-dry-dirt Strategic Air Command (1955) with James Stewart. These are a particular kind of film that I can only imagine was created to pander to the veteran demographic after the fires of World War Two and Korea died down. They tend to portray their respective units with honor and dignity. The men make great, noble sacrifices on the battlefield. The women make their own on the home-front. And, of course, there is lots of footage of military maneuvers. In Flying Leathernecks, the heroes are the aviators of the United States Marine Corps during the Guadalcanal campaign. Ray makes a valiant attempt to spice up the proceedings with personal drama in the form of Major Kirby (John Wayne), a hard-as-nails commander who isn't hesitant to make the big decisions. Of course, we eventually learn that he hates himself for the choices that he is forced to make every day. But that's par for the course when it comes to 50s military films, I guess. The thing is that Flying Leathernecks doesn't really offer anything that other films had already done with greater skill. It's just a placeholder in Ray's filmography.
5/10
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