Three-and-a-half stars for this very fine John Wayne WWII pic, 50th anniversary at that.

John Wayne plays Wedge Donovan (a
character name he would use 19 yrs.,
later in 1963's Donovan's Reef), a
construction Engineering magnate who
ends up selling the US Navy on arming
civilian personnel in hot LZs! He does
get killed in here (like in 'The Cow-
boys' - **.5)but his movie was way bet-
ter! Enough referrences to'japs', 'mon-
kies', et, al and other racial epithe-
ts to turn off the 'politically stupid'
types. Well, that was the terms used at
the times. [to cross referrence, see J.
Garner's fine 'Grand Prix' movie to see
how attitudes changed by 1966!]

wayne shines in this grim war thriller made during the war

john wayne and susan hayward star in this great war movie about the seabees,the construction branch of the navy that was set up as world war II started. wayne is the leader of a construction gang sent to build airstrips and other things for the army and navy in the pacific as war starts out. not being soldiers they can't carry guns and must take cover when shooting starts(useing guns would get them shot as spies). well wayne doesn't like to hide so he pushes the navy to arm and train his men so they can build and fight when needed! this is of of his best early war movies and it even has a shocking twist at the end!! a must for wayne fans.

Great Chemistry

There is great chemistry between Susan Hayward and John Wayne! Even though he plays someone tough, you can feel the romance growing between John and Susan. Great piece of work!