The Steel Bayonet

1957
Approved
1h 25min

PUNTUACIÓN EN IMDb

TU PUNTUACIÓN

Añade un argumento en tu idiomaA 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.

Ver la información de la producción en IMDbPro

PUNTUACIÓN EN IMDb

6,2/10

240

TU PUNTUACIÓN

Ver la información de la producción en IMDbPro

Imágenes6

Reseñas de usuarios14

6,2240

Reseñas destacadas

9richardcannon54

Straight forward, but underrated WW2 film.

Very British in the sense there are no over the top heroics. Just soldiers doing their best.

Well acted and a tight plot. Not the biggest budget and maybe would have been more well known if it had one.

Realistic and action packed without being showy, it's a WW2 film for WW2 film fans. There is some character development, but the film concentrates on the team effort and the responsibility of leadership.

The only real side plot is the inexperienced Michael Medwin playing an inexperienced, by the book officer who needs to learn what soldiering is like in the real world. This emphasises the gritty nature of this underrated gem.

Would recommend.

6arthur_tafero

Gritty British WW2 Desert Film - The Steel Bayonet

Leo Genn does an admirable job of holding this film together with the British version of Bataan. It is a film where a unit draws the short straw, and must face the wrath of the German forces which greatly outnumber them, so the Allies can make a concentrated offensive for Tunis. This battle allowed that advance. Tunis was a turning point in the African campaign, and marked the end of the dominance of the Desert Fox, Rommel, the desert genius general of the German Army.

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.

9allumjcc

Called Steel Bayonet on TPTV

This really is a very good film. It's got everything a WWII war movie should have. You can almost feel that you are actually in situ when events take place. One not to miss.

7southdavid

Real Steel

Another film watched for The House of Hammer" podcast, "The Steel Bayonet" sees Hammer still flicking between low budget black and white films and full colour expensive affairs like "The Curse of Frankenstein". Despite being one of the former, I quite enjoyed "The Steel Bayonet" and thought it prime for a remake. I should also say that there are two versions of the film on Youtube at the moment. I'd suggest that, if possible, you should watch the colourised version. (Normally I hate those, but the overall quality of both the visual print and audio track are far superior).

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.

6richardchatten

"Heaven and Earth hold their breath"

This tale of a "bunch of shagged-out expendables" was first of a trio of sweaty war movies made by Hammer. Rather than the flamboyant colour of their horror films Michael Carreras for his debut feature as director presumably deliberately opted for murky black & white.

Más del estilo

6,8

Sailor of the King

7,1

La colina de los diablos de acero

6,3

6,6

6,8

5,9

6,7

Las ratas del desierto

5,9

Key Witness

6,7

El abismo del miedo

5,9

Conflicto íntimo

6,0

Muerte llega de noche

6,6

El último obstáculo

Argumento

Editar

¿Sabías que...?

Editar

Curiosidades
In 1958, United Artists released this movie in the U.S. on a double bill with Fort Massacre (1958).

Pifias
Though set in 1943, the military trucks in use are post-WW2 Commer Q4s.

Citas
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?