''Target Zero'' is a 1955 American war and

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Harmon Jones Harmon Clifford Jones (June 3, 1911 – July 10, 1972) was a Canadian-born film editor and director who worked for many years at the 20th Century-Fox studio in Southern California. He is credited as the editor for about 20 feature films through 1 ...

and written by

James Warner Bellah James Warner Bellah (September 14, 1899 – September 22, 1976) was an American Western author from the 1930s to the 1950s. His pulp-fiction writings on cavalry and Indians were published in paperbacks or serialized in the '' Saturday Evenin ...

and

Sam Rolfe Samuel Harris Rolfe (February 18, 1924 – July 10, 1993) was an American screenwriter best known for creating (with Herb Meadow) the 1950-60s highly rated CBS television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel'', as well as his work on the 1960s NBC ...

.The film stars

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

Peggie Castle Peggie Castle (December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973) was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. Castle was Miss Cheesecake in 1949. Early life Castle was born as Peggy Thomas Blair in Appalachia, Wis ...

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war ...

Richard Wyler Richard Stapley (20 June 1923 – 5 March 2010), also known by the stage name Richard Wyler, was a British actor and writer. Early life Stapley was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1923. A writer, Stapley published his first nove ...

, L. Q. Jones and

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

. The film was released and published by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on November 15, 1955.

Plot

During a

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

skirmish, a United Nations relief worker, Ann Galloway (

), is injured and her assistant killed after suffering enemy fire. As the Communist forces take over the region, she is rescued by a British patrol. Ann then hooks up with American troops led by Lt. Tom Flagler (

), a soldier's soldier, admired by his men. Finding themselves behind enemy lines, they try to break through to rejoin Easy Company and other allied troops. The British sergeant named Kensemmit (

) bears a grudge against all fellow soldiers and is particularly contemptuous of Flagler, as well as possibly interested in Ann romantically, though this latter point is never made clear and seems deliberately left unclear. SFC Vince Gaspari (

) vouches for Tom completely as a born leader, although he acknowledges Ann's conclusion that Tom cares about nothing else than his military duty to be true. By contrast the other two British tank soldiers, Harry (pronounced "'arry" due to his working class accent) Fontenoy (

Terence De Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of n ...

) and Cpt. Devon Enoch ( John Alderson) both get along very well with the Americans, and in two scenes explicitly criticize Sgt. Kensemmit for his unnecessary hostile attitude. During one scene Pvt. Geronimo, a Native American soldier (played by

Abel Fernandez Abel Gonzalez Fernandez (July 14, 1930 – May 3, 2016) was an American actor who played in movies from 1953 to 2002. He was best known for his role as Federal Agent William "Bill" Youngfellow on the 1959–1963 ABC Television series ''The Unto ...

) from the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

reservation in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

says to a southern-accented white American soldier that Native Americans were in this war so that they could get practice fighting for the eventual day when they reconquer the United States. Pvt. Harry "'arry" Fontenoy says to the southern-accented GI "Don't worry mate, if they chuck you out, we'll take you back!" to which the southern-accented GI says "Thanks ole buddy, but the problem with that is I don't speak the language!" On a scouting mission hoping to reconnect with "Sullivan's Muscle," Tom discovers that Easy Company has been massacred, leaving him bewildered. However, under orders to hold the line until help can arrive, Tom and his men fight off North Korean foes. In the course of this Flagler and Kensemmit reconcile their differences, with Kensemmit apologizing and saying that "I just woke up on the wrong side of the world this morning", to which Flagler replied, "No worries, you're a handy guy to have around" in reference to a previous scene in which Kensemmit's fighting abilities proved crucial to a victory against the communists. In victory, Flagler and Kensemmit both come to realize that Ann represents the very kind of thing they have been fighting for all along.

Cast

as Lieutenant Tom Flagler *

as Ann Galloway *

as Sergeant First Class Vince Gaspari *

Richard Stapley Richard Stapley (20 June 1923 – 5 March 2010), also known by the stage name Richard Wyler, was a British actor and writer. Early life Stapley was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1923. A writer, Stapley published his first nove ...

as Sergeant David Kemsemmit * L. Q. Jones as Private Felix O'Hara *

as Private "Moose" * John Alderson as Corporal Devon Enoch *

as Private Harry Fontenoy *

Strother Martin Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Among Martin's memorable pe ...

as Private Dan O'Hirons (uncredited) *

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

as Private Strangler (uncredited) *

Don Oreck Donald Allen Oreck (August 31, 1930 — March 5, 2006) was an American actor who, between 1955 and 1961, played supporting roles in numerous television series and made uncredited appearances in a few feature films. A native of Los Angeles, Calif ...

as Private Stacey Della Nueva (uncredited) * John Dennis as Private First Class George * Angela Loo as Sue

Production

The

F-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, prod ...

aircraft were flown by the 120th Fighter Squadron of the

Colorado Air National Guard The Colorado Air National Guard (CO ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Colorado, United States of America. It is, along with the Colorado Army National Guard, an element of the Colorado National Guard. The units of the Colorado Air Nation ...

. The film was shot at

Fort Carson, Colorado Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs ...

and in Arizona.

Release

The film opened at the Paramount Theatre in New York City but only lasted 8 days with a gross of just $30,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{Harmon Jones 1955 films Warner Bros. films American war drama films 1955 drama films Films directed by Harmon Jones Films scored by David Buttolph Korean War films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American black-and-white films