Go for Broke!

1951

Drama, war

The film dramatizes the real-life story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was composed of Nisei, second-generation Americans born of Japanese parents. Fighting in the European theater during World War II, this unit became the most heavily decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the United States Army. As well as one of the units with the highest casualty rates.

Go for Broke! is a 1951 war film directed by Robert Pirosh,</>

Plot

The film begins in 1943 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, with newly commissioned Lieutenant Michael Grayson (Johnson) reporting for duty with the 442nd, then in training. He discovers that he has been sent to a unit composed of Nisei, when he had expected to return to the U.S. 36th Infantry Division, a Texas United States National Guard unit with which he had served as an enlisted man. Having joined the war to fight against the Japanese, he is disturbed to find he is expected to fight alongside people whom he sees as Japanese, rather than Americans. From the outset, Grayson runs his platoon with rather harsh treatment of his subordinates, including an almost martinet-like insistence upon the strict observance of Uniform Code of Military Justice.
He (and the audience) learn that "w:go for broke" is a pidgin phrase (used in Hawaii) meaning to gamble everything, to "shoot the works" – to risk "going broke" or bankruptcy.

Notes

Barsam, Richard Meran. (1992). Nonfiction Film : a Critical History.] Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. 10-ISBN 0-253-31124-1, 13-ISBN 978-0-253-31124-5; 10-ISBN 0-253-20706-1, 13-ISBN 978-0-253-20706-7; [http://www.worldcat.org/title/nonfiction-film-a-critical-history/oclc/24107769 OCLC 24107769
Takemoto, Kenneth Kaname. (2006). Nisei Memories: My Parents Talk About the War Years.] Seattle: University of Washington Press. 10-ISBN 0-295-98585-2, 13-ISBN 978-0-295-98585-5; [http://www.worldcat.org/title/nisei-memories-my-parents-talk-about-the-war-years/oclc/260074492 OCLC 260074492
Sterner, C. Dougals. (2008). Go for broke : the Nisei Warriors of World War II Who Conquered Germany, Japan, and American Bigotry.] Clearfield, Utah: American Legacy Historical Press. 13-ISBN 978-0-9796896-1-1, 10-ISBN 0-9796896-1-9; [http://www.worldcat.org/title/go-for-broke-the-nisei-warriors-of-world-war-ii-who-conquered-germany-japan-and-american-bigotry/oclc/141855086 OCLC 141855086
Yenne, Bill. (2007). Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II.] New York: Macmillan Publishers. 10-ISBN 0-312-35464-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-312-35464-0 [http://www.worldcat.org/title/rising-sons-the-japanese-american-gis-who-fought-for-the-united-states-in-world-war-ii/oclc/122261832 OCLC 122261832
Steidl, Franz. (1997). "Lost Battalions: Going for Broke in the Vosges, Autumn 1944."] Novato, California: Presidio Press. 10-ISBN 0-89141-622-6, 13-ISBN 978-0-89141-622-7, 10-ISBN 0-89141-727-3, 13-ISBN 978-0-89141-727-9; [http://www.worldcat.org/title/lost-battalions-going-for-broke-in-the-vosges-autumn-1944/oclc/36170542 OCLC 36170542

Category:1951 films
Category:1950s war films
Category:American films
Category:Asian-American films
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Category:Italian Campaign of World War II films
Category:Black-and-white films
Category:English-language films
Category:Japanese-American internment films
Category:Films directed by Robert Pirosh
Category:Directorial debut films

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Dore Schary