"Tarawa Beachhead" (1958) Complete WW2 USMC War Movie

A Marine sergeant (Kerwin Mathews) witnesses an officer (Ray Danton). kill one of their men at Guadalcanal to cover his own incompetence, and fears he won't be believed because of rank, so finds the captain has gotten him assigned to his next command -- The sergeant falls in love with the widow (Julie Adams).
The original working title of the film was Flag over Tarawa and was originally to have starred Ronald Reagan. The film contained extensive amounts of actual footage of the Battle of Tarawa. While some actual footage was used, most of the supposed actual footage were from the 1943 film Guadalcanal Diary and the 1949 film, Sands of Iwo Jima. The United States Marine Corps refused to cooperate with the producers, due to the theme of an officer out for glory killing his own men and a sergeant out for revenge.
Originally released on November 2, 1958.
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[@thewaywardwind548]

In 1964-65 my American History teacher was a widow whose husband had been a Marine killed at Tarawa.

[@tscully1504]

I watched all the war films I could growing up,, but never saw this one. Interesting story within a story.

[@Bernie5172]

i cant recall watching it before. ? its a bit like Iwo Jima with John Wayne

[@tscully1504]

@@Bernie5172 Yes. They even used a lot of the film footage from the sands of Iwo Jima film.

[@xxxxxx-tq4mw]

Sloan visiting the New Zealander widow, Ruth, reminded me of Aldo Ray who played Andy Hookens visiting the widow Pat Rogers in the 1955 movie, "Battlecry."

[@matrox]

Me too. Me neither. True.

[@jeffersonsmith1877]

This is a great movie. Thanks for uploading!

[@randalldunkley1042]

Typical blending of footage from WW2, "Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Guadalcanal Diary" that I could see. They did a great job editing it. Kerwin worked with producer Charles Schneer on "Seventh Voyage of Sinbad".

[@SirAceMcFly]

Thx for the upload!

[@Fuxerz]

Thank you for posting nice movie.

[@oscarn1454]

Thanks always

[@hamidmouloudj1041]

Merci pour le film 😊

[@kylemartin2594]

My father was at Tarawa..Navy corpsmen. Never talked about it. 2 purple hearts. Said..everyone was a rifleman.

[@danor6812]

My uncle died there.

[@XrayxRich]

I read "One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa" in 2012. One hell of a battle. The Marines paid dearly at Tarawa. I read it as Tare-a-wa but understand it was pronounced Ta-raw-wa

[@davewitter6565]

I am confused by that as well. I always called it Tar a Wa not Ta-raw-wa.

[@jessejames7757]

Wasn't no Peleliu!

[@XrayxRich]

@@jessejames7757 Tarawa showed the mistakes made. Bombardment was stopped early to save ammunition. Peleiu was just a clusterf... All of those guys were heroes. They were a different breed of men back then, raised in the Depression.

[@majorronaldmandell7835]

@@XrayxRichWell said! The Great Depression!

[@majorronaldmandell7835]

A lot of this live film footage is of the Army not the Marines, and there were no Army troops involved in the Tarawa operation.

[@user-hr4qt1wp2o]

Great movie!

[@jeffg.1615]

My Great Uncle fought there, then Saipan and finially to Nagasaki. He only told one person about it.

What bravery when you think he may have been 20-21 years old.

[@jeffg.1615]

He was 20 years old at the time. A really good man.

[@andrewcastellane7802]

Nagasaki was A-Bombed.

[@jeffg.1615]

@@andrewcastellane7802 The Marines went in after the occupation of Japan.

[@nobullshoot]

made me think about the two sergeants in Platoon, good and evil. Thought i saw all ww2 movies growing up in the 60’s, pleasure watching this one.

[@Riteaidbob]

I have read one account that put the temperature on Tarawa at 115F during this battle. Truly a hell hole. We were really untried, lacked any good information on the conditions. Unknown coral reefs. No tidal information, and a lack of tracked landing craft. Lessons were learned but at a high cost in Marine lives. A real hell hole.

[@joseluiscastanorestrepo]

Great classic movie.

[@petepanozzo6854]

I enjoyed watching this film!

[@raulmaldonado5921]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="119">1:59</a> 1958 pop-up ??? The year the film was made?

[@LionHeartFilmWorks]

Yes. That is a year the film was made.

[@clarajohnson5184]

Hey, XrayxRich, Don’t worry about the pronunciation, if you’ve got this island as one of WWII’s island-hopping specials, then you’re definitely on the right track. After Gallippoli (Spelling?) the world seemed to think amphibious assaults were impossible and would, simply, never succeed. Somehow, nobody told the Marines! They tore up the Pacific and all those “names” have become a most important part of the study of the war in the Pacific. If you’re truly interested, make sure all the episodes of Victory at Sea are on your To Watch List.

