''The Nun and the Sergeant'' is a 1962

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 ...

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 ...

starring Anna Sten and

Robert Webber Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''. Early life Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...

in the title roles. It was produced by Sten's husband

Eugene Frenke Eugene Frenke (1 January 1895- 10 March 1984) was a Ukrainian-born film producer, director and writer. He twice collaborated with the director John Huston on the films '' Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' and ''The Barbarian and the Geisha''. He was ma ...

, who had produced the 1957 film '' Heaven Knows, Mr Allison'', also a pairing of a Catholic

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

and a

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

. It was directed by

Franklin Adreon Franklin "Pete" Adreon (November 18, 1902 – September 10, 1979) was an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Early life and career Born in Gambrills, Maryland, Adreon was a Marine Reservist during the 30s ...

and released through

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

Plot

In a forerunner of ''

The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph M ...

'', Marine Gunnery Sergeant McGrath (Robert Webber) takes 12 Marines from the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

and trains them to blow up a tunnel behind North Korean lines. McGrath's only friend on the patrol is his Korean guide Pak (

Dale Ishimoto Dale Ishimoto (April 3, 1923 – March 4, 2004) was an American actor of Japanese descent. He was born in Delta, Colorado in 1923 and was raised in Guadalupe, California. Military service After being sent to the Gila River internment camp in ...

). Hating their sergeant, the Marines plan to return to their lines without him, seeing that he becomes "a casualty of war". However, en route to their target they find an injured nun (Anna Sten) and a group of Korean convent girls whose bus has been destroyed. The Marines change their views when Sgt. McGrath protects the group. When one of their squad ( Leo Gordon) attempts to rape one of the young girls, the brig rats turn against him. They proceed with their mission as Marines.

Cast

as Sgt. McGrath * Anna Sten as Nun * Leo Gordon as Dockman * Hari Rhodes as Hall * Robert Easton as Nupert *

as Pak * Linda Wong as Bok Soon * Linda Ho as Soon Cha * Tod Windsor as Nevins *

Valentin de Vargas Valentin de Vargas (born Albert Charles Schubert; April 27, 1935 – June 10, 2013) was an actor known for appearing in films in the 1950s and 1960s. Two of his prominent roles were as a gangster threatening Janet Leigh in Orson Welles' ''Touch o ...

as Rivas * Ken Miller as Quill * Norman Dupont as Mossback * Roger Torrey as Turnbridge * Gregori F. Kris as Johnson * Caroline Kido as Myung Hee

Production

Don Cerveris was an English teacher breaking into screenwriting; one of his pupils was

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

. Producer Frenke sought Department of Defense cooperation for the film in 1960 when the project was originally titled ''The Nun and McGrath''. The stars of the film, Robert Webber and Hari Rhodes, and director Franklin Adreon were former Marines.

Notes

External links

* * * 1962 films Korean War films Films about the United States Marine Corps War adventure films Films about Catholic nuns Films about Catholicism Films about religion American black-and-white films Films directed by Franklin Adreon Films scored by Jerry Fielding 1960s English-language films {{Korea-war-film-stub