Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Micransix Crappy film

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

SeamusMacDuff I concur with a review by AtlasMB on "Pride of the Marines". This is an inspiring true story of Marine Al Schmid who heroically battled the Japanese on Guadalcanal, winning the Navy Cross but losing his eyesight in the process. The film covers his blue collar roots in Philadelphia, his sort-of courtship, the battle itself (a very short part of the film), then his recovery and rehabilitation. As a war film, the real subject is the reintegration of servicemen back into society. The best scene may be in the naval hospital, as Schmid and his fellow injured talk about what they expect from their country and - ultimately - themselves.The problem? It's just not written or acted very well. Tough guy Garfield plays Schmid as not particularly likable. His chemistry with girlfriend Ruth - well played by Eleanor Parker, as much as the script allows - isn't particularly good even before he enlists. Schmid is pretty much a jerk. Garfield isn't subtle, emotes little, and talks constantly in his clipped, tough guy manner. Dane Clark as his fellow Marine is much more emotive, likable, and believable. The battle scene isn't much of a battle, stagy, with the Marines simply continuing to fire their machine gun until dawn. (That the Japanese soldier held up the grenade in front of Schmid instead of throwing it into their bunker was a little ridiculous.) A decent wartime film with an important message. I just wish someone other than Garfield had been the lead.

WarnersBrother There isn't a lot to say that hasn't been said, This is a masterpiece on the level of "The Best Years of Our Lives" and Delmar Davies best picture. A fantastic supporting cast and Garfield is great. But special mention to Eleanor Parker who is superb (and i am not a fan) and thank heavens that the always wonderful Rosemary De Kamp had an opportunity to play a role where she was the young and attractive woman she was, and not the Mother!IMDb requires more text, so here is a shout out for Dane Clark,Tom D'Andreaand good old reliable Tom Ridgely!

bkoganbing Definitely at the top five of best John Garfield movies has to be Pride of the Marines. It's the true story of Marine private Al Schmid who at the cost of his own sight, while wounded held off a horde of storming Japanese on Guadalcanal. The story nicely segments in three parts, Al Schmid's home life where he's a simple working stiff who's just getting serious with a woman and who likes nothing better than his bowling night. Pearl Harbor is bombed and he's off to war as millions of others were.The second part is at Guadalcanal and we see part of the action where he's in an isolated machine gun nest, holding off Japanese troops. His action prevented Marine positions from being overrun, but a grenade does in his eyesight.And of course the third part is his painful adjustment to civilian life and to reassure himself that people aren't just caring for him out of pity, most of all that girl he was seeing Eleanor Parker.This film was broadcast on TCM on John Garfield's 95th birthday and there was a documentary on Garfield hosted by his daughter. One of the people interviewed said that Garfield was the actor most believable in working class roles in having and holding a union card. In that respect he was lucky in that he did land with Warner Brothers in Hollywood. Though he kept getting typecast in gangster roles in the tradition of that studio, Garfield was terrific in these parts because of his background, because he came from the kind of life Al Schmid had, with the exception of Garfield's Jewish background.In that respect he was perfect to play the part of a working class hero like Al Schmid who accepted the responsibility of defending his country. No super heroics here, just a guy who'd rather have been back in Philadelphia, but doing a job that had to be done.It's a great part for Garfield. It's a film one shouldn't miss. I do wonder though whatever happened to the real Al Schmid.

RanchoTuVu John Garfield plays a Marine who is blinded by a grenade while fighting on Guadalcanal and who has to learn to live with his disability. He has all the stereotypical notions about blindness, and is sure he'll be a burden to everyone. The hospital staff and his fellow wounded Marines can't get through to him. Neither can his girl back home played by Eleanor Parker. He's stubborn and blinded by his own fears, self pity, and prejudices. It's a complex role that Garfield carries off memorably in a great performance that keeps one watching in spite of the ever present syrupy melodrama. The best scenes are on Guadalcanal, where he's in a machine gun nest trying to fend off the advancing Japanese soldiers in a hellish looking night time battle, and later a dream sequence in the hospital where he sees himself walking down a train platform with a white cane, dark glasses, and holding out a tin cup, all the while his girlfriend walks backward away from the camera.