Personnel Changes: Gene Levitt

Gene Levitt started working as a writer for Combat! He was an experienced screen writer, having scripted the films Underwater Warrior (1958) and The Night Runner (1957), among others, as well as writing many television shows. He wrote the script for "Any Second Now," the first episode filmed after the pilot. He became producer of the series starting with the episode "Battle of the Roses," replacing the dismissed Robert Altman. He had a tough job to fill; Combat! was an extremely complicated show to film, especially at the budget the cash-strapped ABC alloted them. And there was friction with the cast: many of them had been hired by Altman, felt loyalty to him, and had respected his work.

Dick Peabody says of Gene Levitt, "He was a writer, and a good writer. I loved 'The Volunteer,' which he wrote. He and I never really hit it off. The day he walked on the set, I was leaning on a wardrobe rack, just sort of watching him approach. I'd never met him, but I knew who he was and he knew who I was. He came up to me and said, 'You know, you just gave me a look like Who the hell is this sonofabitch. What right does he have to take over the show?' Now, come on. Can you get convicted for just an expression on your face? Of course, that's exactly what I was thinking. He knew that I was Altman's friend. But Altman had told me, he said this guy, as soon as he takes over, he's going to hire somebody to do everything for him. He'll get a script consultant so somebody else can decide what scripts they're going to use. And he'll get people to do his job. And that's exactly what happened."

Gene Levitt clashed with Vic Morrow, especially over the coerced directing assignments. Rick Jason remembers that "Vic would do a show and he didn't care if he went six, seven, or even eight days. And it drove Gene up the walls, because Gene is the one who got the heat from it."

After leaving Combat! in 1966, Gene Levitt went on to write, direct, and produce in television and feature films. He directed the film The Phantom of Hollywood, whose plot centered around the demolition of a major studio and used the actual demolition of the MGM lots as its centerpiece. The movie includes the final screen appearance of the Combat! French village.