One of the best films i have seen

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I was really excited to see To the Shores of Tripoli. John Payne in a uniform, Randolph Scott as the hard-as-nails sergeant, and Maureen O'Hara in the middle of a love triangle-what could go wrong? Well, only part of my assumptions going in proved to be correct. To make sure he wouldn't be in contention to get the girl, they grayed up Randy's hair. Still, he's infinitely nicer, more responsible, and has more in common with Maureen, so why would a little gray hair get between them? It doesn't make any sense why she doesn't look twice at him, or why he isn't given his own love interest.John Payne, although incredibly handsome, plays a first-class jerk in this movie. He's mean, manipulative, and doesn't have any respect for the Marines, Maureen, or her status as a lieutenant in the nurses' division. For example, in order to spend time with her, he pretends to get hit by a car-by slamming his hand down on the car and then falling to the ground-so he can spend all night in the hospital. He's incredibly selfish, and didn't care that he would worry and traumatize the driver, or that he was shirking his military duty, or that he was using valuable resources that could have been used on a truly wounded man. I didn't think his gesture was romantic, and I wasn't rooting for him.I didn't really like this movie, and the next time I'm in the mood to see John and Maureen together, I'll pop in Sentimental Journey. Still, it wasn't an entire loss. Randy looked really good with gray hair, a uniform, and a stern expression.

Stepping into the hero/heel part that Tyrone Power specialized in while at 20th Century Fox is John Payne as the spoiled kid of a former Marine officer, Minor Watson. Payne's hoping to get out of the Marines for a nice desk job in Washington, DC, but Watson's hoping that his former sergeant Randolph Scott, now a drill instructor will give Payne the necessary attitude adjustment.Payne's getting an attitude adjustment in another direction too. He's fallen for pretty nurse Maureen O'Hara even though he's got Washington society girl Nancy Kelly pulling strings for him.The part is such a perfect one for Tyrone Power that I'm sure it was offered to him and rejected and given to Payne who was hired by Darryl Zanuck because of his resemblance to Power and the fact he could sing opposite Alice Faye and Betty Grable. Power did similar roles in A Yank in the Raf and Crash Dive and in fact did serve in the Marines in the South Pacific after 1943. The film was shot on location at the San Diego Marine training station and I visited San Diego a few years back and some of it looks pretty much the same. Harry Morgan made his feature film debut and if you look close you'll see that another one of the Marine recruits is the Skipper himself, Alan Hale, Jr.To the Shores of Tripoli is badly dated and doesn't play real well against today's attitudes. Still it's a great example of a World War II propaganda piece.

I only saw the man in the movie for a few moments. Am I mistaken? or is Johnny Carson also in this movie. Apparently he is not one of the bigger stars or he would be listed with the rest of them, but I know that face...and that voice is unmistakable. I really enjoyed the movie though. I thought it was great. But my mom thinks I'm nuts because by the time she sat nack down Johnny was gone and they never showed him again. I am hoping they show the movie again soon on AMC and that I'm available to view it. Wow..Johnny Carson is extremely young in this movie, too, probably low to mid 20's, if that. I'm not sure if mentioning an actor who isn't listed in the credits is considered a spoiler, but I checked the box just in case.

"To the Shores of Tripoli" is light drama/comedy about new Marine recruits going through boot camp in the 1940's. This movie is made to look like a Twentieth Century Fox musical. There is too much color in the movie. It makes the story look less real. The colors are too bold and bright. You don't see any war scenes, just training scenes. Of course, there is a spoiled, rich Marine recruit (John Payne) in love with two women (Maureen O'Hara and Nancy Kelly), who wants to get out of the Marine Corp. Randolph Scott, who plays the drill sergeant, has the best role in the movie. He trains the recruits and tries to convince John Payne to stay in the Marine Corp. This is a terrific recruiting movie. It is fun to watch. A bit of trivia: both actors have worked with both actresses several times. John Payne made five movies with Maureen O'Hara,and Randolph Scott made three movies with Nancy Kelly. The supporting cast is full of recognizable faces of the 1940's. Only Harry Morgan is known by name because of his fame from television.