In 1805, the United States battles the pirates of Tripoli as the Marines fight to raise the American flag The U. S. Marine Corps hymn starts with"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli", and this film's story purports to be the reason why, and is give or take a few incidents in this movie: It is 1805 and the Tripoli pirates have challenged America's right to freedom of the seas–-all of them, anywhere–-so United Stares warships were sent to that port to bottle up their fleet and set the riff-raff right concerning who could sail where. (History begins to suffer a bit along about this point.) A U. S. Marine unit, headed by Lieutenant O'Bannon, was sent to attack them from the rear. He organized his unit around Hamet, Pasha of Tripoli, in exile after being overthrown by his brother. In Hamet's court was Sheila D'Arneau, a diploma's daughter, who disguises herself as a dancing girl, and joins the group of eight U. S. Marines and Hamet supporters in their march across the Libyan desert. O'Bannon and Shelia argue all the way to Tripoli. This would not have been worth much seeing if it hadn't been for the expedition made from upper Egypt down to Libya with hardships and sandstorms and other frustrating complications along the way by Qattara (Remember "Ice Cold in Alex?" This was 140 years earlier.). This is the realistic part of the film, and it is the more interesting for taking place in 1805 - the war in question is that against Napoleon, which is never mentioned. Maureen O'Hara is a stranded countess courted by a local prince, John Payne runs into her by chance and gets trouble with her from the start, so it seems he just seeks her out to have someone to quarrel with. It's the usual story. Their quarrel and nagging goes on throughout the film until it's time for them to focus their interest on more important matters, like a navy which doesn't want to take orders from John Payne. The military battle in the end is just the usual tearing down the whole city stone by stone after first demolishing the interiors of every palace worth some sight-seeing. Howard de Silva saves the show as an intrepid Greek captain with a company of his own, and hardly anyone of the Americans would have survived without his contribution. It was the first time the American flag was planted outside the States and unfortunately not the last time. A silly story made as spectacular as possible and saved only by history and adventure, but the music throughout is excellent. In case you saw To the Shores of Tripoli, a 1942 military romance starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, you might assume Tripoli, a 1950 military romance starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, would be exactly the same movie. It's not. Neither one of them is very good, but they are quite different.<br/><br/>Tripoli takes place in the early 1800s. Pirates in Libya fight against the Marines, and the subsequent march through the desert and battle show audiences why the first line of the USMC theme song starts the way it does. However, the movie is pretty boring, and without the forced romance between John and Maureen, it might have put me to sleep. She starts the movie involved with Phillip Reed, and it's clear she has no real feelings for him but is only after his money and his title. But, since Hollywood was pretty racist back then, it's beyond clear she won't end up with the non-white guy. There's really no suspense, and it's no surprise that she falls for the first white guy she meets.<br/><br/>Unless this part of history or battle in particular really interests you, find yourself another war movie. There are thousands to choose from.
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