MacArthur (film)
Encyclopedia
MacArthur is a 1977 American biographical
war film
directed by Joseph Sargent
and starring Gregory Peck
in the eponymous role as American General Douglas MacArthur
.
) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan
, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War
command by President Truman
(Ed Flanders
) for insubordination
, and is recounted in flashback
as he visits West Point.
.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Joseph Sargent
Joseph Sargent
Joseph Sargent is an American film director. He has directed many television movies, but his best known feature film works are probably White Lightning, MacArthur, Nightmares and Jaws: The Revenge, with his most popular film being The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He has won four Emmy Awards...
and starring Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
in the eponymous role as American General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
.
Plot
The film portrays MacArthur's (Gregory PeckGregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan
Battle of Bataan
The Battle of Bataan represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. The capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific, seize the resource-rich Dutch East Indies, and protect its Southeast...
, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
command by President Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
(Ed Flanders
Ed Flanders
Edward Paul Flanders was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the television series St. Elsewhere.- Biography :...
) for insubordination
Insubordination
Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying an authority. Refusing to perform an action that is unethical or illegal is not insubordination; neither is refusing to perform an action that is not within the scope of authority of the person issuing the order.Insubordination is typically a...
, and is recounted in flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
as he visits West Point.
Cast
- Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
as General Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthurGeneral of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the... - Ed FlandersEd FlandersEdward Paul Flanders was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the television series St. Elsewhere.- Biography :...
as President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... - Dan O'HerlihyDan O'HerlihyDaniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
as President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... - Ivan Bonar as Lieutenant General Richard K. SutherlandRichard K. SutherlandRichard Kerens Sutherland was a Lieutenant General of the US Army and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur's Chief of Staff in the South West Pacific Area during World War II.-Early life:...
- Ward CostelloWard CostelloEdward "Ward" Costello was an American actor, composer and lyricist. He composed and wrote the lyrics to the theme for The Gallant Hours....
as General George C. MarshallGeorge MarshallGeorge Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense... - Nicolas CosterNicolas CosterNicolas Coster is a British-born American actor, most known for his work in daytime drama and as a character actor on nighttime television series.-Biography:...
as Colonel Sidney Huff - Marj DusayMarj DusayMarj Dusay is an actress known for her roles on American soap operas...
as Mrs. Jean MacArthurJean MacArthurJean Marie Faircloth MacArthur was the second wife of U.S. Army General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.- Early life and education :... - Art FlemingArt FlemingArt Fleming was an American television host, most notably the original host of the TV game show Jeopardy!.-Early life:...
as William Averell Harriman - Russell JohnsonRussell JohnsonRussell David Johnson is an American television and film actor best known as "The Professor" on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island...
as Admiral Ernest J. King - Sandy KenyonSandy KenyonSandy Kenyon, born Sanford Klein was an American voice-over artist and character actor, best-known for voicing Jon Arbuckle in the first Garfield animated television special Here Comes Garfield, and other roles in film and television...
as Lieutenant General Jonathan M. WainwrightJonathan Mayhew Wainwright IVJonathan Mayhew "Skinny" Wainwright IV was a career American army officer and the commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II... - Robert MandanRobert MandanRobert Mandan is an American actor, most famous for his portrayals of playwright David Allen on the NBC serial From These Roots from 1958–1961, businessman Sam Reynolds on the serial Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970, and his subsequent satire of the genre playing Chester Tate on the sitcom...
as Rep. Martin - Allan MillerAllan MillerAllan Miller is an American actor, best known for the role of Harland Richards in Santa Barbara.Miller was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Anna and Benedict Miller....
as Colonel Legrande A. Diller - Addison PowellAddison PowellAddison Powell was an American actor whose numerous television, stage and film credits included Dark Shadows, The Thomas Crown Affair and Three Days of the Condor. He was best known for playing Dr. Eric Lang, a mad scientist who created Adam, on Dark Shadows.Powell was born in 1921 in Belmont,...
as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz - James ShigetaJames ShigetaJames Shigeta is an American film and television actor. He is also a standards singer, musical theatre and nightclub performer, and recording artist. He is a Nisei or second-generation American of Japanese ancestry.-Early life:...
(deleted sceneDeleted sceneIn Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s) as General Yamashita
Factual errors
- In a meeting in Pearl HarborPearl HarborPearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
between US President RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, Admiral Nimitz, and MacArthur to discuss East Asian strategy, MacArthur points to Lingayen Gulf in Western Luzon, calling it Leyte Gulf, and referring to it as the site of his re-entry to the Philippines. - The Battle of Leyte GulfBattle of Leyte GulfThe Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...
and the Battle of LeyteBattle of LeyteThe Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
, which included MacArthur's first return to Philippine soil on 20 October 1944, were in the Visayas, the archipelagic Central Philippines. - The Invasion of Lingayen GulfInvasion of Lingayen GulfThe Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...
, with MacArthur making a similarly dramatic landing in the main island of Luzon, occurred on January 9, 1945. - The film depicts only one landing followed by a visit by MacArthur to a camp in Luzon housing survivors of the Bataan Death MarchBataan Death MarchThe Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer, by the Imperial Japanese Army, of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of prisoners.The march was characterized by...
; however, a telegram sent to MacArthur prior to this scene mentions the October date of the earlier Leyte landing. - The camouflageCamouflageCamouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
covers on the M1 HelmetM1 HelmetThe M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the American military from World War II until it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet beginning in 1985. For over forty years, the M1 was standard issue for the U.S...
were actually surplus from Vietnam, and did not resemble those of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Reception
MacArthur received mixed reviews, it currently holds a 63% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.