  
Combat! reviews by Jo
Davidsmeyer •
Episodes rated from 0 to 4 bayonets
(065) The Long Walk
Rating:
4 bayonets
Written by Peter Barry
Directed by Alan Crosland Jr.
First aired 15-Dec-1964
Episode 13 of Season 3
SYNOPSIS:
The squad picks up a wounded G.I., who
is really the leader of a specially trained group of German infiltrators. Larkin, a
boot-camp friend of Saunders, discovers the deception, but is gunned down by the
infiltrator. With his dying breath, he tries to warn Saunders. The infiltrator tricks the
squad into carrying him several miles to his rendezvous with his troops. But in the end,
Saunders' deception proves better than the German's.
REVIEW:
Saunders vs. an Aryan superman. Guess
who wins? Roddy McDowall as Murfree, the S.S. infiltrator, is both charming and chilling.
Though spending the bulk of the episode flat on his back, he gives an energetic and
engaging performance.
The first time I saw this episode, the ending took me by surprise. But even knowing the
"surprise," the episode holds up well on repeat viewing. Morrow does a superb
job of playing the many levels that this script requires. No moralizing or intellectual
introspection in this episode, just quality entertainment.
NOTES, ODDITIES, AND BLOOPERS:
· At end, Saunders walks off with an empty weapon.
· Last scene between Saunders
and the infiltrator, the bottle of wine that Saunders' holds switches hands between shots,
then just disappears.
· Littlejohn offers Murfree a
drink of wine from a corked bottle. In the next cut, Littlejohn drinks from the bottle,
which is suddenly uncorked.
· The bridge that crosses a dry
ditch in most episodes has water running under it. This is a spillway connecting the upper
and lower reservoirs of Franklin Canyon.
CAST:
Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders
Rick Jason as Lt. Hanley (does not appear)
Guest star
Roddy McDowall as Murfree
Conlan Carter as Doc
Dick Peabody as Littlejohn
William Bryant as Larkin
Maurice Marsac as Armand
Peter Brocco as Lambert
Chris Howard as German
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