Tell It to the Marines

“Lon Chaney is superb” (Leonard Maltin) as the hard-boiled sergeant with a heart of gold in this two-fisted tale of Marine Corps life, costarring William Haines and Eleanor Boardman. When Skeet Burns (Haines) joins the U.S. Marines, he winds up under Sergeant O’Hara (Chaney), the toughest leatherneck in the Corps., and both men fall for Navy nurse Norma Dale (Boardman). When they’re stationed in the Philippines, Skeet’s dalliance with a native girl (Carmel Myers) tips the scale in O’Hara’s favor. Reassigned to China, the two must put their differences aside when they’re ordered to Hangchow to rescue Norma and the nurses from a bandit leader (Warner Oland), whose gang has invaded the city. The first film made with the full cooperation of the Corps, Tell It to the Marines was Chaney’s highest-grossing picture at MGM. His performance earned him the title of Honorary Marine, the first actor to receive it.