Halls of Montezuma

From Lewis Milestone, the Academy Award-winning director of the anti-war All Quiet on the Western Front, comes this salute to the Marines and its "stalwart defense of all we hold dear to our lives, our people, and our future." Richard Widmark stars as the former chemistry-teacher-turned-migraine-plagued-senior-officer who leads his men into battle on a heavily-fortified enemy island. Clichés abound, from the stock characters (fleshed out in flashbacks) to the sometimes corny war movie dialogue ("it's okay to be scared," the soldiers are reassured, "we're all scared"). But as the rousing military music swells on the soundtrack, we are ready to follow Widmark and company (which includes Robert Wagner, a scrawny Jack Webb, Jack Palance, and Karl Malden) into battle as they give the "Japs" hell. A genre classic for the time capsule, this is recommended. (K. Lee Benson)