Though it uses actual wartime footage from the infamous Battle of Tarawa, Paul Wendkos’ WWII drama Tarawa Beachhead is intriguingly more concerned with the emotional struggles back at home. Kerwin Mathews plays a Marine conflicted over staying silent after seeing his commanding officer (Ray Danton) kill his comrade in combat. Tensions escalate to the breaking point when he begins to fall in love with the murdered man’s widow (Julie Adams, Creature from the Black Lagoon).
