United States
1951
84 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
English
The Steel Helmet marked Samuel Fuller’s official arrival as a mighty cinematic force. Despite its relatively low budget, this portrait of Korean War soldiers dealing with moral and racial identity crises remains one of the director’s most gripping, realistic depictions of the blood and guts of war, as well as a reflection of Fuller’s irreducible social conscience. So controversial were the film’s comments on domestic and war crimes (American bigotry, the Japanese-American WWII internment camps) that Fuller became the target of an FBI investigation.
| Sergeant Zack | Gene Evans |
| Private "Conchie" Bronte | Robert Hutton |
| Lieutenant Driscoll | Steve Brodie |
| Corporal Thompson | James Edwards |
| Sergeant "Buddha-Head" Tanaka | Richard Loo |
| Joe, Second GI | Sid Melton |
| Private Baldy | Richard Monahan |
| The Red | Harold Fong |
| First GI | Neyle Morrow |
| Director | Samuel Fuller |
| Screenplay | Samuel Fuller |
| Producer | Samuel Fuller |
| Cinematography | Ernest Miller |
| Editing | Philip Cahn |
| Associate producer | William Berke |
| Art direction | Theobold Holsopple |
| Music | Paul Dunlap |
It is a good time to belong to the cult of Fuller. Those of us who consider ourselves members never forget our moment of induction. Some enlisted when his films first hit the screen—lucky enough to catch The Steel Helmet in a shabby downtown theater, or Forty Guns at . . .
Instead of calling “Action!” Samuel Fuller discharged a Colt .45 in the air. It was the first scene he had ever directed, on the set of I Shot Jesse James (1949), and he knew the importance of a good opening—“If a story doesn’t give you a hard-on in the first couple of scenes, throw it . . .
Displaying 0 discussion topics.
