Original subtitles

Over here, Red.

[guns firing]

specialized in hypertension in nursing school.

That's what I have: hypertension.

Let's get out of here. I'll cover you.

Who do you think you are? John Wayne?

Come on, let's make a run for it.

I hate to tell you this, pal.

Without cover fire, neither of us is getting out of here.

When Boyington shows up,

just kick his tail assembly right offthat island.

That'll be a pleasure.

There's no rules in this fight. Let's get it over with.

What're you talking about? No rules?

[men cheering]

(men) J‘ We are poor little lambs J‘

J‘ Who have lost our way J‘

J‘ Baa, Baa, Baa J‘J‘

[siren blaring]

(male narrator) The machines of war flood the South Pacific.

From mines and mills, from forests and factories,

weapons and equipment flow in an ever-increasing tide,

a tide which the enemy cannot turn back.

Tanks and trucks,

guns and planes destined for the US. fighting man,

the bravest, best-trained,

most intelligent warrior the world has ever known.

(Bragg) Uh, carry the 4 is, uh, 16.

24...

Oh, wait a minute.

Jerry, you got a fix on the coordinates yet?

Come on, Bragg. We can't exactly park these crates

waiting for you to do long division.

(Bragg) l--l think we overshot it, Greg.

About two minutes back.

Casey?

Uh, carry the 6 is 25.

Forget it.

We're over the check point now. Chop the fuel.

Let's try and keep these birds in the air

as long as possible.

Join up with the bomber wing in five minutes.

(Bragg) That's it. Carry the 6 is 15, is 24.

All right, Greg. We're right over it. Dead center.

What a relief.

Uh, bandits. 6:00.

We're short of a wingman. I'll be the orphan.

[guns firing]

Hey, I'm stitching air!

Upstairs! Anybody else who runs out,

get upstairs with Gutterman.

(Greg) Two more at 3:00.

Got 'em!

l'm runnin' out of fuel, Pappy.

I'll let Comso Pac know we had to abort.

Pappy, I'm sick and tired of flying with short ammo.

(Anderson) Somebody is gonna get hurt up here.

Not if I can help it.

(Greg) l'm breaking off. I'll see you back at La Cava.

(Greg) I almost lost some pilots this morning, sir.

There are shortages in war, Boyington,

even for a hot-shot like you.

Yes, sir. But I don't wanna fly a mission

and be up there with 20 zeros whirling around

and me waving a purse, sir.

I don't recall reading any orders for 214 this morning.

Will you check with General Moore, sir,

because he cut the orders.

He couldn't have. General Moore's in Washington.

Hmm.

Well, listen, Colonel.

Let's you and get something straight right now.

We're stuck with each other.

And it doesn't do either one of us any good

for you to cut my supply lines.

All right.

Let's you and l, uh,

share a little secret, shall we?

Offthe record of course.

Your unit has broken its last regulation under my command.

The fact is, Major, you're not going to get any more fuel,

ammunition or engine parts at all.

Because I'm canceling everything,

right down the line, including 25 cartons of cornflakes

that somebody out there ordered

for who knows what reason.

You see, Major,

I don't happen to think you're good for the Marine Corps.

And if I can't get you one way,

I'm going to find another.

You wanna lay some money down on that, Colonel?

You're gonna stay on the ground, Boyington,

eating coconuts and bananas.

And in a couple of weeks, somebody up the line is gonna ask:

"Why isn't that unit flying?"

And when they do, you and your little pirate band

are gonna find yourselves

air-vacced right out of this theatre.

You're not that quick, sir.

Well, we both know how things get messed up

behind the lines, don't we, Boyington?

Even you won't be able to catch up with it.

Nobody's that fast.

[planes whirring]

l'm faster than a Gilbert and Sullivan chorus line, sir.

(Greg) I'd always figured Lard for a rule-book commando.

Personally, [didn't have anything against regulations.

As a matter of fact, I kinda liked it.

I liked to break 'em.

But Lard and his game plans put us out ofaction.

And after hearing his, [came up with mine.

What's going on?

Lard's trying to drop a net on us.

He even spiked the 25 cases of corn flakes.

