Directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by John Crawford and Edmund Penney, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is the story of a prospector trying to make a life for himself in the Arizona desert with the aid of a prostitute as he deals with the West starting to change in the final years of the frontier. The film marks a change of pace for Peckinpah in the western genre as he goes for a character study into a man trying to salvage an element of the Wild West in its final moments. Starring Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, L.Q. Jones, Strother Martin, and David Warner. The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a witty yet touching film from Sam Peckinpah.
Set in the late 19th Century, the film is about a man who finds water in an Arizona desert after being left for dead by criminals who betrayed him as he would create a watering hole between two towns as a way to make money but also live his life that he would share briefly with a prostitute. It’s a film that is about a man who would become a prospector where he hopes to succeed despite his lack of education while being something that matters for the West where he would find this watering hole by accident and do something for travelers. Along the way, he would later encounter the modern world and changing times as he and those who were part of the Wild West would be taken aback by. The film’s screenplay doesn’t just explore the journey that Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) would take but also the man himself. Hogue is quite stubborn in his ways as he is someone that is from the Wild West and has old ideas about the ways of the world.
The script also has Hogue falling for this prostitute in Hildy (Stella Stevens) who also lives by her own code yet wants to become rich to go to San Francisco and live the good life. While Hogue understands what Hildy wants, he is reluctant to let her go once she would stay at his watering hole for a while where the two have this very unique relationship. Another friendship that Hogue would have is with a preacher in Joshua (David Warner) whom he meets early in the film as Joshua is a very unconventional character that has a thirst for emotionally-vulnerable women but is also a man that is willing to help despite his quirks. The script does have a structure as it relates to Hogue’s attempt to create a watering hole between towns as much of the first half is about that where he would succeed. In the third act where it has been a few years since he had founded the watering hole, there is that air of revenge as it relates to the men that left him for dead but also an encounter with the modern world that he as well as those he know are baffled by.
Sam Peckinpah’s direction has an air of style where it has a few violent moments but it is mostly restrained as he goes for something that is more intimate not just visually but also tonally. While it opens with this stylish sequence of Hogue being betrayed and stranded all alone in a desert, it is among some of the moments in the film where Peckinpah would go into style as well as some of the funny moments with some fast-motion sequences that is about humor. Peckinpah’s usage of the wide shots to capture much of the scenery shot on location in Nevada with the town scenes shot in Arizona. Peckinpah’s usage of medium shots and close-ups as it plays into some of the people that Hogue befriends as well as some of these moments that play into the world that he is creating. Even in a moment where Joshua would comfort a young woman in a very sexual way as Peckinpah makes no qualms about how women are treated where he would shoot Hogue staring at Hildy’s cleavage. It’s all part of Peckinpah’s sense of fun while balancing it with moments that are serious such as some of the events in the third act as it relates to the modern world that Hogue would encounter. It’s ending isn’t about loss but the end of an era that these characters hold so dearly about as the 20th Century and everything else about it would emerge. Overall, Peckinpah creates a light-hearted yet compelling film about a prospector’s life and his attempt to do something in the Wild West.
Cinematographer Lucien Ballard does excellent work with the cinematography from the naturalistic look of many of the scenes set in the day as well as some lighting for scenes set in the interior and exterior at night. Editors Lou Lombardo and Frank Santillo do amazing as it has some stylish cutting with its fast-motion and a few slow-motion cuts as well as some jump-cuts and stylish usage of dissolves. Art director Leroy Coleman and set decorator Jack Mills do brilliant work with the set design from the look of the home and stop that Hogue would live and run as well as the look of the town. The sound work of Don Rush is terrific as it play into some of the natural elements of the location along with scenes that are quite playful in its usage of sound effects. The film’s music by Jerry Goldsmith and lyricist Richard Gillis is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral textures with folk-based instruments to play into the feel of the West with some songs that would be themes for its three central characters as they are catchy but also helped tell the story.
