The Steel Helmet (1951)

Introduction

The Steel Helmet is a 1951 American war film directed, written, and produced by Samuel Fuller during the Korean War.

It was the first American film about the war, and the first of several war films by Fuller.

Fuller made a second film about the Korean War, Fixed Bayonets! (1951).

Outline

When an American infantry unit surrenders to the North Koreans, the prisoners of war have their hands bound behind their backs and are then executed. Only Sergeant Zack survives the massacre, saved when the bullet meant for him is deflected by his helmet. He is freed by a South Korean orphan, nicknamed “Short Round” by Zack, who tags along despite the sergeant’s annoyance. Short Round confronts American racial attitudes when he demands that Zack refer to him as South Korean, not a gook.

They come across Corporal Thompson, a black medic and also the sole survivor of his unit. Then they encounter a patrol led by inexperienced Lieutenant Driscoll. The racial angle arises when white soldiers suggest that the black medic was a deserter. But soon after, a battlefield emergency demands interracial unity when the men are pinned down by snipers. Together, Zack and Sergeant Tanaka dispatch the snipers. Zack reluctantly agrees to help the unit establish an observation post at a Buddhist temple. One GI is shortly thereafter killed by a booby trap.

They reach the apparently deserted temple without further incident, but Joe is killed that night by a North Korean major hiding there. The officer is eventually captured. He tries without success to subvert first Thompson, then Tanaka, by pointing out the racism they face in 1950’s America. Sergeant Zack prepares to take his prize back for questioning, cynically looking forward to a furlough as a reward. Before he leaves, Driscoll asks to exchange helmets for luck, but Zack turns him down. Then Short Round is killed by another sniper. After the major mocks the wish the boy had written down (a prayer to Buddha to have Zack like him), Zack loses control and shoots the prisoner, who dies soon after.

Then the unit spots the North Koreans on the move and calls down devastating artillery strikes. When the enemy realise the artillery is being directed from the temple, they attack in large numbers, supported by a tank. The attack is repelled, but only Zack, Tanaka, Thompson, and the radio operator survive. When they are relieved, Zack responds to the question, “What outfit are you?” with the statement, “US infantry.” As they leave the temple, Zack goes to Driscoll’s grave and exchanges his helmet with the one marking the man’s grave.

Cast

Gene Evans as Sgt. Zack.
Robert Hutton as Pvt. Bronte.
Steve Brodie as Lt. Driscoll.
James Edwards as Cpl. Thompson.
Richard Loo as Sgt. Tanaka.
Sid Melton as Joe.
Richard Monahan as Pvt. Baldy.
William Chun as “Short Round”.
Harold Fong as The Red.
Neyle Morrow as First GI.
Lynn Stalmaster as Second Lieutenant.

Trivia

In October 1950, Fuller made his film in ten days with twenty-five extras who were UCLA students and a plywood tank, in a studio using mist, and exteriors shot in Griffith Park for $104,000.
According to Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies, Fuller wrote the script in a week.
The Steel Helmet grossed more than $2 million.
The Steel Helmet confronts American racism when a North Korean Communist prisoner baits a black soldier in conversation with accounts of American society’s Jim Crow rules.
Moreover, the Korean soldier makes the first-ever mention, in a Hollywood film, of the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II.
The film infuriated the military, who had provided assistance in the form of military stock footage.
Army personnel summoned Fuller for a conference on the film.
The US Army was upset over Sgt. Zack’s shooting of a prisoner of war. Fuller replied that in his World War II service it frequently happened, and had his former commanding officer, Brigadier General George A. Taylor, telephone the Pentagon to confirm it.
The Communist newspaper The Daily Worker condemned The Steel Helmet as a right-wing fantasy.
Fuller cast Gene Evans, refusing a major studio’s interest in filming The Steel Helmet with John Wayne as Sergeant Zack.
Fuller threatened to quit when the producers wanted Evans replaced by Larry Parks.
Mickey Knox claimed to have been Fuller’s first choice for Zack, but he turned the film down.

Production & Filming Details

Director(s): Samuel Fuller.
Producer(s): Samuel Fuller, William Berke, Robert L. Lippert, and Murray Lerner.
Writer(s): Samuel Fuller.
Music: Paul Dunlap.
Cinematography: Ernest Miller.
Editor(s): Philip Cahn.
Production: Deputy Corporation.
Distributor(s): Lippert Pictures (US), Exclusive Films (UK), and Columbus Films (Mexico).
Release Date: 10 January 1951 (Los Angeles, US) and 02 February 1951 (general release).
Running Time: 85 minutes.
Country: US.
Language: English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_r0O73g7k