Halls of Montezuma (film)

Halls of Montezuma
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Produced by	Robert Bassler
Written by	Michael Blankfort
Starring	Richard Widmark Richard Boone Jack Webb Martin Milner Neville Brand Jack Palance Reginald Gardiner Robert Wagner Karl Malden
Music by	Sol Kaplan
Cinematography	Winton C. Hoch Harry Jackson
Edited by	William H. Reynolds
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	January 4, 1951
Running time	113 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.65 million (US rentals)

Halls of Montezuma is a 1951 World War II war film starring Richard Widmark, Richard Boone, Jack Palance and Karl Malden. The film, which is about U.S. Marines fighting on a Japanese-held island, was directed by Academy Award-winner Lewis Milestone. It also starred Robert Wagner in his first credited screen role and featured Richard Boone in his feature film debut. Real color combat footage from the war in the Pacific was incorporated into the film's cinematography.

The film, like Darryl F. Zanuck's 1949 production Sands of Iwo Jima, was filmed on location at Camp Pendleton, California, with the full cooperation of the USMC. Its title is a reference to the opening line from the Marines' Hymn.

During World War II, a Marine battalion prepares to land on a large Japanese-held island in the Pacific. Lieutenant Colonel Gilfillan (Richard Boone) warns the men that it will be a tough mission, and that they have been ordered to take prisoners in order to gain information about the Japanese fortifications. Below deck, veteran Lieutenant Carl A. Anderson (Richard Widmark), a chemistry teacher in civilian life, questions his former student, Corporal Stuart Conroy (Richard Hylton), who complains that he is ill and cannot fight. Anderson assures him that he has shown courage before and can do so again. In the landing boat heading to shore, Navy corpsman C. E. "Doc" Jones (Karl Malden) is worried because Anderson has been suffering from "psychological migraines" for months. Anderson and his platoon have been fighting since Guadalcanal, and now only seven men remain of the original platoon. Although Doc urged Anderson to seek treatment in the United States, Anderson refuses to leave his men and has been relying on Doc to supply him with painkillers.