This works equally well as a rugged war movie with a psychological angle as a 'message' picture; and it's ironic (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) that Lloyd Bridges - usually typecast at the time as a loudmouthed bigot - is actually a friend of the hero.
I'm not the first to observe the irony that this film is now preceded by disclaimers about the language used (in the case of Talking Pictures that it contains "highly offensive outdated racial representation", and blanked out a certain word now routinely used by Scorsese and Tarantino).
More damning is the film's artistic licence in ignoring that troops were segregated during the war in the Pacific and that James Edwards (most familiar to today's audiences for memorable but brief roles in 'The Killing' and 'The Manchurian Candidate') despite his superb performance here never got as much screen time in such a prestigious film again before ironically dying aged just 51 shortly after playing a tiny part also in uniform in 'Patton'. (And that both scriptwriter Carl Foreman and actor Jeff Corey - who plays the psychiatrist - were not long afterwards blacklisted.)
I'm not the first to observe the irony that this film is now preceded by disclaimers about the language used (in the case of Talking Pictures that it contains "highly offensive outdated racial representation", and blanked out a certain word now routinely used by Scorsese and Tarantino).
More damning is the film's artistic licence in ignoring that troops were segregated during the war in the Pacific and that James Edwards (most familiar to today's audiences for memorable but brief roles in 'The Killing' and 'The Manchurian Candidate') despite his superb performance here never got as much screen time in such a prestigious film again before ironically dying aged just 51 shortly after playing a tiny part also in uniform in 'Patton'. (And that both scriptwriter Carl Foreman and actor Jeff Corey - who plays the psychiatrist - were not long afterwards blacklisted.)