Sands of Iwo Jima

Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) is a war drama directed by Allan Dwan — watch it online on iFILM. John Wayne plays Sergeant John Stryker, a Marine NCO so relentlessly hard on his recruits that they spend the first half of the film convinced he is simply a brute.

The story tracks the platoon from training camp through the February 1945 assault on a volcanic Pacific island — the campaign that produced the most reproduced photograph of the war. Several of the real Marines captured in that flag-raising image appear in the film. What makes Stryker interesting is the tension between his results and his methods: the men he breaks are the ones who survive.

The role earned Wayne his first Academy Award nomination. Released just five years after the Pacific war ended, the film carries a specific weight — some of the supporting cast had actually been there. Stream Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) online on iFILM.