The film’s marvelous cast includes some notable small roles from James Anderson as a local preacher, Susan O’Connell as a grieving woman that Joshua would comfort, Peter Whitney as a bank president who would give Hogue money for the business, R.G. Armstrong as a land prospector who turns down Hogue over the land that Hogue had bought, and Gene Evans as a husband who is angry over Joshua and his antics. Slim Pickens is superb as the stagecoach driver Ben Fairchild as someone who does business with Hogue as well as be a friend of him as he would often stop at his home. Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones are fantastic as Hogue’s former crime partners in Bowen and Taggart, respectively, with Martin as the more cowardly of the two and Jones as the one who is conniving and greedy.
David Warner is excellent as Reverend Joshua as a preacher who would help Hogue build his home and business as well as be this eccentric man of God who has a weakness for vulnerable women as it’s a very complex yet witty performance. Stella Stevens is amazing as Hildy as this prostitute who takes a liking to Hogue for who he is while helping him run his business briefly as she would fall for him but also deal with his stubbornness. Finally, there’s Jason Robards in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as this man who is left for dead in the desert as he would discover an oasis where he would use to become a prospector as he does whatever he can to make it succeed as it’s Robards in one of his finest performances.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue is an incredible film from Sam Peckinpah that features great performances from Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, and David Warner. While it’s a different kind of western of sorts from Peckinpah, the film is still an engaging as well as entertaining that plays into Peckinpah’s ideas of the West as well as creating something that is sensitive and funny. In the end, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a spectacular film from Sam Peckinpah.
Sam Peckinpah Films: The Deadly Companions - Ride the High Country - Major Dundee - Noon Wine - The Wild Bunch - Straw Dogs - Junior Bonner - The Getaway - Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - The Killer Elite - Cross of Iron - Convoy - The Osterman Weekend - The Auteurs #62: Sam Peckinpah
© thevoid99 2016
Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, Shock Corridor is the story of a journalist who enters a mental hospital in hopes to get a story about an unsolved murder. The film is an exploration into a man’s desire to become great only to succumb to madness during his stay at a mental hospital. Starring Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, and James Best. Shock Corridor is an intense yet harrowing film from Samuel Fuller.
A journalist named Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) wants to report an unsolved murder at a mental hospital in which he hopes the story would give him the Pulitzer Prize. While his editor Swanson (Bill Zuckert) is reluctant to let Barrett do this, he gives Barrett the go-ahead claiming that Barrett is having an incestuous relationship with his sister. Barrett’s girlfriend Cathy (Constance Towers) reluctantly has him committed by pretending to be his sister as Barrett goes on the search to find out who killed a man named Sloan. Trying to befriend three witnesses in Stuart (James Best), an African-American named Trent (Hari Rhodes), and a former doctor named Boden (Gene Evans). Barrett tries to get answers but as his time at the hospital increases, he starts to fall apart as the voices in his head along with images start to take its toll. Though he eventually finds out the truth, the big question for everyone close to him is at what cost.
What happens when a man is willing to go way into deep to get what he wants just for the sake of a prize? That is the premise of a film that explore a man’s desire to gain greatness only at the expense of himself as he would start to crumble emotionally and mentally. Even as his girlfriend begins to worry as she is the one who is completely against this stunt where she is forced to play along as she would also fall apart. Once the story progresses as the man befriends three very different witnesses, his search for the mystery of who killed a man named Sloan starts to get more difficult as he would have to endure all sorts of things including shock treatment.
Samuel Fuller’s screenplay doesn’t have a lot of plot but does manage to showcase a sense of realism of what goes on in a mental hospital. Particularly as it is shown from a man who enters a world that is very unique to him and has no idea what’s in store for him. He would encounters characters who definitely seem to have lost some aspect of reality yet are able to live in a world that can contain them. For Johnny Barrett, he is this outsider that finds himself being surrounded by these strange characters as he eventually starts to become more and more insane where he would eventually make everyone else around seem a bit more normal. Particularly as Fuller is suggesting that what’s in the hospital is really a reflection of what is happening at the world as there’s lots of things that is happening that mirrors what is going on during the early 1960s.