Casey's gonna have to make his corn mash out of something else.

Lard's doing what?

General Moore's in Washington.

And Col. Lard figures this is the first time

that he's going to violate the Marine Corps Manual.

He really wants to unload us, Jim.

If Lard stops going by the rules,

it kinda cheats us of our edge now, right?

It doesn't matter if he goes by the rule books or not.

Ajerk is ajerk.

Oh! You've one of your little plans, don't you?

Hey, would you find Hutch for me?

Put this up on the Mission Board.

[planes whirring]

[chuckling]

I knew you'd like it.

This here's great, but how is it gonna help us out?

If we're on R & R, we cannot be gigged for standing down.

Really?

"Combat units will be given certain periods of inactivity

without loss of combat status."

Sub-paragraph 3, page 360 in the Marine Corps Manual.

[planes whirring]

Kid's gotta hold of a woman.

[men chattering]

Hey, Hutch.

Yo.

You get it done?

l was up all night, but we're covered.

Thanks a lot. I'll make it up to you.

No, you won't.

(Greg) Arabella. In Case y's log,

it is noted as a small South Pacific island

in the Solomon chain.

Principal exports: rum, pineapple, sugarcane,

and friendly natives.

I had a hunch we weren't going to bother

the pineapple growers or the sugarcane planters.

But we're purely going to ruin the rum.

And the friendly native crop.

Yes.

All right, Lieutenant. Thank you.

Major, they just took off.

Thank you, Colonel. I can handle it from here.

The planes are on the field.

l've cut the orders giving you command.

They're up at Fleet.

They should be back in a day or two.

In the meantime, if Boyington shows up,

just kick his tail assembly right offthat island.

That'll be a pleasure.

Four months ago Boyington stole those planes from me.

We got a score to settle with those bums.

We just might bend a few teeth to do it.

Well, whatever you have to do

to carry out your orders, Major.

Yes, sir.

[people chattering]

She wrote me this "Dear, John" letter,

and I lay on my bunk for two weeks

with this kinda terrible feeling that my life was over.

Oh, poor little baby.

Yeah, but I had to keep fighting anyway.

Get up at the crack of dawn and into that cockpit,

trying to keep my mind on what I'm doing...

These are the most magnificent things I've ever seen in my life.

Where did you get these?

These are stunning. Simply stunning.

...I hit the hole! Bam!

Gained 90 yards first time lever carried the ball.

Coach said I'd made All-American if I'd made it to a senior.

Of course you never can tell for sure.

[T.J. imitating plane]

...ro

ed under him, did a perfect split S,

jumped on his tail and shot him down.

Then I went to his right, downed his wingman at 7:00.

Boom! Just totally right out ofthe air.

Kind of like chattering away.

This is the easy part.

Now came the part where I had to go...

These guys were tough, I mean, really tough.

What I did was, I kicked my bird,

came out at 4:00.

[imitating gun firing]

It was incredible. One of these guys sideways...

I haven't been able to sleep well at all.

Nerves, I guess.

When you're responsible for the lives

of an entire squadron, it's hard to relax.

Well, maybe I can be of help.

l specialized in hypertension in nursing school.

That's what I have: hypertension.

Well, why don't we try to ease it?

Oh, maybe it wouldn't help.

Oh, no, I'm sure it would.

What do get, a massage or something like that?

Uh, no.

l was thinking I'd try to get you an injection of APC.

It's wonderful for hypertension.

A shot?

[chuckling]

You're kidding.

[engine revving]

(Greg) Get lost.

Come on, Greg.

Jim, get lost. I'm getting a massage.

We got some trouble, Greg.

Just got a call from La Cava.

A plane from Espritos Marcos arrived with 20 pilots aboard.

Lard has reassigned the 214.

Are you tracking?

Yeah.

Then why don't you try

and take a guess at who's in command ofthose pilots.

Old Red Buell.

Get 'em together. Let's get back there.

When I get down, I'm gonna kill that spitball Marine.

T.J. Wiley, the Great American Air Ace.

Shut up, Gutterman. I don't have to take that from you.

Sure you do, son.

Hey, you guys. Please knock it off.

Thank you.

