''Mission Over Korea'' is a 1953
American war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
released by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, directed by
Fred F. Sears, from a story by former war correspondent
Richard Tregaskis, author of ''
Guadalcanal Diary''. The film stars
John Hodiak
John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film.
Early life
Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...
,
John Derek
John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. ,
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
and
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a ...
.
The
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
provides the background, including combat footage photographed by producer Robert Cohn and a camera crew near the front lines. The prologue before the onscreen credits notes the film is "Dedicated to the Eighth United States Army, Fifth United States Air Force, Republic of Korea Army who made this film possible. To the men at Itazuki, Kwanju, Taego, Ouijanbu, Pusan, Inchon, Seoul where this story was photographed."
["Notes: 'Mission Over Korea' (1953)."](_blank)
''Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
.'' Retrieved: May 17, 2013.
Plot
In June 1950, while stationed at Kimpo, South Korea, Captain George Slocum finds out from his friend, Lieutenant Jerry Barker, that he has to go to Japan. At the airport, he meets Barker's younger brother, Pete, who takes up a
Stinson L-5 Sentinel
The Stinson L-5 Sentinel is a World War II-era liaison aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), U.S. Army Ground Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force. It was produced by the Stinson Division of the Vulte ...
liaison aircraft
A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages.
Operation
The concept developed before Worl ...
and begins showing off. George reprimands him for careless flying, but sticks up for him when the military police want to arrest Pete.
Pete later meets Kate, an Army nurse, while George's wife Nancy, is surprised by his sudden appearance. Both pilots receive news of North Korea's attack on South Korea and are ordered to Pusan, but are diverted to Seoul. En route, they land at bombed-out Kimpo to find a critically wounded Jerry, who dies when the two aircraft are attacked on the way to safety. Pete is devastated and vows to get back at the enemy.
On another mission, in unarmed L-5s again, Pete and George are flying the U.S. ambassador and the Korean president to safety, but are ambushed by enemy aircraft. George manages to skillfully fly low and force his pursuer into a hillside. Pete wants to take a more active role, rigging up a
bazooka
The Bazooka () is a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", th ...
under his wings, but when he attacks a group of tanks, despite having some success, he is shot down.
George reports the loss and attempts to convince Major Hacker to mount a rescue mission, but is turned down, as the base is now cut off and under constant attack. However, Pete makes it back to the base, with the help of a group of
South Korean Army
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...
soldiers. Both pilots continue to fly desperately needed supplies, but George is badly wounded in an attack on the base. Pete flies him out to a
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) were U.S. Army field hospital units conceptualized in 1946 as replacements for the obsolete World War II-era Auxiliary Surgical Group hospital units. MASH units were in operation from the Korean War to the ...
unit where he meets Kate again; she has to tell Pete that George succumbed to his wounds.
Pete comes back to the front, more determined than ever to take the fight to the enemy. When Private Swenson and Sergeant Maxie Steiner install a powerful radio in his L5, it allows Pete to signal fighter jets overhead that North Korean tanks are about to attack. The fighters destroy the enemy tanks, but the L-5 is shot up. A wounded Pete and Maxie make it back to the base, but crash on landing, barely making it out alive.
Cast
As credited, with screen roles identified:
*
John Hodiak
John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film.
Early life
Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...
as Captain George P. Slocum
*
John Derek
John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. as Lieutenant Pete Barker
*
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
as Kate, nurse-lieutenant
*
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a ...
as Nancy Slocum
*
Harvey Lembeck
Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on '' The Phil Silvers Show'' (a.k.a. ''Sgt. Bilko'', a.k.a. ''You'll Never Get Rich'') in the late 1950s, and ...
as Sergeant Maxie Steiner
*
Richard Erdman
John Richard Erdman (June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly in supporting roles ...
as Private Swenson
* William Chun as Kilamson Lee aka "Clancy", the base "mascot"
*
Rex Reason
Rex George Reason Jr. (November 30, 1928 – November 19, 2015) was an American actor best known for his role in '' This Island Earth'' (1955). He was the elder brother of actor Rhodes Reason.
Life and career
Reason was born in Berlin, Germany ...
as Major Jim Hacker
*
Todd Karns as Lieutenant Jerry Barker
* Richard Bowers as "Singing soldier"
Notable actors in uncredited roles include
Dabbs Greer
Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. Greer appeared in nearly 100 film roles and in nearly 600 television episodes of various series. He pl ...
as a pilot,
Chris Alcaide as an air force officer and
John Crawford as Tech Sergeant.
Production

''Mission Over Korea'' was a typical Fred F. Sears actioner, combining an array of stock footage with live action. As one of the many features that Sears helmed in a very short period, the film was a "B" feature, although it did star John Hodiak, Maureen O'Sullivan and future star John Derek. With principal photography done over a two-week span, from February 4–18, 1953 in California, the script was adapted to incorporate a portion of the 85,000 feet of location footage photographed by producer Robert Cohn and a camera crew near the Korean front lines.
[Smith, Richard Harland]
"Articles: 'Mission Over Korea' (1953)."
''Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
.'' Retrieved: May 17, 2013.
Most of the production work that remained involved merging the stock combat footage of
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
and
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
photography,
which featured Stinson L-5 Sentinels,
North American P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...
fighters standing in for
Yaks and
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...
aircraft.
Prior to the making of ''Mission Over Korea'', the song, "Forgive Me," the English version of a popular Japanese song
"Gomen-Nasai", was a minor hit record for Richard Bowers who appears as a soldier in the film and sings the song.
Reception
Like most of Sears' work, with its poor production values and stagey plot, ''Mission Over Korea'' was not well received. The review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', observed that the film being released at the time of the Korean armistice was "(a) belated, bedraggled salute to American Air Force valor during the early stages of the Korean conflict, this low-budget Columbia drama manages to stir up a stale, sophomoric batter of optimism, heroics and philosophical goo."
[H.H.T]
"Movie review: 'Mission Over Korea' (1953)."
''The New York Times'', September 19, 1953.
''Filmink'' called it "really good... has campy moments (eg Derek talking about wanting to napalm commies) but is full of interesting touches: it’s about spotter planes, which is different, there are genuinely exciting scenes and surprisingly interesting characterisation (Audrey Trotter’s tired, traumatised nurse), plus an emotional ending."
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Carlson, Mark. ''Flying on Film: A Century of Aviation in the Movies, 1912–2012''. Duncan, Oklahoma: BearManor Media, 2012. .
* Orriss, Bruce. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II''. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. .
* Wheeler, Winston Dixon. ''Lost in the Fifties: Recovering Phantom Hollywood.'' Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 2005.
External links
*
*
{{Sam Katzman
1953 films
American war films
American aviation films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about shot-down aviators
Films directed by Fred F. Sears
Korean War aviation films
1950s war films
American black-and-white films
Films about the United States Air Force
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
English-language war films
Films produced by Sam Katzman