''Target Zero'' is a 1955 American war and

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Harmon Jones Harmon Clifford Jones (June 3, 1911 – July 10, 1972) was a Canadian-born film editor and director who worked for many years at the 20th Century-Fox studio in Southern California. He is credited as the editor for about 20 feature films through ...

and written by James Warner Bellah and Sam Rolfe.The film stars

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He was known for his starring roles in films noir and crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s, including '' Call Northside ...

, Peggie Castle,

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...

Richard Wyler Richard Stapley (20 June 1923 – 5 March 2010), also known by the stage name Richard Wyler, was a British actor and writer. Early life Stapley was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1923. A writer, Stapley published his first nove ...

, L. Q. Jones and

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Majo ...

. The film was released and published by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

on November 15, 1955.

Plot

During a

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 ...

retreat, United Nations relief worker Ann Galloway is knocked out for hours and her Korean assistant, Sue, killed after their car is forced down a hillside by enemy shell fire. As communist forces advance, she is rescued by the British crew of a U.S. Army M4A3E8 Sherman tank. They are then found by an American patrol led by Lt. Tom Flagler, a soldier's soldier, who is admired by his men. Finding themselves behind enemy lines, they try to break through to rejoin Easy Company on "Sullivan's Muscle," a prominent hilltop they occupy. On the way they acquire a lost mortar team, consisting of Private George and his loader, known only as the "Strangler". The British sergeant, Kensemmit, bears a grudge against American soldiers because one had misused his sister back in England. He is particularly contemptuous of Flagler. SFC Vince Gaspari vouches for Tom completely as a born leader, although he acknowledges Ann's conclusion that Tom cares about nothing other than his military duty is correct. By contrast the other two British tank soldiers, Harry Fontenoy and Cpt. Devon Enoch, both get along very well with the Americans, and criticize Sgt. Kensemmit for his unnecessary hostile attitude. Pvt. Geronimo, from the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

reservation in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

says to Private Felix O'Hara, a Southern-accented white American soldier, that Native Americans were in this war so that they could get practice fighting for the eventual day when they reconquer the United States. When the squad returns to "Sullivan's Muscle," Tom discovers that Easy Company has been massacred and their position in the line left open, leaving him dejected. However, under orders to hold the line until help can arrive, they dig the tank in, set up fire zones and are promised air and naval bombardment support. They are ready when the communists climb the hill and open fire, ambushing them at close range. After stopping the enemy with help from Air Force F-80 Shooting Star fighters and a Navy battleship firing its 16-inch guns from coastal waters 20 miles away, Flagler and Kensemmit reconcile their differences, with Kensemmit apologizing. In victory, Flagler and Kensemmit both come to realize that Ann represents the very kind of thing they have been fighting for all along.

Cast

as Lieutenant Tom Flagler * Peggie Castle as Ann Galloway *

as Sergeant First Class Vince Gaspari * Richard Stapley as Sergeant David Kemsemmit * L. Q. Jones as Private Felix O'Hara *

as Private "Moose" * John Alderson as Corporal Devon Enoch * Terence De Marney as Private Harry Fontenoy *

Strother Martin Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Among Martin's memorable ...

as Private Dan O'Hirons (uncredited) *

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the television series ''Family'' (1976–1980), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977� ...

as Private Strangler (uncredited) * Don Oreck as Private Stacey Della Nueva (uncredited) * John Dennis as Private First Class George * Angela Loo as Sue

Production

The F-80 Shooting Star aircraft were flown by the

120th Fighter Squadron The 120th Fighter Squadron (120 FS) is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard 140th Wing located at Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. The 120th is equipped with the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon. The squadron is a descendant organization ...

of the Colorado Air National Guard. The film was shot at

Fort Carson, Colorado Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Sprin ...

and in Arizona. This is an early appearance of Aaron Spelling, as one of the doomed mortar team. He went on to become a top producer in Hollywood.

Release

The film opened at the Paramount Theatre in New York City but only lasted 8 days with a gross of just $30,000.

References

External links

* * * {{Harmon Jones 1955 films Warner Bros. films American war drama films 1955 drama films Films directed by Harmon Jones Films scored by David Buttolph Korean War films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American black-and-white films