The Naked and the Dead (film)

The Naked and the Dead is a 1958 Technicolor widescreen film based on Norman Mailers World War II novel The Naked and the Dead. Directed by Raoul Walsh and filmed in Panama the screenplay attributed to the Sanders Brothers adds a strip tease and larger action scenes to Mailers original narrative. Filmed by RKO just before its demise, the film was released by Warner Brothers and was the last film Raoul Walsh directed for that studio.

The platoon had originally been led by Sgt Croft Aldo Ray, who now must serve under Hearn. Croft is a professional soldier with a reputation for cruelty. Hearns relatively idealistic approach is contrasted with Crofts desire to win at all costs. When Hearn considers abandoning the mission due to excessive Japanese presence, Croft tricks him into underestimating the enemy. This eventually leads to several deaths in the platoon, and Hearn himself is wounded. Some of the men head back, carrying Hearn on a stretcher. Meanwhile, Croft presses onward with the remaining men. Croft is killed in action, but his men accomplish their mission, relaying vital intelligence to headquarters. Hearns men consider leaving him to die, as they can escape faster on their own, but decide to continue carrying him despite the risk. The survivors, including Hearn, make it back to headquarters. Once there, Hearn tells the General that the men who carried him on a stretcher did so out of love, not fear.The film was eventually picked up by Paul Gregory and Charles Laughton, and was to be made after The Night of the Hunter. Terry and Dennis Sanders who had worked on the screenplay and Stanley Cortez who had photographed The Night of the Hunter were to write and photograph the film with Laughton directing. Press releases of the time said that Robert Mitchum was to star and Walter Schumann would compose the score. The box office failure of The Night of the Hunter led to the film being taken over by Raoul Walsh who brought in an uncredited writer to redo the Sanders screenplay whilst Cortez was replaced by Joseph LaShelle. ........

Source: Wikipedia