All the Young Men ** (1960, Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier) – Classic Movie Review 12,247

Writer/ producer/ director Hall Bartlett’s 1960 Korean War feature film All the Young Men stars Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier, and explores the racial integration of the American military. Poitier plays rookie African-American Sergeant Eddie Towler, who is unexpectedly placed in command of the survivors of a platoon in the Korean War, and the story follows his struggle to win the trust and respect of his men.

Unfortunately, though full of good intentions and interest, it is an unpersuasive, clichéd, and cheap-looking war movie about prejudice and race conflicts when the US Korean War marine patrol is commanded by the rookie African-American Sergeant.

Alan Ladd, giving a bored-seeming performance as Private Kincaid, the veteran white soldier who is overlooked, is top billed, though his career was in decline with just three more films to go.

Poitier tries hard and is better, but he isn’t seen at his best either. The script, though well meaning, just isn’t subtle or intelligent enough to carry it.

The film is made by Alan Ladd’s Jaguar Productions. It did quite well at the box office, costing around $1 million and earning $2 million (US/ Canada). Columbia Pictures devised separate advertising campaigns for the film, one for white audiences and another for black audiences.

Also in the cast are Ingemar Johansson, Glenn Corbett, James Darren, Mort Sahl, Paul Richards, Richard Davalos [Dick Davalos], Paul Baxley, Ana María Lynch [Ana St Clair], Lee Kinsolving, Joseph Gallison [Joe Gallison], Charles Quinlivan, Michael Davis, Mario Alcade, and Maria Tsien [Maria McClay].

Hall Bartlett wrote the film as a vehicle for Sidney Poitier, and Columbia Pictures agreed to finance it if Bartlett rewrote the script for a white co-star. Bartlett found that the only major star prepared take the role was Alan Ladd, who, to his great credit, accepted and also produced.

The fascinating offbeat cast includes comedian Mort Sahl, who does a comedy routine, James Darren, who sings the title song, and boxer Ingemar Johansson in his American film debut (‘I just play myself’, said Johansson). Bartlett’s Argentinian wife Ana María Lynch plays a French Korean, Key West-born Mario Alcalde plays an American Indian, Hollywood-born Paul Richards plays a bigoted Southerner, and Blackfoot Indians play North Koreans.

It was shot was in Glacier National Park in Montana and at Mount Hood, Oregon.

The US Marine Corps provided Lieutenant Colonel Clement J Stadler, who had been awarded the Navy Cross in World War Two, as technical advisor.

Alan Ladd’s Jaguar Productions: Drum Beat (1954), Hell on Frisco Bay (1955), A Cry in the Night (1956), The Big Land (1957), The Deep Six (1958), The Man in the Net (1959), Island of Lost Women (1959), Guns of the Timberland (1960), and All the Young Men (1960).

The cast are Alan Ladd as Private Kincaid, Sidney Poitier as Sergeant Eddie Towler, James Darren as Private Cotton, Glenn Corbett as Hospital Corpsman Wade, Mort Sahl as Corporal Crane, Ana María Lynch as Maya, Paul Richards as Private Bracken, Richard Davalos as Private Casey, Lee Kinsolving as Private Dean, Joseph Gallison as Private Jackson, Paul Baxley as Private Lazitech, Charles Quinlivan as Lieutenant Earl D Toland, Michael Davis as Cho, Mario Alcalde as Hunter, Maria Tsien as Korean Woman, and Ingemar Johansson as Private Torgil.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,247

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