Fuller’s direction is truly mesmerizing for the way he explores the world of the mental hospital as if he portrays it in a noir-like tone. While Fuller maintains something has an air of realism, he also creates something is very surreal such as a dream sequence where Johnny dreams about Cathy as she’s dancing seductively as if she’s going to cheat on him. Fuller’s sense of framing of the way he shoots the hallway showcases a world where only Johnny is seemingly out of step with everyone else. Particularly as Fuller uses a lot of voiceover narration to explain everything Johnny is thinking about where it starts to get emotional as if Johnny is starting to lose a semblance of his sanity. Through the three witnesses he talks to, there’s always something that gets him closer to what he can get yet they revert back to their insane selves.
By the time it reaches third act, Johnny struggles to speak out as his voiceover does all of the talking. In a moment where Cathy visits him as she tries to kiss him, he starts to lose control as if she’s the insane one. Fuller would create more chilling scenes with the lighting set-ups and strange inserts of colored images, that were shot by Fuller, to establish the surrealism the characters are thinking about. The framing would have more hypnotic moments to help further Johnny’s insanity as it includes a truly unforgettable scene that plays to his descent. Overall, Fuller creates a truly terrifying yet evocative film that explores the world of ambition and madness.
Cinematographer Stanley Cortez does amazing work with the black-and-white photography to maintain an air of a noir in its look with its shadows and some nighttime interior settings to help maintain a dark mood for the film. Editor Jerome Thoms does excellent work with the editing to create an array of rhythmic cuttings to play out Johnny‘s emotion during his descent to madness as well as more slower cuts in the conversation scenes. Art director Eugene Lourie and set decorator Charles S. Thompson do wonderful work with the look of the mental hospital including the room where the nymphomaniacs stay in that is filled with strange drawings.
Costumer Einhar H. Bourman does nice work with the costumes such as the clothes that Cathy wears including the one she wears for her striptease shows. Choreographer John Gregory does terrific work with the choreography of Cathy‘s striptease to play out the kind of seduction that Johnny sees in his head. The sound effects of Gordon Zahler is superb for the atmosphere it creates in some of the more chilling scenes such as the moments in the dance hall and at the kitchen. The music by Paul Dunlap is great for its sense of bombast and orchestral swell to play out the intensity of the drama that occurs throughout the film.
The film’s ensemble cast is brilliant as it features some notable small roles from Philip Ahn as the doctor who interviews Johnny to prepare him for his plan, Bill Zuckert as Johnny’s editor, John Matthews as the doctor in the hospital, and Chuck Roberson as the orderly Wilkes. Hari Rhodes is great as the African-American patient Trent who believes he’s a white man and a member of the Ku Klux Klan while James Best is terrific as Stuart who believes he’s a member of the Confederate army. Gene Evans is amazing in a low-key yet charismatic role as a former scientist turned artist named Boden who has the mind of a child but the art skills of an adult. Constance Towers is wonderful as Johnny’s girlfriend Cathy who deals with what Johnny is going through as she believes that he’s losing a grip of reality. Finally, there’s Peter Breck in a mesmerizing yet eerie performance as Johnny Barrett as he plays a man bent on ambition only to succumb to craziness through his voiceovers as he starts to go out of control in all aspects as it’s really a performance full of terror.
Shock Corridor is an incredible film from Samuel Fuller that features top-notch performances from Peter Breck and Constance Towers. The film is truly one of Fuller’s great works for the way it explores odd worlds that seems much more realistic than the real world as well as the fallacy of ambition. It’s also a film that showcases a man’s descent into madness in gripping detail that is filled with images that are truly startling. In the end, Shock Corridor is a triumphant film from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill‘s Marauders - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2012
Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, Park Row is the story of a newspaperman who creates his own newspaper that will tell the truth as he faces hostile competition from a more revered competitor. The film explores the world of journalism in the late 1880s where it goes through a series of changes prompting a journalist to do what he feels is right. Starring Gene Evans, Mary Welch, Bela Kovacs, and Herbert Heyes. Park Row is compelling drama from Samuel Fuller.