Pappy, what are we gonna do?

Well, for one thing, try not to kill each other.

l was this close to pay dirt.

While Gutterman was going into the native jewelry business,

l was closing in like the Phantom of East Philadelphia.

[chuckling]

"There l was, surrounded by zeros, my guns jammed."

[all laughing]

I've never heard so much garbage in my whole life.

(Greg) I found most ofmy pilots

in the Rear Area bar awaiting court martial.

Most of them were natural-born trouble makers.

Well, actually, all of them were.

Except Casey, who was showing real signs of becoming one.

Once l'd assembled this band of misfits,

I needed planes.

And I managed to jerk these planes away from Red Buell

by masquerading as a medical officer.

And quarantining his bunch ofmisfits.

I had a feeling that before this was over,

there were gonna be a lot of guys

sucking on their knuckles.

[plane engine whirring]

Where're the mag points?

How you doing, Red?

I can't fly these planes without magneto points.

Either you give 'em to me, or I'll knock your teeth down your throat.

[all exclaiming]

You're beginning to get on my nerves, Buell.

You wanna give us a little room?

You're standing on my runway--

It's all right. Take it easy, Mack.

I'm taking command ofthis squadron, Major.

I'm gonna fly a mission at 0600 tomorrow.

Help yourself. Just hope your arms don't get tired.

[all laughing]

I don't take that kind of lip from nobody.

Then you're gonna have a very difficult time here, Major,

'cause I serve it up with a shovel.

But, Red--

We're in control ofthis situation.

But, Red-- I said knock it off!

Listen, if we have to disassemble these bums later, we'll do it.

But right now, we're gonna stay cool.

I've got the squadron and the orders.

Now, knock it off. All right?

Come on.

[whining]

I'll take care ofthis.

Thanks, Casey.

Greg, they've been into our liquor supply.

I'll take care of it.

Hey, Greg, you gotta let us through--

Calm down, Jim. Calm down.

You were kinda hard on our stuff, Buell.

You were leaving anyway.

What are you doing, Buell?

That board is an inventory and shipping record

of everything we've got going in the Southwest Pacific.

I want those mag points.

If you don't give 'em to me, I'll turn my boys loose.

What will they do, shine their shoes and salute each other?

No, they're gonna kick your eyes out.

Let me give you the picture, Buell.

You're not getting the mag points.

You're not flying our planes.

You can take that khaki soft-shoe act of yours,

get back on that C-47,

and get the hell off of my island.

Okay, Major.

I'll see you outside.

I'll be there.

[squadron brawling]

Hey! This is Maj. Buell!

My squadron will knock it off!

Why don't you try it with music?

What?

Come on, Red! Come on!

Clear the decks. Zeros.

Over there, Red.

[planes whirring]

[guns firing]

Damn! It must be 10:00.

Happens every day. They're on their way home.

lt's 10:15.

So they're late.

You guys are lucky those zeeks broke it up this afternoon.

You trying to start somethin'? I'm ready when you are.

We've got orders.

I know we got orders. What's the point?

I met a real nice nurse named Lisa.

Seems, uh, she knows you, Gutterman.

[sighing]

We're gonna get our chance, Captain?

Oh, yes, we are.

I know.

Been expecting you.

Okay, Major. Suppose you tell me

how you think you're gonna win this thing?

I'm not worried about it.

I got a mission to fly tomorrow.

Okay. So I'll give a couple of my boys mag points

and we fly the mission.

You and your stiffs prepare lunch.

Twenty minutes ago, I sent six guys over

to remove the distributor caps.

[engine starting]

Okay, Buell. Let's work this thing out.

I'm listening.

We each have three or four boys

in the hospital from this afternoon.

If that keeps up,

they won't have enough energy to climb into the cockpit.

Okay. So?

You play poker? Yeah.

You've got the distributor caps.

I've got the mag points.

You wanna play cards for 'em?

That's a heck of a good idea.

The sheep pen in 10 minutes.

Oh, by the way,

I put my two kid brothers through college playing cards.

I'm gonna purely take your pants down, Major.

Hot damn! I got another pigeon.

[clock ticking]

Mack.

