John Wayne & John Ford's 1945 Naval War Movie Might Be The Best WWII Film You Haven't Seen

John Ford is one of the most acclaimed directors in film history, responsible for such classics as The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Rio Grande (1950), and The Searchers (1956). However, Ford's westerns are often highlighted more than his World War 11 pictures, such as the tragic They Were Expendable (1945), the third collaboration between the director and legendary actor John Wayne, which hit theaters just a few months after VJ Day. They Were Expendable follows American Navy PT boat officers Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) and John Brickley (Robert Montgomery) in the early days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.