The Naked and the Dead is a 1958 widescreen film based on Norman Mailer's World War II novel The Naked and the Dead. Directed by Raoul Walsh and filmed in Panama the screenplay attributed to the Sanders Brothers adds a strip tease and larger action scenes to Mailer's original narrative. Filmed by RKO just before its demise the film was released by Warner Brothers and was the last film Raoul Walsh directed for that studio. Filled with flashbacks, the film relates the story of Lt Hearn who is an aide to General Cummings , who treats Hearn as a son and a friend. The General believes that... commanding officers ought to inspire fear in their subordinates, in order to enforce discipline. Hearn expresses distaste for these views, preferring instead that soldiers should have mutual respect for each other, regardless of rank. Hearn is eventually transferred to lead an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon on a dangerous reconnaissance mission. The platoon had originally been led by Sgt Croft , who now must serve under Hearn. Croft is a professional soldier with a reputation for cruelty.
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| Release date: | 1958 |
| Directed by: | Raoul Walsh |
| Runtime: | 131 Minutes |
| Editor: | Arthur P. Schmidt |
| Music by: | Bernard Herrmann |
| Cinematography: | Joseph LaShelle |
| Screenplay by: | Terry Sanders, Denis Sanders |
| Adapted from: | The Naked and the Dead |