(039) Bridgehead

RATING: 32 bayonets

Written by Edward J. Lakso

Directed by Bernard McEveety

First aired 09-24-63

Episode 2 of Season 2

SYNOPSIS:

In "Bridgehead," Saunders must take a German-held bridge against nearly insurmountable opposition, including resistance from private Hellar (Nick Adams). As squad members fall to enemy fire, Hellar's attitude toward the mission and to Saunders leadership grows more hostile.

REVIEW:

"Bridgehead" has all the elements of a great Combat! episode, plus the benefit of a script by Edward J. Lakso and direction by Bernard McEveety. Well-acted, carefully crafted moments abound: a genuine Saunders' patented pep-talk to a new squad member, Littlejohn's agonizing self-recrimination over a fatal blunder, Billie's fear under fire, and Doc's impassioned desire to shed his non-combatant role and seek vengeance. With all this going for it, "Bridgehead" should be top-notch. But these moments exist in isolation, never gelling into a cohesive whole.

This Combat! episode takes place in real-time (the action of the show takes approximately 55 minutes, the episode is approximately 55 minutes long). Saunders' mission must be completed within a set time. This should add tension, create a sense of urgency. But director McEveety, usually so skilled at developing pace, inexplicably lets the action meander from one corner of the battle to another.

A major detriment to the episode is the character of Hellar, portrayed by Nick Adams. Adams' performance is fine. He ably embodies this jazzman's arrogance, ego, and wise-cracking insubordination. He is a laid-back shirker, which makes keeping an intense pace difficult. Nothing makes this character move fast, so scenes with him break the tension. His eleventh-hour redemption and self-sacrifice are predictable. He is a distraction from what might have been a breath-taking episode, a story as moving as "Hills Are For Heroes," whose plot is similar to "Bridgehead."

Doc and Billy have the best moments in this episode. Tom Lowell embodies the fear of a young man facing certain death. He is compelled to fight on, not by duty or honor, but by the sheer will of an angry Sergeant. Despite uncontrollable shaking and tears, he does his job. His fellow soldier, older and more mature, meets the same challenge and fails, spending much of the episode huddled in a corner. Conlan Carter gives us a Doc that dispels any lingering memory of Steven Rogers' sensitive, introspective medic. Carter's Doc rails against the non-combatant role imposed on him by regulations. Not a passive man by nature, in this episode he has reached his limit, unable to sit and watch the casualties mount. He wants a weapon, he wants to fight back. Carter convincingly shows the mixed desires and fears of this complex character: tender and compassionate as he deals with Littlejohn's wounds (physical and emotional), then vengeful as he craves blood for blood. It's a great scene, for awhile; but it is weakened by Doc's quick acquiescence to Hanley's pep talk. How real was his anger when just a few sentences from Hanley can restore his reason and good nature?

NOTES, ODDITIES, AND BLOOPERS:

· Billy's father apparently recovered from his death in "The Celebrity," since Billy talks about a recent letter from his father.

· Continuity: Doc bandages a wounded Kirby before Kirby is wounded.

· Hanley talks about the other squads' activities; I was beginning to think that this was the most understaffed platoon in the US army.

· Would someone please get Saunders a knife! He often mooches blades from his men and in this episode mooches a bayonet from the Hanley.

· Joey Walsh, who plays Johnson, returns in fourth-season's "Hills Are For Heroes." Noam Pitlik (Pvt. Scott) appears in third season's "Beneath the Ashes."

· This episode contains the oddest character-exposition dialogue of the series. Hellar says "It's all a matter of direction. You stick your neck into a lion's mouth and you come up without a head. Me, I'm a south-bound fellow in a north-bound world." Huh?

ABOUT FILMING THE EPISODE:

"I want a rifle. That was my big line," says Conlan Carter. "Me, I didn't care about shooting a gun. I'd never played a medic before. I'd done so many westerns and got to shoot a gun a lot."

Tom Lowell: "Nick Adams was very nice, easy to work with. Working with Adams and Vic Morrow was a real treat. They were, to a degree, similar in their acting styles. You're talking about television series acting. You don't get a lot of rehearsal time, so there's not a lot of time to really develop your character. You have to do that all on your own. But it's obvious that people like Vic and all those guys really did their homework."

CAST:

Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders

Rick Jason as Lt. Hanley

Nick Adams as Pvt. Mick Hellar

Jack Hogan as Kirby

Tom Lowell as Billy Nelson

Dick Peabody as Littlejohn

Conlan Carter as Doc

Noam Pitlik as Pvt. Gene Scott

Paul Busch as German Sergeant

Joey Walsh as Pvt. Jack Johnson

Richard Jury as Pvt. Wayne Shrope

Fred Harris as Cole