The Gallant Men

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I (at 13) felt that "The Gallant Men" was a better show than "Combat!" (at least at that time), probably because it was a little more cerebral.

In my 8th grade English class (during the 1962-1963 season) I had the good fortune to have Roger Davis (Gibson) speak to us. (His kid brother was in our class.) He explained at the time that "The Gallant Men" was produced by Warner, while "Combat!" was produced by a production company owned by ABC, so likely "The Gallant Men" was fated to be cut at the end of the season. His prediction was accurate.

(He also explained how the producers kept salary demands in line -- any actor causing trouble could be written out as quickly as a gun can fire.)

The pilot of "Combat" was not as well made as the pilot of "The Gallant Men".

Robert Altman directed the pilot of "The Gallant Men". He was key in casting all the regulars. Boris Sagal ("Rich Man, Poor Man") directed the pilot for "Combat", but never did another episode. The producers of "Combat" hated the look of their pilot and loved the look of the "Gallant Men" pilot. The producers convinced Altman to move over to "Combat" as a producer-writer-director. Altman did some of his best work on the first season of "Combat", and he got the series off to a superb start. Altman says on a "Combat" DVD commentary of an episode with Albert Salmi that he never got better than that as a director. Altman also said that "Combat" had a better cast than "The Gallant Men", even though he cast "The Gallant Men" and had nothing to do with casting "Combat".

"The Gallant Men" was probably suggested by "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945) where Burgess Meredith played war correspondent Ernie Pyle and Robert Mitchum played an infantry captain. In "The Gallant Men", Robert McQueeney was top billed as war correspondent Conley Wright.

"The Gallant Men" focused on a company while "Combat" focused on a single squad. The squad level turned out to be the ideal vehicle to tell war stories and to allow the viewer to get close to the characters. "Combat" also benefited from having one of the 1960's best series performances: Vic Morrow as Sergeant Saunders. Morrow was nominated for an Emmy for the first season of "Combat", but lost to E.G. Marshall ("The Defenders"). "Combat" also hired superb guest stars that Warner Brothers would never pay up for: Jeffrey Hunter, Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Rip Torn, John Cassavetes and many others. And finally, "Combat" paid for better writers and wound up with much better scripts.

Warner Brothers was a very cheap outfit, although they often did manage to make compelling shows.

Robert Conrad gave an excellent guest star performance on "The Gallant Men" as a sergeant who was the brother of series hero Captain Benedict (well played by William Reynolds.) Robert Conrad might have been brilliant as a tough squad leader, maybe even as good as Vic Morrow. Conrad should have been brought in as the new series star. The show should have focused on Conrad's squad rather than the company. The most appealing regular on "The Gallant Men" was 23-year old Roger Davis as Private Gibson. Conrad could bring Gibson along from episode to episode until finally Gibson is given a battlefield commission and becomes Conrad's platoon leader. This could have led to a strongly written and played relationship that could have given the show a dramatic center-something it badly needed.

Robert Altman's original conception for "The Gallant Men" was to kill off the regulars from week to week. This was a fascinating idea that could have made the series very realistic and emotionally involving. If Robert Altman had stayed on board, "The Gallant Men" might have given "Combat" a run for its money.

Just a quick correction to one of the other comments....The Gallant Men took place in Italy, not in the Pacific. Combat was set in France.

I was nine when this show aired...and the son of a WWII vet....and loved the show. Not as much as Combat....but well enough. During those few years...8 to 11 or so....I would join my pals of the same age group on weekends....and all thru the summer....and "play army"in the woods across the street....with stuff we got at the War Surplus store....or got from our dads'.....and back then..toy stores sold the most amazingly realistic toy weapons...I had a very detailed plastic replica of the Thompson submachine gun...as well as a replica of the old Springfield rifle. We were inspired by both Combat and The Gallant Men to play the most realistically detailed "war games"....as only innocent 10 year-olds can...today was Normandy...next week...the French hedge rows....in winter..The Battle of The Bulge...in the heat of summer... Guadalcanal ...we had a blast.

That was 1962-3-4......

In a few short years...by 1968...war was no longer a game for us....but but a real event on TV every day...that we had to begin to reckon with.

As sobering as that turn of history was....I will never forget the the thrill of our games....perhaps because we aspired to be like our dads'...til life changed for all of us.

I haven't seen this show since it originally aired on ABC in 1962. I was 11 years old and it seemed like everybody's dad was a WWII vet. We played "army" using original equipment, including Lugers and Nambus! I remember this show as being fairly vivid. It must have made an impression on me because I still watch war flicks, some 40 years later. My question is: where can this series be viewed or purchased? Help, anyone?

I watched this show with my father as a small child. He was a BAR man in an infantry squad. I liked Gallant Men much more than Combat as in Combat, you know the core group would never get killed and the music was very predictable. The Gallant Men was like what my pop experienced he said. Brief intense battles followed by lulls where you tried to find something to do without getting killed. The show gave characters more depth and the battles were more realistic than Combat. The men also appeared at times to really be in fear of their life instead of just acting. I recently acquired the entire series on DVD's and it is even better than I remember it.