After being fired from The Star over his ideals for speaking out the truth instead of sensationalizing a story, Phineas Mitchell (Gene Evans) contemplates about forming his own newspaper that can feature stories that matter and give people a real reason too read the truth. While several other employees from The Star are fired for supporting Mitchell’s methods, they all want to help Mitchell with forming a paper that can compete with the star but there’s no money. An acquaintance in Charles A. Leach (Forrest Taylor) makes an offer that Mitchell couldn’t refuse as Leach owns a printing press while wanting Mitchell to be the lead editor for the paper. Mitchell accepts as he and his friends create The Globe where their first major story involves a man named Steve Brodie (George O’Hanlon) jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge and survives.
Brodie’s jump becomes a major headline in The Globe as it catches the attention of The Star and its young publisher Charity Hackett (Mary Welch) who realizes how well The Globe is doing on its first day. With The Globe also having a new machine in Linotype machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler (Bela Kovacs) as Hackett tries to recruit him. Instead, Mergenthaler becomes loyal to The Globe as the paper starts to create a fund to build a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. After Hackett tries to make a proposition to Mitchell about a merger, he declines forcing Hackett to send her second-in-command Wiley (Hal K. Dawson) to deal with The Globe. What would happen would send The Globe in trouble over forged receipts and other things as it leads to all sorts trouble for Mitchell and the paper. It would be veteran journalist Josiah Davenport (Herbert Heyes) who would provide Mitchell the reasons to stick to his ideals as Mitchell would fight to do what is right for the world of journalism.
The film is essentially the story of a journalist who tries to fight for the right reasons to be a journalist as he forms his own newspaper as a way to combat the more sensational journalism of a more prestigious rival. It is a film about ideals where this man is someone who believes that newspaper have the right to tell the truth and mean something to people instead of doing something that embellishes the truth just to sell newspapers. Samuel Fuller’s screenplay is about a man with an idealist attitude about what he feels a newspaper should be but he’s facing a period in the late 1880s where there’s a lot of newspapers and they’re all competing with one another to see who can sell more. His opponent is a beautiful young publisher who is more concerned with selling newspapers at any cost where she eventually realizes how much this man is a major threat to her paper. There’s not much plot in the script as it is essentially about characters and ideas that drive a newspaper into being important and provide what people needed to read.
Fuller’s direction is quite engaging for the way he recreates 1880s New York City in Park Row where it is about this very crazy world where there’s a lot of newspapers and journalists often meet at a saloon. Fuller creates lots of dolly shots to capture the world where he always have the camera moving in this locations while using more hand-held cameras to capture the chaos that goes on in the newspaper. Fuller also uses some very interesting compositions to capture the drama and suspense that occurs where he would have scenes that would underplay the moment though there’s a few moments where Fuller will delve into melodrama that doesn’t really work. Still, Fuller is interested in how important the newspaper can be where he does give it a fitting ending to display its power. Overall, Fuller creates a truly captivating film about the world of journalism.
Cinematographer Jack Russell does excellent work with the black-and-white photography to create a mood for some scenes in the printing press at night to display Mitchell‘s mood. Editor Philip Cahn does terrific work with the editing to create an array of style from rhythmic buts to transitional dissolves and fade-outs to help move the story at a brisk pace. Production designer Theobold Holsopple and set decorator Ray Robinson do fantastic work with the set pieces to recreate 1880s New York City with its statues, printing press, and the saloon many of the characters socialize at.
Wardrobe supervisor Jack Miller does wonderful work with the period costumes of the time including the lavish dresses worn by Charity Hackett. Sound recorder Eddie Borchell does nice work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the saloon as well as the sparse chaos that occurs in the printing press. The film’s music by Paul Dunlap is superb for its orchestral-driven score that plays up the intensity of the drama with some bombast though there’s a few pieces that swells up the drama that doesn’t really work.
