None But the Brave
Directed by Frank Sinatra
Written by John Twist and Katsuya Susaki; story by Kikumada Okuda
1965/Japan/USA
Warner Bros./Tokyo Eiga Co. Ltd./Toho Film Co. Ltd./Artanis Productions Inc./Sinatra Enterprises
First viewing/FilmStruck
[box] None but the brave deserves the fair. — John Dryden[/box]
Nepotism puts the nail in the coffin of Frank Sinatra’s sole directing credit.
The setting is an isolated island in the Pacific during World War II. A platoon of Marines crash lands onto the island only to find it is already occupied by an small unit of Japanese soldiers. There is no means of escape, supplies are very short, and the men decide to cooperate. Matters come to a head when a boat comes to rescue the Japanese and the men move back into combat mode.
This movie is pretty bad and the main defect is the character of 2nd Lt. Blair, played by then Sinatra son-in-law Tommy Sands. Blair is the kind of gung ho rookie that gets on everyone’s last nerve – unfortunately this includes the audience. He is meant to provide comic relief but is just ultra annoying. No wonder Tommy and Nancy divorced that year.
