Take The High Ground!
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''Take the High Ground!'' is a 1953 American
war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
directed by
Richard Brooks Richard Brooks (born Reuben Sax; May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992) was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards in his career, he was best known for ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), '' ...
and starring
Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...
and
Karl Malden Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'' and Tennessee Will ...
as drill sergeants who must transform a batch of everyday civilians into soldiers during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. The film presents a highly fictionalized portrayal of army life.


Plot

In May 1953, a new group of Army recruits at
Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...
in
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
, encounter their drill sergeants, SSG Laverne Holt (Karl Malden) and the deeply troubled SFC Thorne Ryan (Richard Widmark). After Ryan's caustic appraisal of the recruits, Holt vows to make soldiers out of them during their sixteen weeks of basic training. The two men served together in Korea and are combat veterans. Ryan, though, resents his stateside duty and repeatedly applies for transfer back to the Korean front. One night, the men cross the border to Mexico for recreation. In a bar, Ryan and Holt see a beautiful woman, Julie Mollison (
Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart may refer to: * Elaine Stewart (actress), American actress * Elaine Stewart (politician), British politician {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Elaine ...
), buying drinks for a group of young recruits, including some of their own. Later that evening, the two sergeants escort the inebriated Julie to her apartment, and Ryan finds himself drawn to her. Training becomes more intensive. Ryan exposes his men to
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
to prepare them for the harsh conditions of battle. Ryan and Holt return to the bar one night, and find Julie sitting alone. When the crude MSG Vince Opperman ( Bert Freed) insults Julie, she runs out of the bar in tears, and Holt comforts her. Ryan and Opperman fight, and Opperman reveals that Julie was married to a soldier who was killed in Korea shortly after she left him. One day, recruit Lobo Naglaski ( Steve Forrest) visits the camp chaplain to confess his murderous feelings toward Ryan, but comes to see that the sergeant has very little time in which to do a tough job. Tensions arise between Ryan and Holt, both over Ryan's callous treatment of the men and Holt's relationship with Julie. Ryan puts his men through increasingly tough drills; during field training, a bitter confrontation erupts between the two sergeants. Holt slugs Ryan and walks away. Later, Ryan calls on Julie at her apartment, and they fall into a passionate embrace. She resists his further advances, however; he becomes insulting and casts aspersions on her virtue, chiding her for having given her husband "the brush" when she did. Recruit Donald Quentin Dover IV ( Robert Arthur) refuses to throw a hand grenade and, after the group has bivouacked as part of more field drills, he "goes over the hill", intending to desert. Ryan tracks him down and gives the young man a second chance, confessing that his own father had been a deserter. As the training period draws to a close, Ryan returns to Julie's apartment and discovers she has moved out. He finds Julie and Holt at the train station. After Holt leaves, Ryan apologizes for his behavior and asks Julie to marry him, but she sadly points out that he is married to the Army. Outside the train station, Ryan and Holt silently make their peace. The men finish basic training, and as the new soldiers march by during their graduation exercises, Ryan proudly points them out to a fresh group of recruits.


Cast

*
Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...
as SFC Thorne Ryan *
Karl Malden Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'' and Tennessee Will ...
as SSG Laverne Holt *
Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart may refer to: * Elaine Stewart (actress), American actress * Elaine Stewart (politician), British politician {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Elaine ...
as Julie Mollison * Carleton Carpenter as Merton Tolliver *
Russ Tamblyn Russell Irving Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934), also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor ...
as Paul Jamison * Jerome Courtland as Elvin Carey * Steve Forrest as Lobo Naglaski * Robert Arthur as Donald Quentin Dover IV * Chris Warfield as Soldier * William Hairston as Daniel Hazard * Maurice Jara as Franklin D. No Bear * Bert Freed as MSG Vince Opperman According to a pre-production ''Hollywood Reporter'' news item,
James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the series ''Gunsmoke''. He has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in f ...
, Ralph Meeker,
James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Ac ...
, William Campbell, and
Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. One of his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in ...
, were cast, but they were not in the film.


Awards

*The film was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for
Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
, losing to ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
''.


Production

The film was originally to be shot at
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego (MCRD San Diego) is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former N ...
, under the title ''The Making of a Marine'' based on an original by Millard Kaufman. It was later asserted that "the Marines refused to cooperate because they did not want to stir up old controversies over the toughness of their training program." The Army, however, cooperated fully with the studio, and location filming took place at
Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...
, El Paso, Texas.


Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,968,000 in the US and Canada and $887,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $244,000.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Take The High Ground! 1953 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films directed by Richard Brooks Korean War films Films shot in El Paso, Texas American war films 1953 war films 1950s American films English-language war films