Combat! episode reviews by Jo Davidsmeyer
Episodes are rated from 0 to 4 bayonets 

Written by Shirl Hendryx
Directed by Vic Morrow
First aired 19-Jan-1965
Episode 18 of Season 3

Guest Star Mike Kellin

SYNOPSIS:

As members of two combined squads await orders in a battered chateau, a sarcastic, poker-playing G.I. creates tension. Mike Kellin guests as Jackson, the embittered veteran of too many battles. Jackson's caustic behavior bothers everyone but a young soldier named Thomas, who willingly suffers Jackson's insults and commands. When Thomas takes Jackson's place on patrol with Caje, he dies saving Caje and proving, to himself and Jackson, that he isn't a coward.

REVIEW:

Vic Morrow takes another turn behind the camera in this story about an overbearing soldier with an unnatural control over a young G.I. "Losers Cry Deal" is not Morrow at his directorial best. He offers too many confusing images. The shots of Morrow in front of the swastika banner are disturbing. The swastika is too powerful a message in-and-of-itself to be used effectively for artistic statements. And why would an American squad would leave a Nazi banner dominating their rest area, instead of just ripping it down (as Caje does in "Beneath the Ashes.") The episode is heavy-handed with symbolism, including the moody passover of the bombers.

Vic Morrow puts in his usual strong performance in front of the camera. Jalbert is especially powerful in this episode, portraying Caje in charge of a squad and suffering the first casualty under his command.
The cast enjoyed working on the large set, which had originally been constructed for one of the big MGM musicals. "We filmed on that huge set for nearly a week," says Conlan Carter. "Big. If you look at it, we're up at the top of the stairs and we're down at the bottom and that whole room is humongous when you look at the depth and breadth of it."

NOTES, ODDITIES, AND BLOOPERS:

ABOUT FILMING THE EPISODE:

"Vic was one of the most deep, insightful actors, and as a director he was even probably more so, that I ever worked with," says Conlan Carter. "He was incredible. He had an intensity and a kind of underlying, volatility I guess is the best word for it. It was like he was going to explode at any minute and by keeping it contained he was so incredibly interesting to watch. He paid me probably the best compliment I've ever had in my career, and I say this with absolutely no humility. He said, "You give me more with a look than most actors give me with three pages of dialogue." We were not close friends in a personal sense, but I had tremendous respect for his talents and I will always remember him for that."

CAST:

Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders
Rick Jason as Lt. Hanley

Guest
Mike Kellin as Jackson

Jack Hogan as Kirby
Conlan Carter as Doc
Dick Peabody as Littlejohn
Pierre Jalbert as Caje

Tom Skerritt as Hicks
George Murdock as Marcus
Fletcher Fist as Johnson
Paul Hampton as Kelly
Paul Todd as Costello
John Bedford as Burton

and

Dee Pollack as Thomas