South Sea Woman

Burt Lancaster stars as Marine Sgt. James O’Hearn who is being court martialed for a laundry list of charges, the most notably being desertion, which possibly carries the penalty of death. The circumstances were even more serious considering O’Hearn and his friend Private Davey White (Chuck Conners) went AWOL before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sgt. O’Hearn is the only one on trial, and he refuses to pronounce his guilt or innocence. The only person to come to his defense is Ginger Martin (Virginia Mayo) who also happens to be Pvt. White’s fiancé. Despite Sgt. O’Hearn’s refusal to plea, the trial starts as if he had pled not guilty.

Witnesses testify, and through flashbacks the real story unravels. The flashbacks balance between drama and comedy, from the love triangle between Sgt. O’Hearn, Pvt. White, and Ms. Martin to the freeing of French prisoners to O’Hearn’s never-ending firm patriotism.

Lancaster unleashes his charismatic, macho star power as a brave commanding officer always trying to serve his country, while Conners is the young, brash, and also brave soldier willing to do whatever it takes for his country. And Mayo is her cute self.

Special features include a theatrical trailer, yet another unfunny Joe McDoakes short titled “So You Want To Be An Heir” and another cartoon “Much Ado About Nutting,” about a squirrel and his nuts.

It’s unfortunate that WB decided to include four films that Lancaster made between 1950 and 1954, with Executive Action being the only film made after Birdman in 1963. It would have been nice to have a collection with some of his lesser known works, but of course, there’s always a volume two.