On the Front Line (1956)

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Movie
German title At the forefront
Original title A Hill in Korea
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1956
length 81 minutes
Age rating FSK 12 (previously 16)
Rod
Director Julian Amyes
script Anthony Squire ,
Ian Dalrymple
production Anthony Squire
music Malcolm Arnold
camera Freddie Francis
cut Peter R. Hunt
occupation

At the forefront (original title: A Hill in Korea ) is a film by director Julian Amyes from 1956 based on the literary model of the same name by Max Catto (1953, as Simon Kent ). The leading roles are casted by George Baker , Stanley Baker , Harry Andrews and Michael Medwin . The movie poster advertised with the words: "You found your way back - but it led through hell!"

action

A encircled British scout troop can withstand the Chinese superiority with heavy losses.

A British Army scouting party led by Lt. Butler goes on patrol during the Korean War . The small group includes the tough veteran Sergeant Payne, the slightly psychotic Corporal Ryker and Private Wyatt, a cowardly radio operator. While they are searching a small village, a member of the group is killed by a hidden bomb. That takes Lt. Butler as an occasion to leave the village. On an open level, however, they discover a larger unit of Chinese soldiers heading straight for them. Lt. Butler orders Sergeant Payne to retreat behind their own lines together with the majority of the patrol team, while he - together with three other members of the patrol - secures the retreat. Two attacks by the Chinese unit can be repulsed, then Lt. Butler that Lance Corporal Hodge is dead. At the same time, Sergeant Payne did not succeed in withdrawing because his group was cut off by further enemy forces.

The reunited patrol walks through the village and a winding path to an isolated temple on top of a hill that drops off steeply on the other side with a cliff. On the way up, Private Wyatt throws away the only radio as he goes out of the way of carrying it up the hill. The men encounter a Chinese patrol, engage in a firefight with them and then entrench themselves in the temple.

The Chinese soldiers, in turn, begin a series of attacks on the temple, none of which are successful. Nevertheless, the British unit is forced to remain, as snipers make it impossible to escape. In a spare minute they find time and leisure to play a round of football despite the adverse circumstances. At dawn on the new day, the scouting party prepares their rifles with bayonets in order to use them to pave an escape route. However, the unit comes under friendly fire - aircraft of the US armed forces accidentally bomb the temple. In a second round of attacks, however, they then attack the Chinese forces.

production

Production notes, background

The film, shot in Surrey , England, was produced by the production company Wessex.

Michael Caine , who can be seen here in one of his very first roles - he only speaks a line of text here - was also a consultant for this film, as he had participated in a British troop in the Korean War at the age of 19. For Robert Shaw, who is cast in a leading role, it was his second film.

publication

The film premiered on September 18, 1956 in London. It started in Denmark in 1957, as well as in Sweden and Portugal. In the Federal Republic of Germany it was first seen in the cinema on January 10, 1958, in Austria on March 21, 1958, there also under the alternative title Dreck und Tod in 20 Stunden .

The film was also released in 1958 in Hong Kong, 1959 in France and 1961 in Turkey as well as in Belgium, Canada, Italy, Romania and Spain. In the USA the film was also shown under the alternative title Hell in Korea .

criticism

“A realistically staged film, whose apparent coolness and documentary closeness cannot cover up the lurid hardships of the story. No glorification of war, but hardly interested in the human tragedy of the events. "

- Lexicon of international film

"Based on the novel of the same name by the British writer Max Catto, published in 1953, director Julian Amyes directed the first British film that dealt very realistically and very critically with the Korean War."

- prisma.de

historyonfilm.com found the film to be one of the more realistic about the Korean War because it portrayed unadorned racism, the soldiers' belief that this war in particular was pointless, and mass Chinese attacks. Even if the story of a unit that is separated from the rest of the army is not particularly original in itself, the film is recommended because of its realism.

The reviewer of the specialized online service war-movies.info came to a completely opposite conclusion : the story is not bad, but it lacks originality - and therefore the film is negligible.

According to cinemadailies.com , 'A Hill in Korea' is one of the 38 best Korean-related war films.

Cinema praised the fact that the British director Julian Amyes had succeeded in "creating high tension without fireworks and with relatively modest means". The film relies on "action and human drama: a desperate heap, led by a young, inexperienced officer who is getting to know his limits here". Conclusion: "Exciting action and human drama."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simon Kent: A Hill in Korea book cover 1953
  2. ^ A Hill in Korea ill. Movie poster
  3. ^ A b A Hill in Korea ». In: historyonfilm.com. May 30, 2013, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b On the front line at prisma.de
  5. ↑ A Hill in Korea (1956 ) see page allemovie.com (English)
  6. ↑ An frontline (1956) information and images. Original film poster at themoviedb.org
  7. ↑ At the forefront. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 5, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ↑ Adam 'Frey' Barczynski: A Hill in Korea. In: war-movies.info. Accessed June 5, 2019 .
  9. ^ The Best Movies About The Korean War. In: cinemadailies.com. October 29, 2018, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  10. ↑ On the front line see cinema.de (including 13 film images). Retrieved June 5, 2019.