A small band of British soldiers is sent on a mission to hold up a German advance.A small band of British soldiers is sent on a mission to hold up a German advance.A small band of British soldiers is sent on a mission to hold up a German advance.
Featured reviews
With explosions aplenty, what's most interesting about this Hammer film is how it tries, mostly successfully, to maintain the illusion of it taking place in North Africa, while being shot in the moorlands around Aldershot, where the British Army did a lot of training. There's smoke to obscure what's going on in the background. The camera shoots the players mostly in close-ups, or inside of tents, or occasionally at a high enough angle that obstructions hide the background. The clear shots show a very English-looking countryside, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that there are place that look like that in Tunisia.
I don't believe that the average movie-goer would have noticed those things. It's a pretty good, if generic, war flick.
Towards the end of the North African campaign of World War 2, a depleted force, led by Major Alan Gerrard (Leo Genn) is tasked with securing and defending a small farmstead. The farm is of key strategic importance as Military intelligence believes that the Germans are massing a larger army to lead a counterattack. From the farms water tower, Artillery Captain Mead (Kieron Moore) can call in strikes on the advancing Afrika Korps, but they eventually become aware of his position.
I thought that this was a really good war film, betrayed slightly by its filming location being somewhere in rural England and certainly not the North African desert. The main performances are really good, though on the version I watched it was unfortunate that the poor stock meant I couldn't tell a lot of the soldiers apart, so when they began to die it didn't mean as much to me as it might have. (I had no idea Michael Caine was in it until I read the Wikipedia page). It's a good story though, of heroism and sacrifice, and is perhaps surprisingly critical of the war office, given how soon after the conflict the film was made.
It's the first of these Hammer films that I've thought was crying out for a remake. A more genuine filming location and a little more realism in the dying acting is all that's required. As it was though it was a nice surprise and one of the few I'd actively recommend.
When the story begins, a badly decimated group of British soldiers in North Africa have finally been pulled off the front lines for rest. However, almost immediately, they are called back into action for a special mission--to secure an observation post and hold it until told to leave. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered badly and their odds of success seem very slim.
This is a simple and well made film. My only complaint is a couple times, grenades land only a few feet from the Brits and after exploding, the men are just fine! Kids, don't try this at home...you will NOT survive! Overall, well worth your time and competently made.
The unlikely unit contains characters that, at first glance, appear as if they could not defend their apartments back in London, much less the flank of the Allied attack. However, looks can be deceiving. These men were as gritty as they came, and did a spectacular job under the circumstances. In a way, the film reminded me of Zulu, when a small group of Army engineers held off superior numbers of Zulu warriors. One of the better British war films.
Did you know
- TriviaIn 1958, United Artists released this movie in the U.S. on a double bill with Fort Massacre (1958).
- GoofsThough set in 1943, the military trucks in use are post-WW2 Commer Q4s.
- Quotes
Major Gerard: Look Vernon - you've got very little idea yet what it's all about.
Lt. Vernon: And how am I supposed to learn when you pull rank on me every time I open my mouth?
Major Gerard: Alright, let's forget about rank for a few minutes. Now come on, let's have it: what's the bellyache?
Lt. Vernon: To start with, you made me look a complete fool out there just now. The Sergeant-Major argues when I give him an order and you back him up.
Major Gerard: And isn't it better that you should look a fool than that half a dozen men should get themselves killed? Anything else? You don't like the way the stretcher bearer talks to that wounded German boy.
Lt. Vernon: Who told you that?
Major Gerard: Nobody told me; I saw it in your face.
Lt. Vernon: Have they forgotten the fellow would've shot the lot of us if he could? Yet they call him "chum" and show him snapshots of their wives and kids.
Major Gerard: Yes. Rather fine, isn't it?
Lt. Vernon: Fine?
Major Gerard: Yes, fine! Look, the curious thing about war is that it brings out the worst and the best in us, both at once. The worst is what we're fighting against. And the best is what makes it sometimes almost worthwhile.
Lt. Vernon: I don't get it. There's something here that all these chaps seem to share. Some sort of secret - and I'm on the outside.
Major Gerard: [SIGHS] Look, Vernon: in 24 hours most of those chaps out there will have had it. Perhaps that's the secret.
Lt. Vernon: How do you mean?
Major Gerard: If we don't get an order to withdraw - which is in the highest degree unlikely - the farm in square 2735 will cease to exist by dawn.
Lt. Vernon: Oh. That's us.
Major Gerard: That's us. So you see, what happens outside this particular farmyard isn't very important just now. If I were you, I'd leave it outside. We're all in the same boat. You expect a lot from those chaps out on the hill. They expect the same from you. Work it out for yourself. Don't look to me for a series of beautiful thoughts; any that I ever had went astray a long time ago. I'm moved by men, not ideals. So I'm not asking you to take me as any kind of an example, there are far better. The best of all is yourself. Your own conscience. What you conceive to be the right way to do your job, and stick to it. Nobody can ever ask more of you than that. Now, let's get on with the war, shall we?
- ConnectionsFeatured in The World of Hammer: Hammer (1994)
- How long is The Steel Bayonet?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 25m(85 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1