Retreat, Hell!

Infobox Film
name = Retreat, Hell!


image_size =
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director = Joseph H. Lewis
producer = Milton Sperling
writer =
narrator =
starring = Frank Lovejoy
Richard Carlson
Anita Louise
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Warner Brothers
released = 1952
runtime = 94 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0045082

"Retreat, Hell!" is a 1952 American film about the 1st Marine Division in the Korean War directed by Joseph H. Lewis.

The film is the story of the putting together of a Marine Battalion sent to Korea who are gathered from various sources. It stars Frank Lovejoy as a career Marine battalion commander who at the beginning of the film is recalled from work at an American embassy, Richard Carlson as a veteran captain of World War II called up from the Marine Corps Reserves, Russ Tamblyn as a seventeen year old private who hides his true age to serve with the unit overseas and outdo his older brother also a Marine, and Ned Young as a Marine sergeant. Also appearing in the film is Peter Julien Ortiz a highly decorated Marine who served in the O.S.S. and appeared in several films.

The film's rapid pace begins with the formation and training of the battalion, the amphibious landing at the Battle of Inchon, the advance through North Korea where the Winter Chinese Communist Offensive sends the Marines into a fighting withdrawal, hence the title.

Variety called it a "top-notch war drama" for the way it balanced tense action with a more human face of the war, anticipating film-making trends that would become more common twenty years later. The film's running time is 94 minutes.

Production

With the U.S. Marine Corps' fight for life at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir against the Chinese Communist Forces offensive in the winter of 1950 being anxiously followed in the news of the day, Warner Brothers submitted a proposal on 7 December, 1950 to the Marines to make a film about the events. The Marines approved the request, with former Marine Milton Sperling producing and co-writing the film for his United States Pictures division of Warners. [ p.138 Suid, Lawrence H. "Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film" 2002 University Press of Kentucky] The Marine Corps worked closely with Sperling on the script giving it their approval in August 1951 and agreeing to six weeks of filming at Camp Pendleton where the film crew bulldozed a road and sprinkled the area with gypsum to simulate snow. The Marines also created accurate Korean villages for the film. Commandant of the Marine Corps Lemuel Shepherd estimated the value of the Marine cooperation at $1,000,000 US$. [ p.139 Ibid] . The Hollywood Production Code Office originally refused to approve the title because of its ban on the word "hell" but changed their mind after requests from the Marine Corps.

The film also features the efforts of the U.S. Navy and Royal Marines.

Director Joseph H. Lewis had been hired by Warner Brothers after the success of his film "Gun Crazy" but had not been given any assignment until this film. During World War II, Lewis directed US Army training films about the M1 Garand rifle that were shown well into the 1960s. [http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/11/local/me-19193]

ources

Variety editors. "Variety Movie Guide", Perigee Books edition, 2000

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0045082|title=Retreat, Hell!
*Commentary on Joseph H. Lewis's themes of the film http://members.aol.com/mg4273/lewis.htm#Retreat

Other references

Retreat, Hell is the motto of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. "Retreat Hell" is also a freeware role-playing game set around the year 2000 (but also featuring additions to allow for World War II scenarios) offering tactical, realism-oriented (as opposed to Arcade) rules for modern infantry warfare. The developers have recently released the third edition of the game under the title "Sierra Hell". Rules can be downloaded from the game's [http://members.chello.at/datajunt/sierra_hell/ website] .