The Steel Bayonet (1958)

Let's be realistic.

From my favorite movies..

A Masterpiece!

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

THE STEEL BAYONET is a Hammer war film made in 1957, cashing in on a craze for similarly-plotted movies made during the 1950s. Once again the film has a North African setting, with the battle of Tunisia serving as the real-life backdrop for the events portrayed. The heroes are a bunch of tired British soldiers tasked with holding a ruined outpost from a Nazi advance. The movie was shot on Salisbury Plain which does a decent job of standing in for a more exotic location. It's generally a slow burner, with a number of suspense set-pieces thrown into the mix, and the format works rather well. The cast is small but studded with familiar British character actors, from the big leads (the reliably down-to-earth Leo Genn and the prim-and-proper Michael Medwin) to the underrated bit-part stars like Michaels Ripper and Balfour. Hammer producer Michael Carreras wasn't known for being one of the studio's best directors, but he handles the material well here, and things end on a rousing, extended battle sequence which is undoubtedly worth the wait.

The tale of an army patrol holding a desert outpost has been filmed many times.Two examples that come to mind are John Ford's"The Last Patrol" and Ealing's "Nine Men".Whilst this film is not quite up to their standard this is nevertheless an exciting war film with plenty of action sequences well staged.The cast is good.Leo Genn as a Major concerned for the welfare of his men.Michael Medwin,playing somewhat against type,as a by the rules young lieutenant,and Kieron Moore,who for some reason wont come down from the water tower unless he is either fried to a frazzle or blasted out of there.Actually he rings the one false note about the film.You would suspect that the first thing that the German tanks would destroy is the water tower,yet it remains standing till almost the end.Percy Herbert is also in the film.A desert war film without him would be unthinkable.

Little known and I once heard some reviewer in a movie book, describe it as dull - he's wrong, sorry! A company of British soldiers in WW2 Tunisia with the odd 'paddy' as it were, which would make any British company a good one, is depleted, slightly demoralised and awaiting the final push FROM the Nazi Afrika Corps. Leo Genn plays Major Gerrard leading the company, plus support from the excellent Michael Medwin, especially good as the reluctant Lieutenant Vernon bemoaning his pay AND being upstaged by the faithful Sergeant known as 'Tom' to Genn (Played well by the underestimated Robert Brown).The unit is tasked with taking over what seems to be an old Foreign Legion fort and using it as an artillery spotting/observation post, with Captain Mead (Kieron Moore) doing the spotting. Of course with him there's a 'Raife' Richardson bit, where he's atop the observation tower, knocking over his water and suffering from sunstroke, though not going blind like Raife in 'The Four Feathers' - I digress anyway! There's plenty of angst, bitching etc., and although the action couldn't be seen to be overdone, it's rightly where it is without being as I say, too much.The final scene is where the post is overrun, but Genn manages to give the last order on the radio, targeting 'himself' and the men as it's now in Nazi hands could be a little bit corny perhaps, but the dialogue and performances more than make up for this in any way. This is a must, but I'd rate it as good as any war film like 'The Cruel Sea' or 'Ice Cold in Alex' - sadly not shown enough to warrant that, let's hope someone can elevate it to its true status in years to come - just like 'Sea of Sand' too! Some good old British stalwart character actors star the great Percy Herbert and Michael Ripper. The standard B/W photography easily belies the fact it was shot on Salisbury Plain and NOT the North African Desert it implies, very well!

Hammer Films was really a very good studio. Not only for horror movies but also for war ones. Remember Val Guest's films such as CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND and YESTERDAY'S ENEMY. Perhaps one or more. Very tense, well paced, sharply shot, with very deep characters. Emotion and action in the same scheme. What else could we ask for?The story of a group of British soldiers, during WW2, in Tunisia, who gets order to hold a position, in the middle of the desert, in order to prevent Afrika Korps to advance.I have seen many British war movies, academic ones, very talkative, flat, even with great actors such Dirk Bogarde, Richard Attenborough, Richard Todd or some others...Movies very long, long, long. Boring at the most. Not bad ones, not corny, but long. Period.But, I repeat, the Hammer war films are worth the detour.