Commando en Corée

A war film starring Ronald Lewis, Stanley Baker, with no women characters, it sounds a gritty war film in the line of THE LONG, THE SHORT AND THE TALL, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY, another war movie starring Stanley Baker, or any Robert Aldrich or Samuel Fuller's films like plots. Rough, tough, brutal, virile stories about soldiers friendship, brotherhood of arms, sacrifice, bravery...And it is. I don't know the director but it is a pure delight to watch this war feature in the tradition of the small budget war features, focusing on characters, their relationships, their feelings.... Don't miss this one please, but I know it is a very hard to find item. And the most fascinating for me was having Stanley Baker and Robert Shaw together, bcause I have always associated them very close in my spirit; as Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, same kind of actors for same kinds of characters in the movies.

It's a small film but great in its making. The overwhelming credit of it is its absolutely perfect almost naturalistic realism, filmed in Korea and taking part of all the hardships of the soldiers at very close quarters. You get to know each of the soldiers individually, and MANY of them make unforgettable impressions. More of a curiosity is the presence of a very young Michael Caine among them as the youngest and the only blond one. He isn't noticed much and isn't seen much, but he is actually in it; while also Robert Shaw makes a very early and very palpable presence. The main characters though are Harry Andrews as stalwart and dominating in his imposing stature as ever, and Stanley Baker as the toughest and hardest of them. You don't like him, but in the end you must wonder if he wasn't right after all, while of course there is also the martyr, all lost and making his situation constantly more awkward in succeeding in doing everything wrong.

The settings are also quite impressing with the Buddhist monastery as a refuge, like a Korean Alamo for a last stand, but here there are actually some survivors; while the greatest quality of the film is the indivdual close-up attention given to everyone of these forgotten heros.

The Korean war seems to have posed a bit of a problem with film makers . It wasn`t untill Vietnam that screenwriters and directors tried to profound statements on the nature of conflict and wear their anti war sentiments on their sleeves. To all intents and purposes you could rewrite any Korean war film script without any problem . Indeed you could change the place names and you`d have the exact same story , and that`s the problem with A HILL IN KOREA , it could be set during the North African campaign of 1941 or the Burma campaign of 1942 or the Italian campaign of 1944 and it`d be the exact same film. The only telling difference is if it`d been set during the Second World War it would have starred John Mills.

It`s the casting of this film that makes it memorable, we have early roles for stalwarts of British cinema in the 60s and 70s: George Baker , Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker and Percy Herbert . And very early appearances by Robert Shaw , Stephen Boyd and Michael Caine ( Caine actually being an UN soldier in the Korean war ) who would all make it big in Hollywood. Sadly that`s the only memorable aspect on this film about " The forgotten war " . Forgotten that is except for the people who survived it

Tense , and brooding warlike movie , well set in Korea though actually filmed in Shepperton Studios , Shepperton , Surrey , England , UK and on location in the mountain of Montejunto , Portugal . Including participation of the Portuguese air force in the flying frames , and bombing scenes . This Korean war (1951-1953) drama is the fare of a British commando in Korea and stands out as one of the best British warlike film of the 50s . A band of Chinese troops track a group of soldiers posing as a large regiment and waiting an Allied contra-attack . Then , they take refuge into a Buddhist temple using it as stronghold but the group is besieged by the Chinese Army . They simply do their best to survive a terrifying situation . Later on , the soldiers are murdered one by one and a stiff-upper-lip lieutenant takes command with rigid orders .

The film is dedicated to the queen of battles , the British Infantry . The producers obtained help for the Department of the British Army and give thanks 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 U.N. forces , including Brit infantry and US 8º Army and withdraw across southern . Posteriorly , American Army and UN multi-national troops undergo a contra-offensive and retrieve lost territory until 38 parallel . The story bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Fixed Bayonets ¡¨ (1951, Samuel Fuller) also with a bunch of soldiers who are besieged by Chinese hordes and sheltered in a cave , while in ¨A hill in Korea¨ take refuge at a temple . This one was the first major feature film to portray British troops in action during the Korean War . This one seem to be a conventional story with brief character studio and bolstered considerably by director Julian Amyes'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 all-male actors , boasting and most restrained acting by George Baker -later Tiberius in 'I Claudius'- as the tough lieutenant taking the command responsibility along with a sergeant well performed by Harry Andrews . Top-notch Stanley Baker as brave Corporal and excellent secondaries playing Privates as the coward Ronald Lewis , Percy Herbert , Robert Shaw , special appearance by Stephen Boyd and Michael Caine's film debut as well as uncredited . In fact , Michael Caine was actually a veteran of the Korean War .

Appropriate musical score by Malcolm Arnold -The bridge on the River Kwai- and well conducted by usual Muir Matheson . Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by notorious cameraman and occasionally director Freddie Francis , being partially shot in Portugal with intervention by Portuguese Air Force that participated in the jet flying . Portugal was chosen as the facsimile location to Korea, due to it's geographical similarities , even though Michael Caine who served as technical consultant/actor on the production, begged to differ . Adequate film edition by Peter H. Hunt , habitual editor of James Bond movies and director of 'On her Majesty's secret service' . Amyes's most fluid and strongest film-making lies in this war picture , his only movie because he subsequently directed television movies . The original name was ¨Hell in Korea¨ , but was changed for distribution reasons , except in the U.S. that was titled "Hell in Korea" , resulting to be tremendously exciting and stirring for that reason its rating is 6'5 points , better than average and well worth seeing .

If nothing else this is a good little 50's British actioner. There's actually a couple of hills defended in the film. A smaller one in the first half by 4 of the soldiers and then a larger one in the second half, which is also the site of a Buddhist temple.

This is actually the first British war film I can remember seeing set in the Korean War. As others have mentioned, for a very much "B" feature, it has an A cast list, with the added bonus of seeing Robert Shaw and Michael Caine in a couple of their earliest roles. Keep your eyes peeled for Shaw, as his character doesn't last too long into the film.

It's a relatively brief film and the narrative doesn't delve much into the status of the platoon serving under the UN Flag, nor exploring to a great extent the fact that some of the soldiers were regular army and some were apparently national conscripts. The story really could have been fleshed out more. It's pretty lean and sparse, with very little backgrounding. But punters are unlikely to get bored watching it.