Come On Marines!
Cast & Crew
Henry Hathaway
Richard Arlen
Ida Lupino
Roscoe Karns
Grace Bradley
Fuzzy Knight
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Sergeant Lucky Davis meets Jo-Jo LaVerne while on liberty, he becomes part of a scandal that leaves him demoted to private and consigned to the jungles of the Philippines. Lucky forces Terence V. Spud McGurke, a taxi driver and ex-marine who deserted, to go with him because of his part in the scandal. When the Seventh Squad, U.S. Marine Corps, is sent to rescue a group of shipwrecked children, they discover the "children" are really young debutantes on leave from a Parisian finishing school. Later, bandit Celano shoots at the mission where the women are staying, and it is feared he will try to use them as ransom. Lucky then receives orders to arrest Spud for deserting, but tears up the note. The marines and the women exchange clothes to trick Celano as they leave the mission in two wagons. When the bandits shoot at a wagon full of dresses, the marines return fire and beat back the mob, then return to the mission. As the men and women settle down for the night, they can't keep away from each other, and even Lucky, who had called the girls "spoiled brats," wins a kiss from Esther Cabot. Spud, however, tries to escape in the night, but Lucky finds him, and together they fight a group of guerilla natives. One of the men, "Brooklyn," speaks English and agrees to lead them through the jungle, assuring them that Celano is dead. En route to camp, Brooklyn, who is really Celano, tries to escape and knifes Lucky and Spud, but they knock him out with the butt end of a revolver. When they arrive at camp the next morning with Celano as their prisoner, they are surprised to learn his identity. Lieutenant Allen has also arrived, and Lucky and Spud are exonerated. Back in America, taxi driver Spud drives Esther and Lucky up the stairs of St. James Church for their wedding.
Director
Henry Hathaway
Cast
Richard Arlen
Ida Lupino
Roscoe Karns
Grace Bradley
Fuzzy Knight
Monte Blue
Edmund Breese
Virginia Hammond
Emil Chautard
Toby Wing
Julian Madison
Roger Gray
Clara Lou Sheridan
Gwenllian Gill
Lona Andre
Leo Chalzel
Pat Flaherty
Jean Chatburn
Jenifer Gray
Kay Mccoy
Mary Blackwood
Colin Tapley
Yancy Lane
Eldred Tidbury
Gil Berry
Richard Gray
Crew
William Darling
Hans Dreier
Jack Goodrich
Earl Hedrick
Albert Lewis
Byron Morgan
Ralph Rainger
Ben Reynolds
Leo Robin
Joel Sayre
James Smith
Philip Wylie
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to news items in Daily Variety, production on this film began on January 15, 1934 without a male lead. Paramount was considering both Richard Arlen and Buster Crabbe in the lead and hoped to give Crabbe "build up," but ended up casting Arlen. The script had been "floating around" Paramount for three years and had been in and out of several writers' hands before it was finally made. Writers Byron Morgan and Joel Sayre completed a new version in less than five weeks in order to meet the start of production. According to Hollywood Reporter, in early August 1931, the film had been scheduled to start production with "Skeets" Gallagher as the lead, but by 12 Aug, production had ceased. According to a news item in Daily Variety, this was the first film Henry Hathaway directed that was not a Western. Scripts in the Paramount story files at the AMPAS Library list Albert Lewis as associate producer. Both the New York Times and the Variety reviews call Lona Andre's character "Loretta" and Clara Lou Sheridan's character "Shirley." Variety calls Gwenllian Gill's character Katherine. The opening credits are superimposed over poster ads for the Marines, which promise "adventures over the world."
