All the Young Men (1960)

During the Korean War, a platoon leader dies, leaving his inexperienced black Sergeant in charge of his squad of belligerent and racist white men.

Director:

Hall Bartlett

Writer:

Hall Bartlett

Stars:

Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, James Darren

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Ladd	...	Sgt. Kincaid
Sidney Poitier	...	Sgt. Eddie Towler
James Darren	...	Pvt. Cotton
Glenn Corbett	...	Pvt. Wade, Medic
Mort Sahl	...	Cpl. Crane
Ana María Lynch	...	Maya (as Ana St. Clair)
Paul Richards	...	Pvt. Bracken
Richard Davalos	...	Pvt. Casey (as Dick Davalos)
Lee Kinsolving	...	Pvt. Dean
Joseph Gallison	...	Pvt. Jackson (as Joe Gallison)
Paul Baxley	...	Pvt. Lazitech
Charles Quinlivan	...	Lt. Earl D. Toland
Michael Davis	...	Cho
Mario Alcalde	...	Hunter
Marie Tsien	...	Korean Woman

Storyline

During the Korean War, the lieutenant in charge of a Marine rifle platoon is killed in battle. Before he dies, he places the platoon's sergeant, who's black, in charge. The sergeant figures on having trouble with two men in his platoon: a private who has much more combat experience than he does, and a racist Southerner who doesn't like blacks in the first place and has no intention of taking orders from one.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to arizona | glacier national park | siege | platoon | sergeant | 

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Taglines:

All the young women will love all the young men !

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 August 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

All the Fine Young Men

Filming Locations:

Mount Baldy, White Mountains, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ladd Enterprises, Jaguar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hall Bartlett based the idea of the film on the integration of the military in the Korean War and created this film for Sidney Poitier whom he signed on with a contract and a percentage of the profits.

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Goofs

In several scenes a Chinese soldier was shooting a German WWII MP40 also known as a Schmeisser submachine gun. A Russian or a Chinese copy of a Russian weapon would have been used.

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Connections

Featured in Med krut i nävarna (1969)

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Soundtracks

Oh When the Saints
(uncredited)
Traditional
[Played on the record player]

User Reviews

The Stripes of Authority

All the Young Men is a film about a marine patrol in Korean War where the lieutenant in charge is killed in the first couple of minutes of the film. His last words are to tell the sergeant that he's now in charge, to complete a mission by taking a strategic farm house.

Seems natural enough, there's a sergeant who's the next ranking one on the scene. The joker in the deck is that this sergeant is black, played by Sidney Poitier. In 1951 the Armed Services were newly integrated and the civil rights revolution was but a few years off.

Poitier has the support of most of the men. Two he doesn't have, the first is southern redneck Paul Richards and the second is seasoned marine Alan Ladd. Ladd's the guy who should have been in charge, but Ladd hasn't the stripes of authority as he's been busted for doing things his way in the past.

The problem with the film is that Ladd just doesn't convey in it that he is a maverick spirit. We see him doing things in the Alan Ladd heroic mold and we're never given any reason to see why he wouldn't still be a sergeant and in charge. His problem with Poitier isn't racial, but there seems to be no reason for the conflict to be happening at all.

Alan Ladd and Sue Carol Ladd refused to see that he was growing older and had to transition into character parts. They kept him going in action films almost to the very end. In this case it was their own doing as Ladd's Jaguar Productions was a co-producer.

Even with an artificial conflict All the Young Men does have some good moments. In addition to Poitier, Ladd assembled a good cast of young players to guarantee some box office. Dick Davalos, Lee Kinsolving, Glenn Corbett and most of all current teen idol James Darren are some of the men on patrol.

Mort Sahl who was the Bill Maher of the 1960s plays the patrol radio operator and manages to work in some of his monologue from his comedy act into the film. Definitely some needed comedy relief.

And it has an appearance by the then heavyweight champion Ingemar Johanssen. During that year 1959-1960 he was champion, the Ladds befriended Johanssen and gave him a brief part in this film. It didn't lead to a movie career after Johanssen lost the championship back to Floyd Patterson while All the Young Men was still in theaters.