The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)

Set during the Korean War, a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension.

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

Valentine Davies (screenplay), James A. Michener (novel)

Stars:

William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Holden	...	Lt. Harry Brubaker
Grace Kelly	...	Nancy Brubaker
Fredric March	...	Rear Adm. George Tarrant
Mickey Rooney	...	Mike Forney
Robert Strauss	...	Beer Barrel
Charles McGraw	...	Cmdr. Wayne Lee
Keiko Awaji	...	Kimiko
Earl Holliman	...	Nestor Gamidge
Richard Shannon	...	Lt. (j.g.) Olds
Willis Bouchey	...	Capt. Evans (as Willis B. Bouchey)

Storyline

It is the Korean War and Lt. Harry Brubaker is a fighter-bomber pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Savo Island. A WW2 veteran and Naval Reserve pilot, he was drafted back into service from civilian life. This makes him quite resentful and cynical about the war. Now he has a dangerous mission to perform, and he is not sure he is up to the task.

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Plot Keywords:

lighting a cigarette | aerial camera shot | pilot | fear | bridge | 

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Taglines:

Jets Dare Danger Over Korea!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

For realistic close-up shots, William Holden learned how to taxi a fighter on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

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Goofs

In the scenes in sickbay after Brubaker is rescued, both CAG and Forney (A Chief Petty Officer) are seen wearing their hats. This is a horrible breach of Naval etiquette since removing one's hat in sickbay is a sign of respect for the sick or dying.

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Quotes

Lt. Harry Brubaker: I'm a lawyer from Denver, Colorado.
Mike Forney: Judas, how'd you wind up in a smelly ditch in Korea?
Lt. Harry Brubaker: I was just asking myself that same question.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: With Task Force 77 U.S. Navy Off the coast of Korea November, 1952

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Connections

Featured in Living Famously: Grace Kelly (2002)

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Soundtracks

Jingle Jangle Jingle
Written by Lilley/Loesser
Played in Japan at the bar
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Officer Down

There's a moment in Mark Robson's The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) when the viewer begins to seriously suspect that the protagonist of this story, Harry Brubaker (William Holden) isn't going to see his wife and children again. Set in the second half of the "Police Action" known as the Korean War, when both the United Nations' forces and the Communists were locked in a stalemate, Brubaker, a disgruntled lawyer, called up to fulfill his reservist duty as a pilot on an aircraft carrier, fumes at the injustice of having to fly again. "I've done my part!" Lt. Brubaker seethes at his commanding officer. Nothing will stop him from his boiling resentment, nor can he stop thinking about his family; his wife (Grace Kelly) and two daughters come to see him on liberty in Japan, only adding to his internal misery.

Then there are the heavily defended bridges that channel freight through a mountain range in North Korea. To attack the bridges, the carrier pilots must fight their way through murderous anti-aircraft fire. The bridges are important, but more than that, they symbolize how far the U.S. and its allies are willing to go to defeat the Communists.

And this will cost lives.

In this age of computer-generated wizardry, the special effects of BTR really stand up. Using models for jet aircraft attacking the bridges actually works here; the viewer gets the feel for the claustrophobic geography of the place where the aviators must strike. The movie is filmed extensively on one of the navy's Pacific Fleet carriers, adding to the general realism.

But good SFX won't take away the sting of the tragic end Brubaker faces, first in his learning of how hard it will be to survive the attack, then as the North Koreans close in on him after being shot down. The rescue chopper's pilot (Mickey Rooney), also shot down, hunkers in a muddy drainage ditch with Brubaker, taking shots at the North Koreans while dodging grenades lobbed at them.

The last third of the movie is excruciating to watch. And to think this was made in the land of vanilla, the early 1950s!

My recommendation is to see The Bridges at Toko-Ri with your expectations of a happy ending locked away, and your appreciation of the real pilots who fought in this dirty, little war way out front. As Brubaker's commanding admiral (Frederick March) says in quiet and emotional admiration, "Where do we get these men?"

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean

Release Date:

December 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Filming Locations:

USS Kearsarge, Pacific Ocean

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,700,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Perlberg-Seaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1