Men in War

Men In War was directed by Anthony Mann,who was really more known for his big budget westerns. This, his first and last attempt at a war film, stands out with its realistic battle scenes involving stylish camera angles and innovative editing. Robert Ryan as Lt Benson and Aldo Ray as "Montana, are outstanding as their characters are at odds from the very beginning. Look for James Edwards, who was one of the first black actors to rise above the general sterotypes, even before Sidney Pottier came along. Men In War is worth seeing, especially the last half of the film as it builds to an intense conclusion.

By good luck, I came across a VHS video (good print) of this 1950s Anthony Mann film. It was well worth watching. It is stark, unflinching, and offers an altogether convincing depiction of how soldiers behave in a harrowing, no-win situation. Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray, both truly fine actors, are excellent in their symbolically contrasting roles of two kinds of military men. Robert Keith and Vic Morrow are standouts in supporting roles. Keith is especially wonderful in an essentially non-speaking,though key, part...his face says it all. The music by Elmer Bernstein and the cinematography by the great Ernest Haller are perfect...the soundtrack creepy and other-worldly, and the cinematography capturing the "no man's land," confusing, deadly landscape in longshots, as well as the emotions of the soldiers when photographed close-up. See this film!

No director I know made the scenery as much a dramatic player as Mann did. Whether it was the West in the great Westerns he directed or the imaginary Korea of this movie, it seemed as though you were in the scene yourself watching from a tree. The movie is calm, almost contemplative, and even though you could argue the soldiers were stereotypes, they were so believable and so well acted, they seemed part of the scenery as well. The danger in the movie is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and the men die as most men do in war, carelessly, and almost wastefully. The actors are superb, totally believable, and in the case of Robert Keith heart-breaking. I recommend this film to anyone, it's simply the best largely unknown war film ever.

A war film should have a sense of time and place for it to be exceptional and as I`ve said in previous reviews basically any movie featuring The Korean War could have easily taken place in any campaign of WW 2 . MEN IN WAR is a case in point that could have been set in the Ardennes in December 1944 as an American platoon are cut off by a German counter offensive . In fact it could easily have been set during the Indian wars of the 1870s with a bunch of calvarymen lost and surrounded by hostile natives

And yet director Anthony Mann and screenwriter Philip Yordan have made a very memorable and compelling Korean war movie that lifts it above B movie standards . The story is simple with a bunch of US soldiers stuck behind enemy lines but we`re shown what it`s like to be a soldier fighting a war , we`re shown the courage , the fear and the camaradeire of reluctant warriors. In many ways this could have been an Vietnam allegory like MASH or TOO LATE THE HERO . Only thing is MEN IN WAR was made several years before America got involved in Vietnam . It`s difficult to believe but it`s true as we see Lt Benson and Sgt Montana come close to " fragging " each other at one point or the quite remarkable scene where Sgt Killian picks some flowers and puts them in his helmet . If I have any problem with this movie it`s the final sequence that suggests that soldiers fight and die for medals when in fact soldiers fight and die for one another

A quick word about the cast: All are very good but the stand out performance is by Robert Keith as the nameless Colonel . As the movie progresses the audience care as much for the Colonel as much as Sgt Montana does . Perhaps when I mention that the Colonel has hardly one single line of dialogue you`ll understand just how superb Keith`s performance is

MEN IN WAR comes highly recommended

Men in War (1957)

Take a small group of survivors in a hardscrabble part of Korea during that neglected war and watch them squabble and worry and scramble to stay alive.

This is an admired war movie for the simple reason that it is shorn of romanticism or heroism. Not that there aren't heroic acts, and true intelligence in expert soldiering. But the acting is vivid and honest, not pandering to our need for greatness in ordinary men. And the result is that these ordinary men are great.

Robert Ryan is the star here, and he earns his keep. A smart, stubborn, hardened officer who knows the chips are down and isn't going to give in to excess or despair. The dry, open landscape with a few trees and some distant hills is almost a symbol for the movie, plain and unadorned, nothing unnecessary. The other actors are sharply seen, as well, some desperate and losing their grip, others just scared and watching, others subtle and observant.

Anthony Mann is best known in the 1950s for his Westerns, and this isn't so far from that kind of landscape and battle to survive. His earlier film noir experience must have also taught him about storytelling and character. This is sharply seen and directed. The Pentagon hated it (because it shows a disorderly military unit, according to Wiki), and wouldn't help in the production, so the only real equipment in use here is a Jeep and some guns. And this helps in the end, since it forces the movie to focus on character and the ensemble acting.