robert-temple-1 Samuel Fuller had fought in the Second World War and put his field experience to good use in directing this low budget film set in Korea during the Korean War. The story is simple. A major general in charge of an American division is forced to order a tactical retreat of his division across the only existing bridge over a major river, which he will then blow up behind him. In order to avoid the enemy massacring his 15,000 troops as they slowly make their way across that choke-point, the general decides to leave a small platoon of 48 soldiers behind, commanded only by a lieutenant, to make a lot of noise and fire a lot of weapons so that the enemy will not know for some time that the division has pulled out. This platoon, known as a 'rear guard', will thus buy time for the division, and then they can follow after a certain number of days, if they can. The action is set in the snow-covered and freezing mountain environment of that terrible war. (A friend who fought in it told me the worst thing was the cold, far worse than the fighting.) The action of the film is thus circumscribed within this narrow story, in a small mountain pass where 48 men face an entire enemy division complete with artillery. Richard Basehart plays a corporal who, as fourth in line of command, ends up becoming the commander of the platoon when the three men outranking him are all killed. He has an inner struggle about responsibility, and that part of the film is a psychological profile of a man who fears command and also cannot bring himself to fire a gun at another human being. So Fuller is driving home some important truths about what war really involves, namely killing people (a point often forgotten by politicians in their bubbles!) There is a tense scene where Basehart has to walk into a minefield to rescue someone, trying to feel gently through the snow with his boots where the mines might be. (The medic who had proceeded him in this effort had already been blown up by a mine.) I had a friend named Michael Scott who during the Second World War went into a minefield to save his friend Carlos Blacker, and lost an eye, so I have heard some first-hand accounts of this tricky subject. Early on in the film, when the enemy are firing artillery at the platoon, they blast away at a cliff and a rock-fall reveals a handy cave, in which the platoon is able to shelter from the cannon fire. I winced as I saw the soldiers knocking the stalagtites down inside the cave, despite one of the soldiers saying it had taken 2000 years for them to form. I know it was only a set, but the idea of damaged stalagtites offends my geological sense of the proprieties. This film was 'suggested by' a novel by the British author John Brophy. Brophy was from Liverpool, who also wrote a novel and screenplay for the film entitled WATERFRONT (1950), which tells a tragic tale of the Liverpool slums, from which Brophy presumably came himself. There is some good acting and a lot of grit in this simple war film, which concentrates on this small body of men and their struggle against the odds. The film has been restored and included in the 'Maters of Cinema' series on Blu-Ray, as part of the current revival of the films of Samuel Fuller, whose PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953) is probably his best known film. I need hardly point out that 'fixed bayonets' refers to the time when close combat is at hand, and soldiers have to fix bayonets to the ends of their rifles to defend themselves against the enemy, as firing is no longer possible because the enemy is only a few feet away. Bayonet fighting is probably every soldier's worst nightmare, and it is not much different from what warfare was like a thousand years ago, i.e., two men struggling against each other to the death with only sharp blades to decide who lives and who dies. Makes you want to join the army, doesn't it?

chaos-rampant Fixed Bayonets completes director Samuel Fuller's one-two of 1951 movies about the Korean War, the other being the equally (maybe even slightly better) gritty and gripping The Steel Helmet. For those unfamiliar with Fuller's style, let's just say it is as far removed as possible from what Hollywood passes for war movies the past 20 years. No sentimentality and schmaltz here, just a straight-forward and fine-tuned soldier movie, from the boys, for the boys.Fuller, a war veteran himself, takes a no-frills, realistic approach. With a tight script that weaves themes of courage and confronting one's fears into superb suspense and action scenes that have stood the test of time admirably, Fixed Bayonets does exactly what it says on the cover. The miniature work is decent enough and the studio backlot that passes for the Korean mountains completes the illusion without distractions. It's still a low-budget b-movie but it's holding well at the seams. The acting is all-around solid with Gene Evans once again stealing the show as the gruffy, no-nonsense Sgt. Rock.Having worked as a journalist for New York newspapers in his younger years, Fuller understands the importance of story above all. Sure, he's not exactly the epitome of subtle - the inner monologues for example should have been avoided altogether. But I'm willing to ignore that because his movies have a sense of urgency and conviction that is hard to find: he's a man with a story to tell, he grabs you by the shoulder and says "this is how it happened, now watch this". And "this" is not about the politics or dramatization of war but war itself, men killing other men in some snowy hills in the middle of nowhere.

ma-cortes This Korean war(1951-1953) drama is the fare of American GIs in Korea early 1951 and stands as one of the best warlike film . A band of Chinese troops follows a soldiers group posing as a regiment. Then, they take refuge into a cave stronghold but the group is besieged. They simply do their best to survive a terrifying situation. But the superiors are murdered and the corporal Demmo takes command.The film is dedicated to the queen of battles-the United States Infantry. The producers give grateful thanks to the Department of the Army for its encouragement , advice and active cooperation in the preparation and production of this picture. The film is based on true events, a Chinese communist offensive formed by 350.000 soldiers who vanquished 8º Army commanded by Ridgway and withdraw across southern. Posteriorly, American Army and UN multi-national troops undergo a contra-offensive and retrieve lost territory until 38 parallel.This is a conventional story bolstered considerably by director Fuller's flair for warlike drama and action. Dark and thoughtful and hurriedly made, the movie gains strength as it goes on, and shows a tremendous grasp of the tale as an unit. Excellent performance by male leads, boasting and most restrained acting by Richard Basehart as the corporal taking the command responsibility. Top-notch Gene Evans as brave sergeant and excellent secondaries, Craig Hill, Skip Homeier, Michael O'Shea and appearance an uncredited James Dean. Samuel Fuller's most fluid and strongest film-making lies in his war pictures from ¨Steel helmet,Fixed bayonets, Merril's marauders, Hell and high water, and specially : Big red one¨ all are tremendously exciting and stirring. Rating : Better than average. Well worth watching.

info-13518 I don't think the number of blunders militarily and strategically contained in this turkey can be beaten. Everything in this mess was done on the cheap and made soldiers look really stupid. Examples: at the start the 2-star General is given strategic advice by a Lieutenant and accepts it unquestionably. The map used by the Lt. shows enemy positions but they apparently have only a single narrow valley to use in advancing on the battalion (even though the map showed a dozen more). The rear guard takes up position from which they are clearly spotted by the enemy and exposed. They pound our heroes from high ground but this superior fire power makes little difference. An single enemy tank advances near the end (at the beginning referred to as armored division), proceeded by a solitary infantry point (!) who moves extremely slowly without cover scouting the area, then waives the tank on when he deems it save to proceed - a most bizarre scene. The soldiers take cover in a cave. All around them is ice and deep snow but in the cave not a yard from the entrance is a deep puddle through which they all wade repeatedly - their feet would last mere minutes before they freeze off. Later the survivors wade pathetically slowly and chest high through a river to return to their unit. Remember it is deep winter and the ground is frozen. Yeah right!And on and on it goes. They yell commands to positions on higher ground, they lay mines near their own position and warn each other not to trample on them (!) At the start, credit is given to some soldier who had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Was he blind, or did Director Fuller just ignore him?Truly the most inept soldiers I've ever seen. One of them pokes around in his own wounded leg with a bayonet and eventually pulls out a piece of shrapnel, without a wince or a moan. He announces that that should qualify him as a surgeon. Now that was funny.