William Bendix once told the 'Saturday Evening Post''s "The Role I Liked Best" column in 1946 that his character of Corporal Aloysius T. 'Taxi' Potts was his favorite of parts as it had given him "the widest range of opportunity" for an actor. Moreover, Bendix stated that he was moved by the letters he had received from military personnel who recognized his gutsy performance as a soldier in this movie. Bendix also added that he and his fellow cast enjoyed the experience of working with the US Marines based at Camp Pendleton.
Roy Roberts, who plays Capt. Cross, seems to have doubled as the voice of the radio sportscaster.
According to the book 'The Films of World War II' by Joe Morella, Edward Z. Epstein and John Griggs, the film "...involved some varying of actual incidents for the sake of dramatic effect."
Captain Clarence Martin who who fought with the first detachment of Marines at Guadalcanal acted as a technical adviser on this movie.
Debut movie of Richard Jaeckel who was seventeen years of age at the time. Apparently, Jaeckel had been a messenger boy for the 20th Century-Fox studio when he was cast in the film.
Guadalcanal is situated in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. Its local name is Isatabu and contains the country's capital, Honiara. The island is humid and mostly made up of jungle with a surface area of 2,510 square miles or 6,500-km². Guadacanal was named after Pedro de Ortega's home town Guadacanal in Andalusia, Spain. de Ortega worked under Álvaro de Mendaña who charted the island in 1568.
In 1950, 20th Century Fox theatrically reissued this film on a bill with Belle Starr and The Purple Heart.
Marine Corps Capt. Marion Carl, a multi-ace (18.5 air victories), makes an appearance as a Marine Corps pilot. Capt. Carl wears his baseball cap with the bill pointed skyward and makes the comment, "Don't look now, fellas, but a truck of gas just came on the field." Capt. Carl was a survivor of the Battle of Midway and the air campaign for Guadalcanal in 1942. He was awarded 2 Navy Crosses for his actions at Midway and Guadalcanal. Sadly, on June 28, 1998, he was murdered in his Oregon home by a home intruder.
Movie accurately shows the Marines armed with bolt action rifles. While Garand rifles were available, they were just not available in numbers to issue to the Marines before setting sail.
The 'Daily Variety' of 28 August 1945 reported that the 20th Century Fox Studio was involved with litigation from Donald Petersen in relation to injuries that he allegedly sustained during production of this movie. It was alleged that Petersen suffered broken ear drums from a dynamite explosion that was exploded prematurely. Petersen was awarded $15,000 in damages in a jury trial which was then appealed by the studio.
The Hollywood Premiere of this movie was a charity benefit to aid various War Charities with the 60-piece Pendleton Field Marine Band performing at the bash. According to the 'Hollywood Reporter', the launch was attended by "top-ranking officers of the Marines, Army and Navy . . . and about fifty war heroes."
The Philadelphia Premiere for this movie was dedicated to celebrating the 168th Anniversary of the inception of the United States Marine Corps.
The stars of this movie, William Bendix, Preston Foster, Richard Jaeckel and Lloyd Nolan all reprised their characters from this movie in a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on 28 February 1944.
This film was the first time that actor Richard Conte was credited as Richard Conte. This was his second feature film. In his first, Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence, he had been billed as Nicholas Conte.
This movie was made in 1943, only one year after the Battle of Guadacanal, which was fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943. The film premiered in the USA around 27 October 1943 which was about ten months after the end of the Guadacanal Campaign.
This movie's opening prologue states: ""Appreciation is gratefully acknowledged to the United States Marine Corps and to the Army, the Navy and the Coast Guard whose assistance and participation made this picture possible."