A Thousand Faces by Blake Michael F

Author:Blake, Michael F. [Blake, Michael F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vestal Press
Published: 1996-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Schayer’s final point is correct. The film was supposed to illustrate the Marine tradition of fighting against and defeating the odds. Having the outnumbered group of Marines saved from annihilation by the Chinese Army was anticlimactic and didn’t enhance the “First to Fight” motto of the Corps. As originally scripted and shot, the bandits retreat when they see the arriving Chinese military, and the Chinese officer of the troops shakes hands with the wounded O’Hara. In the final version of the film, the bandits retreat when they see incoming Marine airplanes, which drop bombs on the fleeing villains. Almost two months later, the climax still seemed to be a problem. Thalberg sought input from noted screenwriter Frances Marion (wife of the film’s director, George Hill). Marion felt that having Skeet leave the service after his enlistment was up fell flat. She suggested that the death of O’Hara would provide a more dramatic impact, with him making the last request that Skeet carry on the tradition of the Corps. In her October 23 notes, Marion stated:

Viewing this picture the second time with the retakes, I still think the climax misfires. Reel after reel of marvelous entertainment builds up to a complete transition in the character of the boy—then it flops. As it stands I cannot see it as a two-dollar picture;244 if a climax is written into the picture and shot, it will hold them every minute. . . . Up to the Shanghai sequence I still think it is one of the greatest pictures we have ever seen.245

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