Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, Gregory Walcott, Bruce Bennett, Vivian Nathan, Jeffrey Silver, Edmund Hashim, Paul Comi, Stanley Adams, Wayne Heffley, Ralph Moody, James Beck, Forrest Compton, Pete Homer, Mary Patton
Ira Hayes, a young Pima Indian, enlists in the Marine Corps. At boot camp, he is shunned and mocked by everyone, aside from a Marine named Sorenson, who he befriends. They happen to be two of the six marines captured in the famous photograph of Marines raising the U.S. flag on Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima, but Sorenson is killed soon after. Although he is hailed as a hero, Ira's life begins to spiral out of control after the war.
I never found Tony Curtis to be terribly versatile but he did have charisma, and that comes to his rescue here in what might be his best on-screen performance without the benefit of a comedy foil. Here he is "Ira Hayes" - a Native American who determines to join the US Marine Corps. Initially, he faces bigotry and bit of supremacy, but now nicknamed the "Chief" and befriended by his erstwhile anta...