[@pittsburghwill]

mistake at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3002">50:02</a> ww2 m1 carbines did not have the bayonette lug the bl was a korean war addition

[@johncaldwell-wq1hp]

I have a W.W.2--M1-carbine made by "rockola"--very rare !!--still works fine.

[@79terrafirma]

Mine is a 1943 underwood m1. Beautiful little carbine. Love the rear flip sight.

[@johncaldwell-wq1hp]

@@79terrafirma Great !!-mine came with a 15 shot mag,-& a 30 round "curved"mag-also mine was made in 1943 too !!--I think the bulk of them,was made by "winchester" & there's a "story"of their history.

[@kennysherrill3471]

Late in the war a few did make it into action with the bayonet luge.

[@thomasmanning829]

I read a pretty good book about the battle for Tarawa. What a blood bath. I had to wonder if it was worth it.

[@willielongbotham7156]

Yes, .me too, and it stuck with me, cant find the words to describe what those marines went through. And contrary to what many believe, there are still many like them..

[@chuckokelley2448]

I had 3 uncles at Tarawa , the fighting Hampton brothers.

[@AlanMydland-fq2vs]

amazing❤

[@danor6812]

I had 1 uncle there. He died there.

[@AlanMydland-fq2vs]

@@danor6812 RIP my friend

[@buckwheatsghettoghost4927]

"Keep Moving"

[@ronhillard7040]

Bogus! Men do not throw their hands in the air before falling down when shot!

[@jerrydonquixote5927]

That's pretty good for an old film! Blending Cinema and war footage.

[@mikeyoung9810]

I thought I'd seen everything about Tarawa in the movies but not this movie. I see they used quite a few bits of Sands of Iwo Jima footage on the Tarawa part. Lots of scenes not from Tarawa though.

[@JimOReilly-xk4vb]

That lieutenant had a quick shave at the start of the movie,

[@jeffreykoran4820]

SO MANY GREAT ACTORS IN THIS MOVIE 🎬....IV NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THEM...

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

I've heard of one as the names flashed by: Julie Adams co-starred in and was wonderful in:" The Creature From the Black Lagoon."

[@reynaldoflores4522]

I also had relatives who fought in Guadalcanal and Tarawa. But they were on the other ( losing ) side .

[@SteepSix]

How much disbelief do you need to suspend? How much have you got?

[@glennchristie2316]

The Marine Corps I served in NEVER talked-back to an Officer. That Lieutenant could have had that Sergeant written up a dozen times. War or not..

[@peterholmesgavleman]

Given that the Nelson family - at the farm - were either British or New Zealanders it’s a pity that the producers could not find some non Americans to play their roles!

[@ItsJustMorris]

The supposed New Zealand scenes are utter crap. This film , Tawara Beachhead, is an insult to the land and the people who fed and nursed the yanks, New Zealand and New Zealanders.

[@David77646]

I’m from New Zealand and the ladies don’t have a New Zealand kiwi accent or British accent

[@peterholmesgavleman]

@@David77646 the female members of my rugby club in Perth that hail from NZ certainly speak with a kiwi accent.

[@nyyt854tufc]

Posthumous medal 🏅 of honor

[@user-bc5nl6uq5t]

t thought the marines wore camouflaged uniforms and helmet covers?

[@shadowwolf9503]

That was later in the war.

[@martingainty9623]

Looks like real WWII Footage spliced in Very Realistic 10/10

[@martingainty9623]

IRS Section 280G "No deduction shall be allowed under this chapter for any excess parachute payment. The term “excess parachute payment” means an amount equal to the excess of any parachute payment over the portion of the base amount allocated to such payment"

[@alexterieur4326]

Tarawa Atoll Sanglant Spirou

[@EBAYvillager]

Spiro-u?

[@joselopezmoya9786]

Aside from JULIE ADAMS, the rest of the cast is unknown.

[@miked6335]

Kerwin Mathews was in a few Ray Harryhausen films around 1960 and was pretty well known at the time. Ray Danton was maybe not as well known but showed up in a bunch of WB TV shows and some movies in the late 50's.

[@reynaldoflores4522]

The younger sister was the real hottie in this movie. Sloan probably had the hots for her. Too bad she was already spoken for.

[@re-donebyme8394]

Ray Danton - the other Victor Mature

[@NmaM-it5yk]

Today’s generation - “what’s a matter, you scared?” “Yes OMG!! Im having a panic attack right now I have so much anxiety from all this!!”

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Yes, but these kids are we growing up without fathers.

Ray Caplan (Danton) fought for 4 years In Korea!

[@chadwedul1787]

Conflict was just over 3 years in length.

[@jessejames7757]

Didn't anyone tell you the war was over? The last year you fought is a war crime.

[@jessejames7757]

4years in a 3 year war last year must of been lonely.