Right.

(Buell) Call.

[man coughing]

Anderson, how about a beer?

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Guts to open.

Ante up.

[clearing throat]

[sighing]

One, Jim.

Raise one.

Call.

Cards.

I'll play these.

You stand pat?

Want me to write it down, Buell?

[scoffing]

l'll, uh, take two.

[rustling]

[clock ticking]

[sighing]

Bet two.

Cards, please.

Thank you.

[sighing]

Well, how's he doin'?

He's doing okay, I guess.

I don't know. It's hard to tell.

Oh, this is crazy.

Playing cards for engine parts. lt- It's just crazy.

Hey, don't worry about it, Casey.

I mean, when it comes to cards, Pappy's the best.

l was talking to some guy in Buell's outfit.

Red's got a big reputation as a card shark.

It's his one vice.

Yeah, if you don't count kissing Lard's cluster

and stealing our planes.

I don't know, Don. Some ofthese guys

have pretty impressive war records.

Casey, they're jerks.

Jerks.

Now, would you mind going and getting the beer?

"Casey, get this. Casey, get this."

[engine revving]

[clock ticking]

Bet one.

Raise two.

[chuckling]

Anderson. Yes, sir.

Another beer, please.

(Anderson) Yes, sir.

Thank you.

(Anderson) You're welcome.

[clearing throat]

[clearing throat]

Luck's gotta change.

You'll bet or talk?

[mumbling]

Do we have any coffee?

Mack, bring me some coffee.

[clearing throat]

Come on pick the cards up. Are you going to play or not?

[chuckling]

[door slamming]

[can clunking]

I'm sorry, Pappy. I fell asleep.

How'd we do?

Terrible, I lost halfthe mag points.

He lost half the distributor caps.

I'm gonna have to fly with that cub scout.

What?

Pick 10 of our guys. Tell 'em we're up in half-an-hour.

We're going to fly with 10 of Buell's.

You got to be kidding...

Do I look like I'm joking, Larry?

No, sir.

[engines humming]

Okay, heading is 057. Form up on me.

Buell, who made you flight leader?

Colonel Lard.

Do you see Lard up here anywhere?

(Buell) Come on, Boyington...

Neither do .

(Greg) Cancel that heading.

The new heading is 076

and form up on me.

When we get home, Boyington,

we're gonna settle this thing once and for all.

Anyway that pleases you, Major.

(Casey) There she is, Pappy. Guess we'll follow you down.

(Casey) Nice going, Pappy.

Can we go home now?

Excuse me, Sir. Rear area has been trying

to get a hold of you ever since you took off.

Later, later.

Hey, Boyington...

I'm gonna fix it so you can carry your teeth in your pocket.

I guess we're through playin' cards, huh?

Hutch.

Hey, why boxing gloves?

You square off with your bare knuckles. You'll kill him.

I got a sore paw. Bruised a knuckle,

bouncing one off Buell's head yesterday.

You can't fight this fight with a hand like that.

Look, I got a lot of tape on it.

I'll keep him honest with some right hands.

l'll nail him with the left. Trust me.

Come on. Let's get it over with.

[spectators cheering]

(Gutterman) Now listen, no kicking, no gouging.

Break clean and all the rest ofthat swill. All right?

(Buell) They're no rules in this fight.

Let's get it over with.

What're you talking about? No rules?

[crowd cheering]

[whistle blowing]

[whistle blows]

Pappy.

Gets any worse, you better hit him with the stool.

Yeah. We found out he was Fleet Champ.

That information is a little late in coming isn't it?

We got a whole bundle riding on it, Pappy.

Come on go get him, Pappy. He can't hurt us

[whistle blows]

[crowd cheers]

(Gutterman) Use the left.

[barks]

[whistle blows]

Give him the right once or twice, just to keep him thinking.

My right hand is sore.

Take him in a whistle, or else he's gonna knock you out.

Keep the left up.

Hurts me more than it hurts him.

[all chattering]

[whistle blows]

[all cheering]

Greg, you won. He's running.

What's the matter with that yo-yo?

Hey, what's the matter with him?

Hey. Captain, you heard me. What's the matter with him?

