Tell It to the Marines

Tell It to the Marines

Infobox Film
name = Tell It to the Marines


image_size =
caption =
director = George W. Hill
producer = George W. Hill
writer = Richard Schayer
narrator =
starring = Lon Chaney
William Haines
music =
cinematography = Ira H. Morgan
editing = Blanche Sewell
distributor =
released = January 29, 1927
runtime = 103 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0018471

"Tell It to the Marines" is a 1927 silent movie starring Lon Chaney and directed by George W. Hill. The film was the biggest box office success of Chaney's career and involves the adventures of a Marine sergeant.

ynopsis

Skeet Burns goes to San Diego, California on the pretext of joining the Marines, then skips to Tijuana on arrival. Later, he returns, penniless and hungry, and under Sergeant O'Hara's care he joins the Leathernecks. Skeet becomes enamored of Norma Dale, a commissioned Navy nurse, but on tour duty in the Philippines he is taken with Zaya, a native girl, and incurs the wrath of her friends. Hearing of the affair, Norma breaks off with Skeet, and the latter blames his misfortune on O'Hara. Norma is ordered to Hangchow, and when news arrives that her party is endangered by Chinese bandits, the Marines rescue the beleaguered whites; O'Hara is wounded in the fighting but is happy because he has at last made a man of Skeet. After his hitch, Skeet leaves the service and his friend O'Hara behind, promising Norma that he will wait for her.

Cast

Lon Chaney ... Sgt. O'Hara
William Haines ... Pvt. George Robert 'Skeet' Burns
Eleanor Boardman ... Nurse Norma Dale
Eddie Gribbon ... Cpl. Madden
Carmel Myers ... Zaya (a native)
Warner Oland ... Chinese bandit leader
Mitchell Lewis ... Native starting fight
Frank Currier ... Gen. Wilcox
Maurice E. Kains ... Harry (as Maurice Kains)

Background

Premiered in New York City on December 23, 1926.

MGM brought in General Smedley D. Butler, commander of the Marine base in San Diego, for technical consultation on the film. Lon Chaney formed a close friendship with Marine Corp General, which lasted for the rest of Chaney's life.

The studio was also allowed to shoot on the base which made "Tell It to the Marines" the first motion picture made with the full cooperation of the U.S. Marine Corps. Battleship USS|California|BB-44|6 (later involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941) was used for the scenes at sea and the final sequence of the film, where the marines rescue the hostages, was filmed at Iverson's Ranch in Chatsworth, California, the location for such films as "Fort Apache" and "The Good Earth".

A writer in "Leatherneck Magazine" wrote that "few of us who observed Chaney's portrayal of his role were not carried away to the memory of some sergeant we had known whose behavior matched that of the actor in every minute detail ..."

For his role in the film, Chaney became an Honorary Marine, the first film star to do so.

"Tell it to the marines" is an idiom, originally with reference to Britain's Royal Marines, connoting that the person addressed is not to be believed ("tell it to the marines because the sailors won't believe you").

References

[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2287&category=Articles Article on "Tell It to the Marines" at the TCM database]

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018471/ "Tell It to the Marines"] at the Internet Movie Database


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • tell that to the marines — (informal) A phrase expressing disbelief and ridicule, from the sailor s contempt for the marine s ignorance of seamanship • • • Main Entry: ↑marine * * * tell that/it/to the Marines informal old fashioned phrase used for telling someone that you …   Useful english dictionary

  • tell\ it\ to\ the\ marines — • tell it to the marines • tell it to Sweeney slang I don t believe you; Stop trying to fool me. John said, My father knows the President of the United States. Dick answered, tell it to the marines …   Словарь американских идиом

  • tell that to the marines — ► tell that to the marines a scornful expression of disbelief. [ORIGIN: referring to the horse marines, an imaginary corps of cavalrymen employed to serve as marines (thus out of their element).] Main Entry: ↑marine …   English terms dictionary

  • tell it to the marines — People use this expression when they don t believe someone …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • tell it to the marines. — (Go) tell it/that to the marines. American something that you say in order to tell someone that you do not believe what they have just said. You were here all day? Sure, you were tell it to the marines …   New idioms dictionary

  • tell that to the marines. — (Go) tell it/that to the marines. American something that you say in order to tell someone that you do not believe what they have just said. You were here all day? Sure, you were tell it to the marines …   New idioms dictionary

  • Tell that to the marines — Marine Ma*rine , n. [F. marin a sea solider, marine naval economy, a marine picture, fr. L. marinus. See {Marine}, a.] 1. A solider serving on shipboard; a sea soldier; one of a body of troops trained to do duty in the navy. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tell it to the marines — or[tell it to Sweeney] {slang} I don t believe you; Stop trying to fool me. * /John said, My father knows the President of the United States. Dick answered, Tell it to the marines. / …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • tell it to the marines — or[tell it to Sweeney] {slang} I don t believe you; Stop trying to fool me. * /John said, My father knows the President of the United States. Dick answered, Tell it to the marines. / …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • tell it to the marines — I don t believe you, stop trying to fool me She said that she was going to start her own business but I told her to tell it to the marines as I didn t believe her …   Idioms and examples

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