The film’s cast is great as it features a wonderful collective of actors that includes Dee Pollack as the paperboy Rusty, Don Orlando as the type-setter Mr. Angelo, Tina Pine as the barmaid Jenny, J.M. Kerrigan as her journalist father, Stuart Randall as Hackett’s editor Spiro, Forrest Taylor as Mitchell’s partner Charles A. Leach, Hal K. Dawson as Hackett’s second-in-command Wiley, and Herbert Heyes as the idealistic yet old-school journalist Josiah Davenport. Bela Kovacs is excellent as the Linotype inventor Ottmar Mergenthaler who is amazed by Mitchell’s determination as he becomes loyal to Mitchell. Mary Welch is terrific as the opportunistic publisher Charity Hackett who tries to deal with Mitchell’s paper only to realize that her tactics have her looking real bad in the world of journalism. Finally, there’s Gene Evans in a great performance as Phineas Mitchell as a man who has very old-school ideas about the newspaper but also new ideas that he feels could help the world of journalism as it’s definitely a very broad performance from Evans.
Park Row is a stellar and sublime film from Samuel Fuller that features remarkable performance from Fuller regular Gene Evans. The film is definitely an intriguing piece into the world of journalism as well as the ideals people hold to maintain its dignity. In the end, Park Row is a superb drama from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Fixed Bayonets! - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill’s Marauders - Shock Corridor - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2012
Based on the novel by John Brophy, Fixed Bayonets! is the story of a 48-man platoon trying to defend a choke point leading to all sorts of trouble as a corporal tries to deal with the fact that he might lead the platoon. Written for the screen and directed by Samuel Fuller, the film is about a group of soldiers trying to survive in the cold mountains as they fight against the North Koreans. Starring Gene Evans, Richard Basehart, Michael O’Shea, Richard Hylton, Skip Homeier, and, in his film debut, James Dean. Fixed Bayonets! is a riveting yet chilling film from Samuel Fuller.
A platoon led by a colonel trying to defend a choke point so that a group of troops can withdraw from an overexposed bridge. Leading the pack is a lieutenant (Glen Corbett) as he has soldiers positioned over parts of the mountain to fight off against the North Koreans while Corporal Denno (Richard Basehart) is worried about losing his superiors as he is afraid to shoot and lead the platoon. When trouble arises, Denno has to rely on the experience of Sgt. Rock (Gene Evans) who knows a lot about combat and is aware of what the North Koreans can do. With the platoon hiding in a cave inside the mountains and their numbers dwindling, it’s up to Denno to lead a final assault on a tank and whatever North Koreans are left.
The film is essentially a survival story that revolves around a platoon during a cold region in the Korean mountains as they fight off against the North Koreans. Yet, trouble ensues when soldiers are getting killed as some try to survive and save others while some deal with other things like nature and fear. Leading all of this is a corporal who is groomed to be an officer but lacks any real experience fighting on the ground as he has a hard time about killing a man as he turns to a no-nonsense sergeant who has experienced war. Once the battle commences, it’s not just trying to kill as many soldiers but also outsmarting them with tricks and psychology. Though these tactics would work, it would only buy them little time as these men know that they have to do whatever to survive.
Samuel Fuller’s screenplay is very engaging for the way he captures the sense of fear in battle but also the sense of urgency that men have to do when they’re fighting for their life. Fuller also create scenes where the men take a break from fighting as they’re in a cave trying to figure out how to survive as they look towards Sgt. Rock for guidance as he’s the one man that seems to know a lot about war. Among them is Cpl. Denno who has a hard time dealing with the responsibility he has to carry in case something goes wrong where he would eventually realizes that he has to step up and lead whatever is left of his platoon.
Fuller’s direction is definitely mesmerizing for the way he creates the tense atmosphere of war where it is about strategy and the ability to outwit the enemy. Still, there is that element of danger where the enemy could be themselves in a very chilling scene involving a soldier trying to save another by walking on landmines. Fuller also creates some very broad scenes to establish the locations these characters are in where the mountains definitely add to the danger these men are in as some are in the caves because a few are injured or are waiting for the enemy to come. Eventually, it comes down to the climatic battle where a lot is on the line and the men have to do whatever it takes to survive. Through some eerie close-ups and wide shots, Fuller maintains that sense of terror in what these men have to go through. Overall, Fuller creates a truly engrossing and thrilling film about survival in the heat of battle.