His kid brother's a tail gunner in a B-24.

Shot down?

Yesterday over Bougainville.

He went down in the ocean and hasn't been picked up yet.

(Greg) Once a pilot hits the drink,

there's only one chance in ten,

you'll get fished out alive.

I knew it. Buell knew it.

But you can't help but hope.

I knew where Buell was going.

And I knew what he was going to find.

I figured maybe this buttoned-down jarhead

was going to need somebody to drink with or take a swing at.

I climbed in my bird and I went after him.

All the way to Espritos Marcos.

J‘J‘[music playing]

What do you want?

Red,

I heard about your kid brother.

I'm really sorry.

Leave me alone.

I don't want to talk to you. Get away from my table.

[sighs]

That's--that's not bad, Red.

I'll tell you something else it's not.

It's not yours.

You get kicked in the gut,

you wanna take a swing at somebody.

I can understand that, Red.

But you're half-bagged.

You'd go down real fast.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah.

I ain't sitting with you, Boyington.

And you ain't drinking my booze.

You've been sharing too much of my action already.

[men laughing]

(Captain) What we got here is a marching Marine.

Very good,

as you were, jarhead.

Get up. I said get up, sailor.

Let me help you up.

I thought you were the waiter.

[people grunting]

Now listen to me. You almost got us killed.

[whistle blows]

(Buell) You know how kid brothers are.

Tommy.

He was always in ajam, that kid.

lmight've pulled him out of a dozen ofthem.

I remember one time when he was in the fifth grade, I think.

Little devil. About that high.

Teacher had been telling him about

how the Indian kids had to go out

and go through their survival school.

Well, he decided to start his own survival school.

I don't know what he figured he was going to do.

I guess eat the bark off a tree or something.

Off he goes. Disappears.

get this phone call from Mom.

She's all hysterical.

I got to get in the car and go home.

It took me two hours to get there.

We lived out behind Sutter's Wash.

Hill country, you know, rugged.

I walked for five hours to find that kid.

Finally, found him up in a tree, asleep.

He had been there two days.

Then he got mad because I made him come home.

Said he had three days of survival training left. Little creep.

Anyway, different story now, ain't it?

I can't help him.

He's either dead, or he's a prisoner.

And those bums at Fleet couldn't care less.

As far as they're concerned, he's just another rolled up mattress.

Get in the jeep, Red.

Hey, look, Boyington, I don't take orders from you.

I got an idea. Get in the jeep.

Just because you helped me put down a couple of rowboat captains

don't mean we're life-long buddies.

Are you gonna get in the jeep

or are you gonna keep flapping that mouth of yours?

[car starting]

Aussie Coast Watch said there were five chutes.

The Japanese must have picked 'em up.

Air-sea rescue couldn't find a trace ofthem.

Look. Where?

This Japanese isthmus.

It's in their rear area, out of the combat zone.

That is where they gotta be.

I'm just plain confused.

Red, we got 40 pilots and 20 planes, right?

That means there are 20 pilots just sitting around

scratching their eyes with nothing to do.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about getting your brother down out ofthat tree.

A commando raid?

I got nothing better to do. Let's get out of here.

Yeah, but why? Why would you do that?

I don't know, Red. Maybe it's because you're such a sweetheart.

(Buell) Where'd you get this thing, anyway?

You ask too many questions, Red.

I don't like stolen aircraft.

Excuse me, sir, but it's not stolen.

We traded the Navy pilots on U.S.S. Detroit

ajukebox for a couple of SCR radios.

Then we traded the Dock Master on Espritos Marcos,

the radios for two dozen German lugers.

And then we traded the lugers back with the same pilots

from the USS. Detroit for rental on this duck for 12 hours.

Why didn't you just trade the juke box for the plane?

You're not good at this. Forget about it.

The answer is because they wouldn't go for that deal,

but they're crazy about lugers.

[chuckling] Come on, let's go, you guys.

Hey, Jerry. I want that plane up at 0400

to fly the mission and on time.

(Buell) Wait a minute, Major.

What's the matter, Red?

I'm in command ofthe 214.

You lost that right when you jumped out ofthat ring.

