Men in War

Robert Ryan   d/  Anthony Mann

Lean, tough gritty story of Americans in battle during the early part of the war in Korea. Mann showed bravery, cowardice, frailty, loyalty, fear in a convincing mix. My only quibble was that these guys were much older than actual soldiers...who are usually in their late teens, early twenties.

The setting was anywhere, the objectives minor except for the participants; deaths were movie-fied, without the screaming, whimpering seen in real life. Still, for its time (1957) the film was a big step away from the gung-ho nonsense typified by John Wayne and his ilk.

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