PACIFIC, THE: MELBOURNE {EPISODE 3} (TV)

Summary

The third episode in this ten-part historical miniseries, a companion piece to 2001's "Band of Brothers," depicting the Pacific Theatre of World War II as described in the memoirs of several United States Marine Corps veterans. In January 1943, the Marines arrive in Melbourne and are greeted by cheering crowds grateful for their assistance in protecting Australia. They set up camp in a stadium, but everyone soon goes AWOL and heads out into the city to enjoy themselves. Basilone and Morgan toast to Rodriguez's memory and get into a scrap with some locals who are not pleased to see the "cowboy Yanks," and a drunken Leckie impresses his friends when he wins over a girl, Stella, after pursuing her onto a trolley. Everyone is severely hungover in the morning, and Chesty lectures Basilone about his behavior and shocks him by telling him that he is to receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery on Guadalcanal. Phillips attempts to romance a young lady, Gwen, who has a very strict grandfather, and Basilone and Morgan continue fraternizing with the local women. They are nearly busted for being AWOL and Basilone considers stealing an MP's Jeep to escape, but Morgan reminds him that he needs to behave more honorably now.

Basilone receives his Medal of Honor in an official ceremony, and Leckie visits Stella at home and joins her Greek-immigrant parents for dinner, where he impresses them with knowledge of their country's history. He tells them about being the youngest child in a large and unhappy family, and when they learn that he is bunking at the stadium, they invite him to stay in their home instead. Stella visits Leckie late at night and they make love, afterwards discussing their respective families' troubles, including the deaths of their brothers. Elsewhere, Basilone is upset to learn that he is soon to be sent home to use his heroic tale to sell war bonds. Leckie continues bonding with Stella and her family, and when they hear that a family friend has been killed in action, Leckie accompanies them to pay his respects. He talks with Stella's mother late at night about religion and faith, and she tells him that she is praying that he returns safely to them. The Marines are then put on a train and taken out of Melbourne, and Leckie rebukes his friends for shooting at cows along the way, saying that they are some farmer's livelihood. They are then ordered to march several days back into the city as training, and Leckie and Hoosier both suffer from severe blisters along the way.

Leckie makes it back to Stella's home and is stunned when she rebuffs him, saying that they have no future together and that it will hurt her entire family if he is killed in the war. He drowns his sorrows at a bar and heads back to the stadium, and when Chuckler asks him to briefly cover his watch, he gets into an argument with Lt. Corrigan and gets them both thrown in the brig. Phillips spends more time with Gwen, but then learns that he is soon to ship out, and they sneak away from her family and spend one final afternoon together in a hotel room. Corrigan reassigns Leckie to the battalion intelligence section, and Morgan bids farewell to Basilone as he regretfully heads back to the States. The rest of the Marines board the transport ship and are given a warm send-off by the cheering crowd as they depart Australia.

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE: March 28, 2010 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:51:06
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 110582
• GENRE: Drama, historical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; World War II - Pacific campaign; Miniseries
• SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2010
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Steven Spielberg … Executive Producer
• Tom Hanks … Executive Producer
• Gary Goetzman … Executive Producer
• Eugene Kelly … Co-Executive Producer
• Bruce C. McKenna … Co-Executive Producer
• Graham Yost … Co-Executive Producer
• Tony To … Co-Executive Producer
• Tim Van Patten … Supervising Producer
• Cherylanne Martin … Producer
• Todd London … Producer
• Steven Shareshian … Producer
• Robert Schenkkan … Co-Producer
• Miura Kite … Co-Producer
• Kirk Saduski … Co-Producer
• George Pelecanos … Co-Producer, Writer
• Michelle Ashford … Co-Producer, Writer
• Jonathan Brytus … Associate Producer
• Jennifer Jackson … Associate Producer
• April Nocifora … Associate Producer
• Tom Clary … Visual Effects Producer
• Ineke Majoor … Visual Effects Producer
• David Taritero … Visual Effects Producer
• Christina Graff … Visual Effects Producer
• Jeremy Podeswa … Director
• Robert Leckie … Based on the book by
• Eugene B. Sledge … Based on the book by
• Chuck Tatum … Based on the book by
• Hans Zimmer … Music by
• Blake Neely … Music by
• Geoff Zanelli … Music by
• James Badge Dale … Cast, PFC Robert Leckie
• Joe Mazzello … Cast, Pvt. Eugene Sledge
• Jon Seda … Cast, Sgt. John Basilone
• Joshua Bitton … Cast, Sgt. J.P. Morgan
• Tom Budge … Cast, PFC Ronnie Gibson
• Josh Helman … Cast, PFC Lew "Chuckler" Juergens
• Ashton Holmes … Cast, PFC Sidney Phillips
• Toby Leonard Moore … Cast, Sgt. Stone
• Henry Nixon … Cast, 2nd Lt. Hugh Corrigan
• Keith Nobbs … Cast, PFC Wilbur "Runner" Conley
• Jacob Pitts … Cast, PFC Bill "Hoosier" Smith
• William Sadler … Cast, Lt Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller
• Zoe Carides … Cast, Mama Karamanlis
• Nick Farnell … Cast, Thomas
• Alex Ferguson … Cast, Boy on Bike
• Reg Gorman … Cast, Elderly Man on Trolley
• Bill Hunter … Cast, James
• Anna Jennings-Edquist … Cast, Girl in Bar
• Samuel Johnson … Cast, Adam
• Eve Lazzaro … Cast, Isabel
• Stephen Leeder … Cast, Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift
• Amy Lehpamer … Cast, Well Wisher at Docks
• Isabel Lucas … Cast, Gwen
• Cassandra McGrath … Cast, Helen
• Simon Mallory … Cast, M.P. in Park
• Penny McNamee … Cast, Hope
• Tony Nikolakopoulos … Cast, Baba Karamanlis
• Matthew Robinson … Cast, M.P. in Bar
• Claire Van Der Boom … Cast, Stella