That's not the way we score it.

Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Jerry, are you up to flying another split mission?

[sighs]

Do the best I can.

How's that? Fine. Hamilton.

Take halfthe flight up. Fly the mission with him. Aye, aye, sir.

What did he say?

He said, "Aye aye, sir." That means, "Yes, sir."

Why didn't he say that?

I don't think he wanted to say that.

Hey, French! Ever fly one of these before?

No, but I found the owner's manual in here.

[laughing]

(Greg) l was trying not to think about what we might find

on this Japanese-held isthmus.

Intelligence reports had it down as a non-combat area

with maybe a company.

[couldn't tell much about what Buell was hoping for.

But I was hoping it would be a Japanese marching band down there.

Or maybe a company of nurses.

Unfortunately, it was none of the above.

You're going to make one fine target, Gutterman.

That was a big fat Halloween party.

Jim.

I want you back in two hours.

Aye aye, sir.

We're kinda far off shore.

What do you want, curb service?

All right, you guys, get those rafts in the water.

Two hours, French. Right.

[leaves rustling]

(Buell) Work your way around right to left. Let's go.

(Greg) Uh-uh. The camp's on the southeast side ofthe island,

Let's cut across.

How do you know that?

'Cause that's the leeward side ofthe island.

That's where they always are. No wind.

Doesn't scatter their green tea crop.

[men chattering]

[whispering] I thought you said a company!

l was wrong.

This is a fine time to be wrong!

Take my guys to the other side and we'll create a cross-fire.

You take the compound.

lt's suicide.

Not if we get back in the jungle before they hit us.

The tough part is gonna be getting to the plane.

Sure hope Bragg and Hamilton are on time.

You're a wild man, you know that?

Good luck, Red.

Let's go!

[leaves rustling]

Red.

Where's the others? They didn't make it.

Come on, you little creep. You want out of this cage?

Let's go!

[guns firing]

There's the isthmus. We're going in

[engines humming]

[gunfire continues]

Gutterman's hit.

Casey, come on. Get up.

It ain't nothing, let's go.

(Tom) You guys are crazy, you know that?

Shut up! And get in that boat.

Come on, let's get going. We only have minutes.

Come on, Jim.

Where'd you get your medical training?

Will you guys stop arguing and get in that boat.

[guns firing]

Let's get out of here, I'll cover you.

Who do you think you are? John Wayne?

Come on, let's make a run for it.

I hate to say this, pal, but without cover fire,

neither of us is getting out of here.

All right, short one stays. Here.

Don't you ever lose?

[plane engines humming]

Here comes Bragg. Right on time.

[explosions]

So we found Tommy Buell, and we got him out ofhis tree.

Now, that seemed to solve Red's problem for him.

But it didn't do a thing for mine.

I broke enough regulations in the last 12 hours

to put in for retirement.

It looked like there was only one person that could get me out it.

[men cheering]

Attention! Attention!

Why aren't these men ready to leave, Major?

We're not leaving, sir.

This unit engaged in an illegal ground action, Major.

As a result, I have three-star Generals

sniffing around me, like I was a fireplug.

Now you are going to take the heat for this, Boyington. Not me.

Sir, are you court-martialing

the squadron leader for an unauthorized

ground action against the enemy, sir? Is that right?

That's absolutely right.

Major Buell has been in command, sir.

I released my command to him two days ago.

Did you take command ofthis squadron, Major?

Yes, sir, I did.

Casey, I'd like to buy Major Buell a beer.

[clapping]

I could get court-martialed forthis, Boyington.

That kinda thing builds character, Red.

You and your boys need a hand getting packed?

No thanks.

Hey, McGinty,

I don't believe we're gonna be needing this anymore around here.

All right? Take it easy.

Take care. Bye.

Getting to be a bad habit.

You're a sucker for a breaking pitch.

I didn't do too bad, considering I got Tommy back.

In my book, that's a pretty good trade.

I ain't through with you, though, Boyington.

Now I understand you a little better,

I'm gonna play it a whole lot different the next time.

You think so, huh?

Yeah, I know so.

Be seeing you, Major.

That goes for your cat, too.

[laughing]