Review of Go for Broke!

Go for Broke! (1951)
6/10
Go for Broke! provides some interest as a depiction of the Japanese-American regiment during World War II
29 May 2011
With tomorrow being Memorial Day, I decided to finally watch this movie about the 442nd regiment consisting of Japanese-American soldiers who volunteered in order to escape the internment camps their families were sent to after Pearl Harbor. Van Johnson is their superior officer who initially isn't crazy about leading them since he's from Texas and wants to go with the regiment consisting of men from his background, not to mention skin color. I'll stop there and just say that while there were some exciting battle scenes and some gently humorous ones as well, I didn't think the script spent enough time with Johnson and his Asian-American men in showing how he gradually came to admire and like them. At least not in the natural way I expected as part of me seemed to think the transition seemed abrupt when he met with one of his Texas-bred colleagues who expressed his prejudices more blatantly causing him to punch him. Maybe I was thinking too much of that scene as I did find touching many of those men's situations especially the one with the pig he kept for a pet. And there is a rousing sense of pride in seeing everyone, regardless of skin color or culture, banding together to fight for the common good. So on that note, Go for Broke! gets a recommendation from me.
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