The Young and the Brave

Movie isn't anything fantastic but it does contain many many scenes of Rory Calhoun standing and walking as if his life depends on it--and given that he's being chased by North Koreans who are ready and eager to kill him at the drop of a hat--it certainly does.

I can't really fault anything that happens in the film--its literally something that came on TCM when i wasn't really paying attention, looked up the synopsis of the film and who was in it and ended up watching it mainly because it looked like it was Rory Calhoun Standing and Walking The Motion Picture--which it kind of was.

Would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see Rory Calhoun in all his standing and walking glory. (but to be honest with you i'm positive he's stood and walked in better films then this before..he must have right?)

In the "woke" Hollywood of today, a movie showing the communist North Koreans as murderous would not be produced. In fact, it's hard to believe anyone would try in 1963.

But someone did try and did an excellent job.

It begins with a good script and is made excellent because of the cast.

Rory Calhoun beautifully underplays his role as the sergeant trying to lead a small group of escaped prisoners out of North Korea back to their own lines.

Along the way, they pick up an orphaned little boy, played by the youngster who stole all the acting honors, Manuel Padilla, Jr.

He has played other and different foreign kids, most famously "Jai" in the Ron Ely TV series version of Tarzan.

He was still young, only 52, when he died.

William Bendix was one of those great Hollywood fixtures who played so many different roles, from vicious bad guy to lovable and avuncular types.

Perhaps "The Young and the Brave" is not really a "classic," despite being presented on TCM, but it's an awfully good movie, reminding viewers that U. S. soldiers were the good guys more often than not, and that often they had to overcome their own "leaders" to not only win but far too frequently to survive.

Korea was the second of three wars begun because the "leadership" of the northern part of the country wanted to invade and conquer the southern part.

It's another reminder that all governments are rotten but some are worse than others.

And it's a reminder that, no matter that it's the men on the front lines, doing the killing and being killed, innocent women and children are equally, and even more unforgivably, victims of the horror and brutality.

Rory Calhoun has seldom done a better job, and all his co-performers have given us a movie I can easily recommend.

I didn't think this movie was that bad. The Korean War is largely forgotten so the proud vets of that war can have pride in watching this. The set and some of the script is a bit tired and worn looking but it adds to the almost camp like atmosphere, which makes this almost a late night B movie classic. Is it a sanitized version of war? Well yea but what wasn't back then? War is awful and senseless, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pay homage to the brave men who fought for us, even in a war as unpopular as this one, or was this a "police action"? Either way 54,000 men, mostly from the US, gave their lives, knowing that and realizing this was made in a simpler time when Presidents had their sexual dalliances covered up, baseball players hit 61 homers, cleanly, and we were all glued to watching a single Astronaut go into space 15 minutes and thought that was incredible ( and it was in 1961)well then that makes this a good ole B rated memory flick to watch.

A.C. Lyles who is primarily known as a producer of B westerns utilizing players past their prime years decided to go in for B Korean War film which combines escaping GI POWS with a good old fashioned boy and his dog story in The Young And The Brave. The results are less than gratifying.

The trio of escaping GIs are Rory Calhoun, William Bendix and Robert Ivers. Bendix is really looking way too old to be a convincing combat soldier and in fact he was in his middle Fifties. A friendly Korean farmer and wife help them out which causes their deaths, but their son played by Manuel Padilla and his adopted German Shepherd dog escape with the soldiers. The kid and the dog prove most useful like Rusty and Rin Tin Tin.

The location for the film looks a whole lot like many a western was shot there and I suspect A.C. Lyles went to familiar turf to shoot this film. All the players look like they've really got no conviction in this project.

Maybe A.C. should have stuck to westerns.

There are two dogs in this film, the enemy kills both of them with the adults showing zero concern. The canines are the only points of interest. Better to have dropped the war and kept the doggies. Rates a 2/10 unless you`re a devotee of animal films then a 6/10.