Merrill's Marauders (1962) on Netflix
Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads 3,000 American volunteers behind Japanese lines in Burma. They advance on Walawbum, then push toward Myitkyina, fighting pitched battles.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.6/103,182 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
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Plot summary
The 5307th Composite Unit, 3,000 American volunteers commanded by Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill, operates behind Japanese lines in Burma. The film opens with black-and-white historical footage of the campaign, then moves into color as Lieutenant Stockton's platoon advances through jungle toward Walawbum, its first objective. Stockton radios Merrill as the platoon nears the town, and the brigade carries out a successful raid. General Joseph Stilwell then arrives and orders Merrill to seize the railroad center at Shaduzup and the airstrip at Myitkyina. Merrill is reluctant but briefs Stockton on the next mission, and the column continues through swamps toward Shaduzup.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Merrill's Marauders (1962)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While making the film, Jeff Chandler, who had back problems, kept filming with injections despite visible pain, then fainted in the hot jungle and was flown to Clark Air Base by U.S. Army helicopter. He died under anesthesia during back surgery, and the death was ruled malpractice and ended in a lawsuit settlement.
- The U.S. Army had scenes of GIs accidentally killing other GIs cut from the Shaduzup maze, the studio called the single-take original "too artistic" and had a second unit director reshoot it, and it changed the ending to a dress parade, angering Samuel Fuller. He fought back, and the studio dropped plans to film The Big Red One.
- Samuel Fuller wanted Gary Cooper for the lead role of Frank Merrill, but Cooper felt he was too old. After Cooper declined, Fuller cast former Universal Pictures contract star Jeff Chandler.
- Because the production company was named United States Pictures Productions, the Philippine government and local film crews believed they were working with a branch of the U.S. government and co-operated enthusiastically with the producer.
- To keep the production economical, the attack at Walawbum used extensive stock battle footage from Battle Cry, and Warner Bros. borrowed bits of Max Steiner's score for Operation Pacific and Franz Waxman's score from Objective, Burma!
- The 1962 war film Merrill's Marauders was critically and financially successful, and was the last Warner Bros. film made in CinemaScope.