[@TedBronson1918]

He must have started pissing some of the Koreans off after the 3rd year since the Cease Fire had been implemented and the fighting ended... or maybe he was just killing some of the tens of thousands of extra Chinese communist soldiers that were just hanging around and the Koreans and Chinese were denying their presence... yeah - that's it.

[@johnmayo27]

I like the movies 🎥 on WW2🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@animelech6004]

Great job

[@joeviking61]

Very little Beachhead, mostly Cornbread. Pass

[@janlipski5215]

Didn't look much like NZ,the 1st USMC were stationed at Paekakariki and the hospital was in Silverstream. There is a memorial to them at Mckays crossing. God bless them all.

[@user-bc5nl6uq5t]

oh yes,they did/

[@michaelpass2176]

Run straight line you can get shot real quick

[@BernardGoldstein-jy6og]

Great movie 5/22/24

[@glennchristie2316]

Still GREAT June 6, 2024.. Semper Fi..

[@mattsmelley5569]

A feud between 2 people probably happens more than one knows...this movie and Platoon are following same script...

[@Midwest10]

Funny. Hollywood. I’ve stayed on Tarawa. They don’t have crickets like this movie protrays

[@bclmax]

i was there alot in the 90s..stayed at the Ootintai hotel..

[@lyndonhenderson816]

Let that stupid lieutenant take the point,bet he won’t.😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@ricogo2447]

Sure looks like Wellington's countryside ...

[@FranckCastillo-yp5vq]

A Lot thousand heroísm stories from USMC at Pacific. I pride My grandpa Semper Fi

[@hughroney6342]

War part was ok,, to damn much romance for a war movie!

[@chrisoulalakkas7935]

Just when you think that food cannot possibly call you on your phone....BOOM!!! Onion rings.😅

[@rigger314]

Its a great movie but honestly destoyers did not carry landing craft.

[@jessejames7757]

What a bunch of drama Queens.

[@willthorson4543]

What a melodramatic mess. Barely any of the fighting was on betio(tarawa). And a good 75% of the battle in the movie is either real footage of Tarawa and other battles but straight up taken from Sands of Iwo jima. Also. A movie called Tarawa Beachhead has about 15 minutes of the movie take place on Tarawa. Lol

[@user-he8vn8qm5e]

BS story line, She just began a widow, yet she’s flirting with the guy who brings her letters from her dead husband. Real love. Real BS!

[@robertlast3052]

I see the Marines never change, hitting up your dead buddy's old lady...lol!😂

[@JStryker7]

Plugging open holes

[@reynaldoflores4522]

Why not ? Her husband's dead. You wouldn't want that pretty, young widow to be lonely, do you ?

[@africanqueenproject]

Julie Adam's an incredible beauty...Creature From The Black Lagoon..she wad gorgeous in her bathing suit ..I was smitten 😊

[@wilsonpickett3881]

Not the stupidest movie I've ever seen. Close though.

[@desertdog3432]

Having been to Tawara three times, the the highest sea level is ten feet above the water level, No jungle.

[@trevorplows7494]

No doubt an entertaining movie but Tarawa had no hills or caves on the side of them. It was flat as a pancake . It's to bad Hollywood has to imagine other scenarios even though the real truth and battle were horrific enough , a virtual extermination of the Japanese garrison and 4000 US Marine casualties , 25 percent of it's Division strength.

[@jimmyhaley727]

total waste, as we never used it for the airplanes they died for

[@1mlannen]

Shitty ending. Needed to get back home to the girl. MKL

[@davidholder3207]

🍅🍅

[@majorronaldmandell7835]

No doubt that Sloan is going to bed her, resulting in her becoming pregnant. This will add tons of sickening female drama to the film. . .

[@kennysherrill3471]

What bullshit, who ever wrote this script should be in prison.😡

[@frankadams2401]

A typical Hollywood bull shit movie.

[@andrewhirsch6472]

Quite lame that they didn't even attempt to do Kiwi accents.

[@babuzzard6470]

Even the kiwis have trouble with them!😂🇦🇺

[@rogergirouard]

denton usally played unlikable charaters

[@aussiedownunder4186]

Rubbish film. Used footage from Sands of Iwo Jima & real footage of the battle. Scenes when Kerwin Matthews has scenes talking rubbish with the other actors Rubbish!! The Marines did not have time for this BULLSHIT! Typical Stupid Hollywood!!

[@user-ml3dp9hq7o]

Sorry but straight up GARBAGE movie unbelievable that they even put this S$&; out lol

[@Abdikadirmahamedfarah]

We the people we love usa all kinds of usa military, we love trump,trump2024WH ❤❤❤❤❤

[@petergibson2035]

💙💙💙💙💙💙

[@rodolfoponce1154]

Ang ganda naman talagang ng babaeng

@XrayxRich il y a 22 heures It @XrayxRich il y a 22 heures "It is all pretty physical" Those were the days when you wouldn't make love until you were in love!!! the good old times🥲 made my laugh