Suicide Battalion (1958)

Director:

Edward L. Cahn

Writer:

Lou Rusoff (writer)

Release Date:

February 1958 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

To hell with orders... we ATTACK!

Plot:

Second World War drama, set in the Philippines about a group of men recruited for the dangerous mission...

Plot Keywords:

WWII

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mike Connors	...	Maj. Matt McCormack
John Ashley	...	Pvt. Tommy Novello
Jewell Lain	...	Elizabeth Ann Mason, Photographer
Russ Bender	...	Sgt. Harry Donovan
Bing Russell	...	Lt. Chet Hall
Scott Peters	...	Pvt. Wally Zagorsky
Walter Maslow	...	Pvt. Marty Green
John McNamara	...	Lt. Col. Craig
Clifford Kawada	...	Japanese
Bob Tetrick	...	Pvt. Bill (Capt. Hendry's orderly)
Marjorie Stapp	...	Southern Blond
Jan Englund	...	French Blond
Isabel Cooley	...	Julie, Filipino brunet
Hilo Hattie	...	Mama Lily
Sammee Tong	...	Papa Lily (as Sammy Tong)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

Zuma Productions

Movie Connections:

Remade as Hell Raiders (1968) (TV)

Cheap ,shoddy and lacking in quality

A quick look at the Edward L Cahn section of this site reveals that he was notably prolific and in the year this movie was made -1958-churned out 5 other titles and maintained a similar rate for much of his career.Quantity rather than quality was a feature of his movie making and this has little to recommend it .

It is a curiously immobile film with much of the footage consisting of actors reciting rather dull dialogue in front of a static camera .The picture is clearly drive -in movie fodder and I suspect it was the bottom half of a double bill alongside a beach party or horror flick of similar dullness and lack of skill.

Set in the Pacific during World war Two it deals with the eponymous battalion who are sent behind enemy lines to prevent key strategy papers falling into Japanese hands .The actors are mostly youthful and good looking ,designed to appeal to a teen audience but possessing little grasp of the dramatic arts .Tension arises when the hard bitten commander Major McCormack (Mike Connors)clashes with second in command Lieutenant Hall (Bing Russell)in part over a mutual interest in a woman war photographer Elizabeth Mason (Jewell Lian)and there is a tiresome sub plot about a marriage between a young GI ,Tommy Novello (John Ashley)and a native girl . The acting is atrocious -apart from Russ Bender as the experienced Sergeant .Battle scenes use obvious stock newsreel footage and the whole movie is shoddy badly staged and a waste of time for the audience suckered into watching it