HELL IN THE PACIFIC 159
Reel History Versus Real History
In the novel Cpl. Allison comes to the island after escaping from the Battle of Cor-
regidor (May 1942). The film is set two years later, in 1944, when the United States
was clearly winning the Pacific war— a time frame adjustment necessary to make
the Marine capture of the island a more credible event. The likelihood that a U.S.
Marine and a Catholic nun would end up sharing a remote island cave in the Pacific
is slim to none but makes for a compelling story. Almost as unlikely is Robert Mit-
chum’s age. He was 39 when he made the film. The average age of a U.S. Marine
in WWII was about 20, and many enlisted men were in their teens.
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
Synopsis
Hell in the Pacific is a World War II film directed by John Boorman about an Amer-
ican soldier (Lee Marvin) stranded on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean with a
Japa nese soldier (Toshirô Mifune)— two sworn enemies who battle each other but
must reach an accord in order to survive.
Background
After collaborating on Point Blank (1967) a now- esteemed neo- noir, director John
Boorman and actor Lee Marvin teamed up for another film immediately thereafter:
Hell in the Pacific, an offbeat tour de force about two soldiers— one American, the
other Japanese— who fight out World War II in miniature on a deserted island. Hell
in the Pacific (successive working titles: “The Enemy Is War,” “Two Soldiers— East
and West,” and “The Enemy”) derives from an original story by producer Reuben
Bercovitch, turned into a screenplay by Alexander Jacobs and Eric Bercovici. Japa-
nese dialogue was polished by Shinobu Hashimoto, who turned the script into a
scene- chewing farce, a gambit that initially caused some major headaches for John
Boorman, who couldn’t get his Japa nese co- star Toshirô Mifune to play his role
“straight” and not for broad comic effect.
Production
Logistical prob lems loomed large. The movie was shot on location on Koror and
other Palau islands in the isolated Caroline Islands of Micronesia, 950 miles due
east of the Philippines, in spring of 1968. Cast and film crew lived aboard a ship
and went to work on a Palau beach every day in a tank landing craft. Palau is near
the equator, and the four- month- long shoot in 90- degree heat and high humidity
was a trying experience for all involved.
Plot Summary
In 1944, after his plane is shot down at sea, an unnamed U.S. Marine pi lot (Lee
Marvin) lands his rubber dinghy on a remote Pacific atoll, only to discover that it
is already occupied by a lone Japa nese naval officer (Toshirô Mifune). After becom-
ing aware of each other’s presence on the island, the men engage in a fierce