MovieChat Forums > The D.I. (1958) Discussion > Who's the more definitive DI? Jack Webb ...

Who's the more definitive DI? Jack Webb or R. Lee Ermey?


Two movies, separated by 30 years and featuring nearly the same character. Who did the better job of portraying a Marine DI - Jack Webb as Gunnery Sgt. Jim Moore, or R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)? Ermey is the real deal, but Webb did such an awesome job 30 years earlier I wonder if Ermey might have been influenced by his performance? Ermey would have been 13 when The D.I. was released in 1957 and he enlisted in the Marines 4 years later.

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Louis Gossett Jr.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

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Ermey, without a doubt; he actually *was* a D.I., so he was *the* expert; had they been contemporaries, Jack Webb would have consulted him before making this film.

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Ermey, of course.

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"Jim Moore" ---

I'd forgotten all about this gem.
The girl is just gorgeous.
Don Dubbins/a Webb favorite plays the recruit.

Fantastic movie. Just incredible. Webb just doesn't give a damn in his productions.

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