Harrison's Reports (1958)

November 1, 1958 HARRISON'S REPORTS contacts Bronson and tells him of the plot. He immediately takes her to Army Intelligence and, based on her information, plans are quickly drawn up to thwart the plot. Violet guides an Allied patrol to the "Werewolf1 rendezvous area described by her brother, and both she and Bronson are scoffed at when no one is found there, but they suddenly find themselves surrounded when the "werewolves" emerge from clever underground hiding places. A furious battle ensues, during which Violet is wounded, but thanks to Bronson's heroic activities, the "werewloves" are wiped out moments before the Allied High Command drives through on a road nearby. It ends with the indication of a forthcoming marriage between Violet and the reformed Bronson. It was co-produced by Oscar Brodney and Sol Dolgin, and directed by Kenneth G. Crane, from a screenplay by Mr. Brodney. Unobjectionable for the family. "Tank Battalion" with Don Kelly, Marjorie Hellen and Edward G. Robinson, Jr. (Amer.-Int'l, July 16; time, 80 min.) An ordinary program war melodrama. It should get by on the lower half of a double bill wherever routine pictures of this type still are acceptable. Pre duced on a very modest budget and dealing with the exploits of an American tank crew in the Korean War, the story's mixture of battle action and romantic encounters follows a familiar formula and offers little that is new. It may, however, squeeze by with the undiscriminating action fans. Considerable library war footage has been edited into the staged action. The picture is being packaged with "Hell Squad," another war film, which is reviewed elsewhere in this issue. The photography is so-so: — Damaged by enemy fire during a large-scale offensive, an American tank, manned by Don Kelly, Edward G. Robinson, Jr., Frank Gorshin and Bob Padget, is forced to retreat behind the lines. While waiting for repairs to be made, the boys enjoy themselves in a native beer joint, where they romance with several American nurses while Padget becomes enamored of Barbara Luna, an Eurasian girl, who worked there as a hostess. When the village is attacked by guerillas, the Americans drive them away, but not before the girls are attacked by the enemy. The boys are ordered back into action when the tank repairs are completed, and they become involved in "Operation Spider." A damaged gear box puts the tank out of commission and the boys find themselves caught between a sheer cliff and an enemy machine-gun nest. The enemy plans to wait for nightfall to demolish the tank with high explosives. Realizing that one of them must return to the base for a spare part to repair the tank, the boys draw matches to see who should go. Robinson draws the short match but lacks the courage to leave the tank. Padget leaps from the tank before the others can stop him, but his heroism proves to be futile when he is mowed down by enemy fire. Robinson, rising to the occasion, dashes from the tank and manages to reach the base. He returns with the spare part, repairs the tank and, together with his comrades, re-enters the battle and helps to defeat the enemy. It was produced by Richard Bernstein and directed by Sherman A. Rose from a screenplay by the producer and George W. Waters. Adult fare. "Hell Squad" with Wally Campo, Brandon Carroll and Fred Gavlin (Amer.-Int'l, July 16; time, 64 min.) Like "Tank Battalion," with which it is being paired as a double bill, "Hell Squad," too, is a cheaply made program picture, the kind that may appeal to undiscriminating movie-goers who still find such films acceptable, even though they offer little that is original. This time the action takes place in North Africa during World War II and centers around the survivors of an American patrol, lost in the desert behind enemy lines. Detailing how all but one are killed in the effort to overcome Nazi trickery and get back to their base, the story depicts plentiful killing and thirst suffering, but the action comes in spurts and there are long stretches when there is nothing but talk. Much of the action is repititious, despite the short running time. It is grim stuff, unrelieved by comedy: — In the confusion that follows the blowing up of a German oil dump in North Africa by an American patrol, all but five of the Americans are captured. These escape to the desert but lack directions on how to return to their base because their lieutenant, who possessed the instructions, had been killed. The American command post contacts the lost patrol by radio and advises them that the location of the post cannot be divulged lest the information fall into enemy hands. Left to their own devices to find their way back, the five men are strafed by German planes and one is killed. The remaining four continue their trek and come across some dead American soldiers whose bodies had been stripped of their uniforms. Later, they are approached by another patrol and recognize them as Germans wearing the uniforms stripped from the dead men. They attack the disguised German patrol and annihilate them. The four Americans strike out again and in due course receive another radio message, apparently from a British source, giving them specific instructions on how to reach safe territory. They follow these instructions, which prove to be a Nazi trap when it leads them to a hidden German bunker. Machine-gun fire kills three of the Americans, but Wally Compo, the lone survivor, manages to blow up the bunker with a hand grenade although he is wounded seriously in the process and finds himself trapped in a mine field. A German officer who had survived the explosion and who was dying of thirst, crawls toward Campo and, by means of a rope, makes a deal with him to exchange a map of the mine field for some of his water. The German, however, tries to trick Campo and is killed by him. It concludes with an American patrol rescuing Campo and returning him to his base. It was produced and directed by Burt Topper from his own story and screenplay. Family. Brief Reviews "The Brain Eaters" and "The Spider," both American-International releases, are routine sciencefiction-horror films, no better and no worse than most other similar films distributed by this company as a double-bill package. "Enchanted Island," a Warner Bros, release starring Dana Andrews and Jane Powell, and photographed in Technicolor, is a fairly entertaining romantic adventure melodrama. Full reviews of the above pictures will appear in next week's issue.