Merrill's Marauders (1962)

Director: Samuel Fuller

Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Claude Akins

More info: IMDB

Tagline: The men who 'couldn't' go on--the mission that 'couldn't' be done--the picture that can't be forgotten!

Plot: Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads the 3,000 American volunteers of his 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), aka "Merrill's Marauders", behind Japanese lines across Burma to Myitkyina, pushing beyond their limits and fighting pitched battles at every strong-point.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? I suppose.


This is a peculiar film in that the first half hour or so feels like so many that came out at that time, with cliches left and right. Then something unusual happens and the standard dialogue and Hollywood conventions disappear and the rest of the picture is harder, edgier and grittier. The result is a very good WWII action adventure starring a man that should have had his own action figure, Jeff Chandler.


It's not as heavy on action as others of the day but it spends it's time showing the human condition and the toll war can have on men. Before you know you've made it to the end but the end isn't really the end. The men, like war, do not rest after battle, they just keep moving until they encounter the enemy - again and again and again.