“Take
the High Ground!” is set in the Korean War, but it stays on the home front to
cover only training. It was directed by
Richard Brooks (“Battle Circus”) and released in 1953. It was shot at Fort Bliss with Army
cooperation after the Marines backed out due to the feeling that it showed
their training program in a bad light.
The main character is Sgt. Ryan
(Richard Widmark) who was a Korean War hero, but is chafing as a drill
instructor at Fort Bliss in 1953. He
greets a new crop of recruits and we scoot to the edge of our seats
anticipating the reaming they are about to get, especially since there is a
wisecracking college cheerleader and a hick.
Yawn, Ryan is no worse than your grumpy grandpa.
In a trip to a Mexican border
town to teach Sunday school or get rollicking drunk, Ryan meets a girl named
Julie (Elaine Stewart). She is buying
drinks for four of the recruits at a bar.
Wait, isn’t that backwards? The
sappy music suggests romance will bloom between Ryan and this prize catch. Julie had left her soldier husband before he
got shipped out to inevitable death in Korea.
She has a rep.
The movie covers a lot of
training scenarios. We get the
obligatory obstacle course, but we also get the rare gas mask drill. Nice touch.
The life ammo drill is well done.
Ryan: “This is my rifle and not
your gun; it’s made for shooting and not for fun.” (This is 1953 and not 1987; it's said by Ryan
and not by Hartman). Another way to
realize you are not watching “Full Metal Jacket” is a barracks scene where the
recruits actually have a pillow fight that is choreographed like a high school
production of “Grease”. Ryan walks in
and does not go ballistic or throw up.
A major plot arc is the conflict
between Ryan and his partner Sgt. Holt (Karl Malden). Holt thinks Ryn is too hard on the men. He did not let the men have cookies after the
pillow fight. There is also a love
triangle dynamic involving Julie. A
potential tryst to the blinking of a street sign does not go well when Ryan
brings up the tramp issue. It’s a love /
loathe relationship.
Whether it’s a right cross from
Holt or guilt feelings about Julie, Ryan seems to be mellowing and when one of
the recruits goes AWOL, he uses compassion to bring him back into the
fold. When he hears Julie is leaving
town, he rushes to the train station and proposes. She turns him down because he’s married to
the Army (like Sgt. Stryker). Besides,
he already has Holt. Bros before hos, as
they used to say in 1953.
Take a trip back in time with
this movie. In 1953 Hollywood, Ryan is
supposed to be a horse’s ass who is a martinet.
One soldier goes to the Chaplain to complain about how horrible Ryan
is. You can hear the film’s technical
adviser laughing in the background.
Here’s one difference between PG and R when it comes to war movies, R
allows you to be more realistic. Who
should be the poster boy for Drill Instructors – Ryan or Hartman? I theorize that the movie was meant to
reassure American mothers that if Ryan was the worst their boys would face at
boot camp, it was okay to give their sons to the Army. The Marines must
have anticipated the howls of laughter from its veterans if the movie had been
about Marine training.
The plot does have some
interesting twists. The guy does not get
the girl. However, the subplot of
differences in philosophy between Ryan and Holt is undeveloped. The love triangle does not work. The acting by Widmark and Malden is good, of
course. Elaine Stewart is in over her
head. Russ Tamblyn was cast as a recruit
and then gets to show off his gymnastics skills and provide comic relief. I wanted to slap him. He would have been eaten alive by a real DI. The dialogue is inconsistent. Widmark gets some snappy lines, but he also
has to utter some sappy crap that makes you feel sorry for him. I do not like feeling sorry for Richard F’in
Widmark! The soldier talk is G-rated and
lame. The best thing about the film is
it is a good tutorial about basic training activities.
Forgotten gem? Forgotten yes, gem no. It can be entertaining if you have seen “Full
Metal Jacket”. You will spend a good bit
of the time shaking your head and grinning.
Did I mention there is a song about Julie in the movie?
grade = C+
Gah, it sounds horrible. I usually like Richard Widmark, but I think I will give this a miss.
ReplyDeleteI think you have seen much worse Korean War movies. If you treat it as a parody of Full Metal Jacket, you might get some laughs.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know (until reading this post ) that the script was originally about Marine Corps boot camp, but was changed to Army basic training after the USMC brass backed out. (Clint Eastwood's "Heartbreak Ridge" went the opposite route.) I don't really see what their objection was; the training in this movie doesn't look any more brutal than in Jack Webb's "The D. I.," which was made just a few years later with the Corps' full cooperation.
ReplyDeleteI cannot provide details on why the Marines turned it down. I do know that through the years all the services have been very protective of their images. In many cases ridiculously so. Insisting the servicemen not swear, for instance. The Marines were the first to lighten up so it is a bit surprising they turned down the script, especially since it would seem to have dliuted the boot camp abuses. Knowing how uptight the Pentagon was about everything, the Marines may have been reacting to the character of Juie and the fact that a DI would be attracted to her. This is laughable today, but remember this was the early 50s. My theory is the Army was just more desperate for some positive coverage that might enhance recruitment.
ReplyDeleteI see you're covering some forgotten war movie ground here as well.
ReplyDeleteMight still be a bit better than the movie Marine Raiders I reviewed but not one I'd rush to watch.
Although I have not seen Marine Raiders, I'm sure this is better. Mainly because this movie has Richard Widmark. I'm a big fan.
ReplyDelete