The Naked and the Dead (1958)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Norman Mailer (novel)
Denis Sanders (writer)

Release Date:

28 October 1958 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

In the Pacific during World War 2, the officers live a comfortable life with good food, good drink and good quarters...

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Fragging | Fascism | Playboy | Anti Semitism

Cast

Aldo Ray	...	Sgt. Sam Croft
Cliff Robertson	...	Lt. Robert Hearn
Raymond Massey	...	Gen. Cummings
Lili St. Cyr	...	Willa Mae aka Lily
Barbara Nichols	...	Mildred Croft
William Campbell	...	Brown
Richard Jaeckel	...	Gallagher
James Best	...	Rhidges
Joey Bishop	...	Roth
Jerry Paris	...	Goldstein
Robert Gist	...	Red
L.Q. Jones	...	Woodrow 'Woody' Wilson
Max Showalter	...	Col. Dalleson (as Casey Adams)
John Beradino	...	Capt. Mantelli
Edward McNally	...	Cohn

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:18 (f) | Norway:16 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Panama

Company:

Paul Gregory Productions

Trivia:

This film was originally to be released by RKO Pictures, but by the time it was ready for release, that studio had closed down and the film was distributed by Warner Bros. It may be the only instance where the logos of both companies appear on the same film

Goofs:

Anachronisms: About 26 minutes into the film, as the sergeant is begging the lieutenant for more replacements, a mixed race combat unit walks by in the background. The armed forces did not integrate until after WWII.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Matters: The Naked and the Nerdy (#7.2)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Blues in the Night

Not enough naked...Plenty of dead.

Reportedly, Norman Mailer's best-selling novel was distilled and sanitized for the screen (what book isn't?!) Many people blame this for the rather weak resultant film. The film IS fairly weak, but the adaptation can hardly be the sole cause. "From Here to Eternity" and "Peyton Place" are just two movies adapted from adult novels that were made around this time and were referred to as "unfilmable", yet the end results were magnificent. This film concerns hard as nails, embittered Ray as an amoral Sergeant who's currently in charge of a motley troop of men in the South Pacific islands during WWII. Massey co-stars as a stern General who thinks of men as little more than beads on an abacus as he tries to figure out the strategies and percentages of war. His assistant Robertson clashes with him on various points and, after one particular battle, finds himself on a deadly mission alongside Ray and his band of not-so-merry men. Ray gives an okay performance in the film, but lacks the sort of leading man magnetism that could have put this over better. Robertson is thoughtful in his part, but doesn't really shine. Massey has a strong part with many nice moments. Several well-known TV and movie actors can be found in the troop including the always reliable Jaeckel, Best (who would later make a fool of himself weekly on "Dukes of Hazzard"), Campbell (famous for a guest role on the original "Star Trek" series), the ubiquitous Jones (who has an embarrassing role as a lovesick soldier) and Rat Pack comedian Bishop (who actually gives a nicely balanced performance.) There are some horrible flashbacks featuring various women. Ray's details his ludicrously presented relationship with trashy Nichols who laughs loudly and inappropriately at the end of it. Robertson has a dream involving a pallette of society girls he apparently had dabbled with, sometimes two at a time. Real life stripper St. Cyr makes a none too impressive appearance in the beginning of the film, inspiring Jones tremendously. The worst fault the film has is it's pedestrian nature. There is very little excitement generated throughout, even when arresting events are occurring. The film suffers from tiresome shots of the soldiers marching, climbing, walking, skulking..... A lot of the momentum gets lost along the way. This is countered somewhat by several bouts of unfunny physical comedy, heated arguments among the men and moments of drunken loudness. There is just a general unfocused quality in the film, possibly caused by shifts in the direction of the plot from the novel. What's worse is that in two hours of film, most of the men don't take their shirts off at all and when a few do it's in long shots. Maybe that's what was missing! The music does little to enhance the film. Bernard Herrman (who did such miraculous things to Hitchcock films) flounders here with unmemorable work. It's not the worst war film ever made, but truly falls short of being a great one.