THE GALLANT MEN –Robertino - 1962
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the toe of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 11th episode.
The company is sitting around complaining about the lousy food. Roland La Starza is on sentry duty when he catches a young boy, Peter Soli, stealing a box of C-Rations. La Starza yells out and the lad hotfoots it out of camp and straight into a mine field. La Starza works his way out to the kid and carries him back to safety.
The kid, Soli, is sort of adopted by the company and given clothes and food. It seems Soli's parents had been killed by a Nazi officer hunting partisans. The kid follows La Starza around like a lost puppy dog. La Starza is not impressed with the attention. The kid is shall we say, a tad light fingered, and is always rooting through the men's packs for goodies.
When the company moves back up into the line Soli tags along at a distance. He however is soon in the middle of a firefight between the company and some Germans holding a winery. Some footage from the film, "A Walk in the Sun" is blended into the American attack sequences. The kid is saved and the nasty German types given a severe lead overdose.
Not the best episode so far, but it does kill an hour OK.
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the toe of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 11th episode.
The company is sitting around complaining about the lousy food. Roland La Starza is on sentry duty when he catches a young boy, Peter Soli, stealing a box of C-Rations. La Starza yells out and the lad hotfoots it out of camp and straight into a mine field. La Starza works his way out to the kid and carries him back to safety.
The kid, Soli, is sort of adopted by the company and given clothes and food. It seems Soli's parents had been killed by a Nazi officer hunting partisans. The kid follows La Starza around like a lost puppy dog. La Starza is not impressed with the attention. The kid is shall we say, a tad light fingered, and is always rooting through the men's packs for goodies.
When the company moves back up into the line Soli tags along at a distance. He however is soon in the middle of a firefight between the company and some Germans holding a winery. Some footage from the film, "A Walk in the Sun" is blended into the American attack sequences. The kid is saved and the nasty German types given a severe lead overdose.
Not the best episode so far, but it does kill an hour OK.