Cinematographer Lucien Ballard does excellent work with the black-and-white photography to capture the scale of the locations as well as the intimacy inside the caves where the men are hiding along with wonderful lighting schemes for the exterior scenes at night. Editor Nick DeMaggio does brilliant work with the editing by creating swift, rhythmic cuts for some of the film‘s fighting scenes along with more methodical cuts in the suspenseful moments. Art directors Lyle Wheeler and George Patrick, along with set decorators Thomas Little and Fred J. Rode, do amazing work with the look of the cave as well as the mountains where the bulk of the film takes place.
Wardrobe supervisor Charles LeMaire does nice work with the look of the uniforms and helmets as well as the clothes the North Koreans wear. The sound work of Eugene Grossman and Harry M. Leonard is terrific for the atmosphere that occurs in the film along with the great scene involving the North Korean blaring trumpets to get the men out of the caves and attack as part of psychological warfare. The film’s music by Roy Webb is superb for its orchestral score that underplays the suspense and action without going into elements of bombast or swelling themes to make things grander.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast features some notable small roles from Skip Homeier as naïve but helpful Whitey, Henry Kulky as the gruff artillery man Vogl, James Dean in a small role as Doggie, Richard Hylton as scared medic John Wheeler, Michael O’Shea as the determined Sgt. Lonergan, and Glen Corbett as the brave Lieutenant. Gene Evans is great as the experienced Sgt. Rock who tries to make sure everyone is in check while aware of what the enemy is capable of doing. Finally, there’s Richard Basehart in a remarkable performance as Corporal Denno who deals with his own uncertainty in his role as a superior as he’s forced to make decisions that could help or harm his platoon.
Fixed Bayonets! is an excellent film from Samuel Fuller that features terrific performances from Richard Basehart and Gene Evans. It’s definitely a war film that captures the sense of fear and uncertainty in battle as well as the psychology of war. It’s also a film that reveals soldiers as real men who are determined to survive and do whatever it takes to help one another no matter how scared they are. In the end, Fixed Bayonets! is a gripping yet compelling film from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - The Steel Helmet - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill’s Marauders - Shock Corridor - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2012
Written and directed by Samuel Fuller, The Steel Helmet is the story about a group of American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean war. The film is an exploration into the identities of men as they face moral and racial identities in the wake of war. Starring Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards, and Richard Loo. The Steel Helmet is a compelling yet grim war film from Samuel Fuller.
After surviving a massacre, Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans) encounters a young South Korean boy (William Chun) who frees him as he reluctantly takes the boy along to find safety. In the woods, the two later meet an African-American medic named Corporal Thompson (James Edwards) who had fled a POW camp as the three men later meet a unit led by the inexperienced Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie) as they’re trying to find a temple to seek shelter in. Sgt. Zack and the rest of the ragtag unit were able to find the Buddhist temple as they hope to get radio contact with a platoon to pick them up while they all decide to stay at the temple.
Things seem fine until one of the soldiers is found dead as Sgt. Zack and the unit finds a North Korean major (Harold Fong) as they hope to have him as a POW. Suddenly, things get tense when Lt. Driscoll can’t communicate to his superiors while trouble occurs when the unit sees a group of North Koreans coming leading to an all-out battle.
The film is essentially the story of a hardened, cynical sergeant who finds himself in a rag-tag unit filled with different kinds of soldiers as they seek shelter in a Buddhist temple where they deal with a North Korean who tries to press them on their differences. In this unit are a very diverse group of people that includes an African-American medic, a Japanese bazooka operator, a young bald radio operator, a silent soldier, a former conscientious objector, and an inexperienced lieutenant. Also in this group is a young South Korean orphan who joins the unit as he would write prayers to help the soldiers as he tries to befriend Sgt. Zack. Then there is this North Korean major who would try to egg these men over their differences as he hopes to turn them against each other as it definitely raises a lot of questions in this film.
