4 Film Favorites: John Wayne Collection (Back to Bataan / Flying Leathernecks / Operation Pacific / They Were Expendable)

They Were Expendable
Supplies are dwindling. Troops are hopelessly outnumbered. But even in defeat there is victory. The defenders of the Philippines ? including PT-boat skippers John Brickley (Robert Montgomery) and Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) will give the U.S. war effort time to regroup after the devastation of Pearl Harbor. Director John Ford's World War II tale knows its battle-scarred topic firsthand. Montgomery was himself a Pacific PT-boat commander and a valorous Bronze Star recipient. Ford filmed the Academy Award?-winning* documentary Battle of Midway. And Wayne creates a portrait of patriotic resolve as only he can. They Were Expendable salutes all who expended themselves during some of the war's bleakest hours. Director John Ford's World War II tale knows its battle-scarred topic firsthand. Montgomery was himself a Pacific PT-boat commander and a valorous Bronze Star recipient. Ford filmed the Academy Award -winning* documentary Battle of Midway. And Wayne creates a portrait of patriotic resolve as only he can. They Were Expendable salutes all who expended themselves during some of the war's bleakest hours.

Operation Pacific
World War II rages across the Pacific and Lt. Cmdr. Duke E. Gifford is in the thick of it. He evacuates children from enemy-held islands. Oversees the development of torpedoes at Pearl Harbor. And prowls the depths in the submarine Thunderfish for a chance to aim his improved "tin fish" - torpedoes - at the enemy. John Wayne plays Gifford in Operation Pacific. "I'm no theory man. I'm a line officer," Gifford barks. He backs it up with lots of bite in several feverish sea battles. He's also a man of heart with a loving wife at home (fellow Academy AwardO winner* Patricia Neal). Vice Adm. Charles Lockwood, World War II commander of all U.S. Pacific submarines, was technical advisor for this adventure packing real you-are-there thrills!

Flying Leathernecks
It's World War II. Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is hard on his marines. His subordinate Captain Carl Griffin thinks the Major is overdoing it. But Kirby proves that there is a method to his madness after all.

Back to Bataan
After the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese in World War II, Col. Joseph Madden (John Wayne) of the U.S. Army stays on to organize guerrilla fighters against the conquerors.