''Hell Squad'' is a 1958

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

World War II film, produced, written and directed by

Burt Topper Burt Topper (July 31, 1928 – April 3, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter best known for cult films aimed at teenagers. Biography Born in Coney Island, New York City, Topper moved to Los Angeles at the age of 8, and served i ...

. It was his very first film. AIP originally released the film as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with ''

Tank Battalion is a multi-directional shooter arcade video game that was released by Namco in 1980. The only direct home conversion is for the MSX, and in 1985 a similar game release is ''Battle City'' for the Family Computer. ''Tank Battalion'' received a se ...

''.

Plot

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a squad of five American soldiers become lost in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and are killed one by one in fights with German units. Finally only one man, Private Russo, is left, in the midst of a mine field, together with a German officer, locked in a stalemate. Russo has water, while the German claims to have a map revealing the mine positions. So Russo agrees to swap water for the map, but the German officer tries to double-cross him.

Main cast

Wally Campo Wallace Joseph Campodonico (April 23, 1923 – January 14, 2023), better known as Wally Campo, was an American actor. He was known for his appearances in Roger Corman and Burt Topper films, as well as for narrating ''The Little Shop of Horrors' ...

as Private Russo * Brandon Carroll as German Officer * Fred Gavlin as Sergeant Clemens * Gregg Stewart as Private Nelson * Leon Schrier as Private Roth * Cecil Addis as Private Lippy

Production and release

The film was shot in

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

in 1957 on 16mm. Shooting took six months and was done mostly on weekends. It cost Topper $11,500 to make.Brian Albright: ''Wild Beyond Belief!'' (McFarland, 2008) - Interview with Joyce King (pages 134-136)
Linked 2014-06-18 The film was originally titled ''The Ground They Walk'', but was retitled ''Hell Squad'' when American International Pictures bought the cinema distribution rights. It was released in July 1958 as part of a

with the

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film ''

''.

References

External links

* * 1958 films American International Pictures films North African campaign films 1958 directorial debut films Films directed by Burt Topper Films produced by Burt Topper 1950s English-language films American World War II films {{WWII-film-stub