Tuesday, July 04, 2017

Movie review - "The Steel Helmet" (1951) ***1/2

The film that really put Sam Fuller on the map - a tough look at the Korean War, focusing on a sergeant who is the sole survivor (Gene Evans) of an ambush. He joins up with some other soldiers and they get stuck in a Bhuddist temple. The same old structure really - a siege movie - but Fuller always keeps it fresh and new: the opening shot of a steel helmet, a soldier being stabbed going "oh no... oh no..."

The low budget is artfully used - scenes in the temple, at night, with mist. Tight, very good.

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