Samuel Fuller’s screenplay doesn’t carry much of a traditional structure as he’s more interested in these men who are a collective of soldiers that are in a war where there’s tension as well as an uncertainty that is happening. Notably as there’s a conflict between Sgt. Zack who fought in World War II and his inexperienced commanding officer Lt. Driscoll over what to do and such. Immediately moral and racial issues happen as both Corporal Thompson and Sgt. Tanaka (Richard Loo) are often questioned by this North Korean about who they are where both do reveal certain prejudices but also an optimism that is a bit unexpected. Still, Fuller is more interested in a lot of the more grim aspects of war such as the fact that people are killed and soldiers will do things that seem immoral. Notably as some of the dialogue contains very startling information about what soldiers do in war.
Fuller’s direction is quite engaging for the way he creates scenes that doesn’t play to any kind of idealism but rather be engrossed in realism. By creating a chilling atmosphere in some scenes at night including an exterior setting in the woods, it is to emphasize that the enemy is out there and finding a safe place isn’t easy. Everyone has to be in their toes and make sure that they don’t get killed by the enemy. Things do cool down in the temple scenes where Fuller definitely creates some mesmerizing shots where it’s a place that is sacred and these men are aware of that. Still, there is that sense of danger that they’re trapped as they have to deal with a North Korean major and later other North Koreans.
The film’s third act not only is very intense as it involves the battle but also some of the events that occur where there’s an air of sentimentality but also a real cynicism that is revealed about the horrors of war. Notably in the battlefield where Fuller creates some amazing dolly shots of North Koreans running into the battleground. The film’s ending is also cynical for the fact that the war is still happening and that these soldiers still have to fight where Fuller doesn’t try to make a grand statement but rather show something that feels very true about war. Overall, Fuller creates an engrossing yet very gritty film about war and the men who fight these wars.
Cinematographer Ernest Miller does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to maintain an unsettling mood for the scenes at night along with some wondrous yet stark imagery in some of its daytime scenes including the climatic battle. Editor Philip Cahn does nice work with the editing to create methodical cuts for its suspenseful moments along with stylish uses of dissolves and wipes for transitions. Art director Theobold Holsopple does brilliant work with the look of the Buddhist temple that the soldiers hide out at. The film’s music by Paul Dunlap is wonderful for its orchestral-driven bombast to capture the intensity of the battle as well as some of the drama that occurs.
The film’s superb ensemble cast includes some noteworthy performances from Sid Melton as the silent soldier Joe, Richard Monahan as the radio operator Pvt. Baldy, Robert Hutton as the low-key but intelligent Pvt. Bronte, and Harold Fong as the North Korean major. Richard Loo is excellent as smart and strategic Sgt. Tanaka while James Edwards is terrific as the more humanistic medic Cpl. Thompson. William Chun is wonderful as the young kid called Short Round who helps out the unit while Steve Brodie is great as the inexperienced leader Lt. Driscoll who often spars with Sgt. Zack. Finally, there’s Gene Evans in an incredible performance as the war-weary Sgt. Zack who deals with all sort of issues as he reveals a lot of harsh truths about war and how it eventually affects those who fight.
The Steel Helmet is a marvelous film from Samuel Fuller that explores the horrors and prejudice that goes on in war. With a great ensemble cast at the helm, it’s a film that truly presents war not as something idealistic nor patriotic for a more grim outlook into what is going on. In the end, The Steel Helmet is extraordinary war film from Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller Films: I Shot Jesse James - The Baron of Arizona - Fixed Bayonets! - Park Row - Pickup on South Street - (Hell and High Water) - House of Bamboo - (China Gate) - Run of the Arrow - Forty Guns - Verboten! - The Crimson Kimono - Underworld U.S.A. - Merrill’s Marauders - Shock Corridor - The Naked Kiss - (Shark!) - (Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street) - The Big Red One - White Dog - (Thieves After Dark) - (Street of No Return) - (The Madonna and the Dragon)
© thevoid99 2012
