John Ford is one of the most acclaimed directors in film history, responsible for such classics as The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Rio Grande (1950), and The Searchers (1956). However, Ford’s westerns are often highlighted more than his World War 11 pictures, such as the tragic They Were Expendable (1945), the third collaboration between the director and legendary actor John Wayne, which hit theaters just a few months after VJ Day. They Were Expendable follows American Navy PT boat officers Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) and John Brickley (Robert Montgomery) in the early days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In addition to being one of the most underrated World War II movies, it makes no attempt to glorify the conflict in the Pacific, instead focusing on the losses of young, wide-eyed soldiers endured by the crews in the Philippines. Wayne shines as Rusty Ryan, whose war-ready bravado is only tempered by Lt. Sandy Davyss (Donna Reed) amid the escalating war. Less of a triumphant propaganda flick and more of a wartime elegy, They Were Expendable lives up in every way to its tragic title.
John Wayne & John Ford’s They Were Expendable Is One Of The Most Underrated WWII Movies
They Were Expendable Is Not Your Typical ’40s War Film
Despite its all-star director and cast, They Were Expendable has failed to garner the same attention as other then-contemporary World War II movies like Sands of Iwo Jima and Casablanca. Though the film has several scenes featuring combat with the Japanese, most of its runtime is dedicated to the camaraderie between the US soldiers as they go about navigating the early stages of the American conflict in the Pacific.
One of the highlights of the film is the romance between Rusty and Sandy, which serves as a much-needed contrast to the greater war effort between the US and the Japanese. Rusty, while in the typical fashion of the masculine hero archetype, is a role far more tender than some of John Wayne’s more famously rugged characters. Furthermore, Robert Montgomery—another Navy veteran—offers a realistic, everyman insight into the war as he attempts to command a squadron of PT boats amid the doomed campaign in the Pacific.
Is They Were Expendable Based On Real-Life WWII Events?
The Film Drew Inspiration From Real-Life Heroes
They Were Expendable is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by war correspondent William L. White, who drew inspiration from the feats of the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a US PT boat that was critical in America’s campaign in the Pacific against the Japanese. Furthermore, the characters of John Brickley and Rusty Ryan were based on their real-life counterparts of John D. Bulkeley and his executive officer, Robert Kelly.
Ultimately, there are few films today with such firsthand experience of warfare as They Were Expendable. John Ford’s direction (and experience in the Navy) offers a sense of authenticity that is rarely accomplished, made all the more powerful due to the film’s proximity to the end of the Second World War. Yes, the film is bleak, tragic, and easily one of John Wayne’s finest war movies; above all that, however, it’s a fine portrait of the heroism of youth in the face of impossible odds.