wes-connors At Fort Bliss, Texas in 1953, tough-as-nails drill sergeant Richard Widmark (as Thorne Ryan) prepares the usual motley crew of potential soldiers for service, humphing, "You will never make it!" Assistant sergeant Karl Malden (as Laverne Holt) gives Mr. Widmark a knowing look. Probably, he's seen Widmark whip a series of recruits into fighting shape. In fact, the film might even end with a reprise of the opening scene. Beautiful widow Elaine Stewart (as Julie Mollison) provides the star with romantic interest. "Take the High Ground!" covers familiar territory with no imagination. Everyone is competent, with supporting actor Russ Tamblyn (as Paul Jamison) obviously kicking it up a notch.***** Take the High Ground! (10/30/53) Richard Brooks ~ Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Elaine Stewart, Russ Tamblyn

Michael_Elliott Take the High Ground! (1953) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Two years after becoming a hero in Korea, Sgt. Ryan (Richard Widmark) is back in the United States at Ft. Bliss where he must train a new group of men for battle. His partner, Sgt. Holt (Karl Malden) doesn't agree with his over aggressive manor but soon the two men have another battle, a woman (Elaine Stewart) in town. The tough-as-nails drill Sergent is a character we've seen from the early silent days to even in more recent films like AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN. I think each generation has their own films that deal with these characters and they're all ranging in terms of quality. This one here remains entertaining from start to finish even though it offers nothing new or original outside the Korean issue (and each of these films changed that depending on what war the country was in). I think what works best here are the performances by the two leads but you can't help but feel that both were somewhat letdown by the screenplay. The screenplay isn't really bad but at the same time it doesn't try to do anything new with the material. We get the typical love-hate relationship between Widmark and Malden, we get the typical "bad girl" they fall for and even the new recruits are the same type we've seen as far back as Lon Chaney's TELL IT TO THE MARINES. To be fair, you can look at this film and certain points seemed to have inspired AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN as well as Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET but those two films took the basic training concept and did a bit more in terms of story and drama. What really caught me off guard was the direction by Brooks because at times it was rather hard to tell if he was going for comedy or drama. I think this was meant to be a drama as Widmark is constantly overbearing on the men but there's really no soul to anything we're seeing. We see Widmark being way too hard on the guys but for a reason. We see Widmark unhappy with the girl but for a reason. We see all of this stuff, are told the reason for it yet we never really feel it. Widmark turns in a nice performance but I certainly wouldn't rank it among his best. Malden plays the supporting part like no one else in the history of film could. Stewart isn't overly memorable but she's at least easy to look at. Clocking in at 101-minutes, we get pretty much everything you'd expect from a movie like this but one can't help but feel it should have been better.

rogercg1 This is an overlooked military film about basic training during the Korean War. Although it's far less probing and gut-wrenching than "Full Metal Jacket," it's still an enjoyable movie with a stellar performance by Richard Widmark. It's one of his best roles. There are also fine performances by Karl Malden, Carleton Carpenter, Robert Arthur, a very athletic Russ Tamblyn, and Elaine Stewart delivers a poignant and tender portrayal as the troubled Julie (God, she is beautiful here!)Most of the scenes were shot at Fort Bliss, Texas. Yes, it's formula in many ways, but what makes it work is Widmark, surely one of the most underrated actors ever in the movies. He died in 2008 at the age of 93. For years, friends in the Motion Picture Academy tried to get him an honorary Oscar, but the votes were never there. So, watch "Take the High Ground" for Widmark. He'll evoke sympathy and you'll care about him. Oh,by the way,few actors have ever offered so many variations of a simple smile. You'll see them on display here. Young actors take note.

bkoganbing In reviewing this film I can only go by my experiences as a weekend warrior doing my basic training in July, August, and September of 1971 in that garden spot of the earth, Fort Polk, Louisiana. Take the High Ground was not anything like I remember basic training.But one has to remember at the time this was post Korea which ended in a stalemate, but it was a conventional war as we knew them. It was not Vietnam, a jungle guerrilla war where we kept pouring draftees into an endless pit. The draft at that time was an unwelcome, but accepted as still necessary for the country's defense.Richard Widmark is a veteran of Korea now assigned state side to train the troops to go overseas. The film is about one of his training cycles and the men of the platoon he has to train. They're the usual kind you would find in just about any war film from the previous decade. One thing I will praise Take The High Ground for is the fact that MGM recognized our army was now an integrated one with the presence of William Hazard as a black recruit in the platoon. It was in keeping with the spirit of the times which were a changing.But I will say that a recruit like Russ Tamblyn would have been cured of his smart mouth from day one. Richard Widmark would have not risked death or becoming a eunuch in order to give Jerome Courtland confidence with a weapon. And no way would have he worried so much about Robert Arthur deserting. He's have just let the MPs deal with him.Of course being shot in and around Fort Bliss and El Paso, Texas did give Take the High Ground good authenticity. But view it as an army recruiting film and you can certainly understand why the government so eagerly gave cooperation back in the day.I do remember the drill sergeants having their little conflicts which you could pick up on when you weren't worried about them getting on your case for something which was 95% of the time. But there ain't no way that Karl Malden would have slugged Widmark out in the open during training in front of several witnesses among the recruits. Both would have realized that would have undermined authority, something the military just doesn't let happen.I wish I could have said something better about Take The High Ground because I certainly like its talented cast, it's talented director Richard Brooks, even the silly theme by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, fresh from their Oscar a year before for High Noon. The film actually got an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay and story by Millard Kaufman. It must have been for Kaufman's vivid imagination.