Retreat, Hell! *** (1952, Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise, Russ Tamblyn, Ned Young) – Classic Movie Review 13,461

‘Retreat, hell! We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.’ Joseph H Lewis’s 1952 American black and white Korean War film Retreat, Hell! stars Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson and Russ Tamblyn.

‘Retreat, hell! We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.’ Director Joseph H Lewis’s 1952 American black and white Korean War film Retreat, Hell! stars Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise, Russ Tamblyn, and Ned Young.

It stars Frank Lovejoy as a career Marine battalion commander, Richard Carlson as a veteran captain called up from the Marine Corps Reserves, Russ Tamblyn as a 17-year-old private who wants to outdo his Marine older brother, and Ned Young as Sgt Novak.

A battalion of stock characters battles in the Korean War in this downbeat, stark and sombre action war drama, with familiar situations and plotlines dictated by the historical facts of the story. But it is lifted above the routine by an observant, intricate, busy script by the film’s producer Milton Sperling and Ted Sherdeman, and director Joseph H Lewis’s focused and inventive direction, with some imaginative touches.

It tells the story of battalion of US Marines, who, after their training, land at Inchon in 1950, and advance into North Korea but retreat back to the 38th parallel from the Changlin Reservoir after a Chinese attack.

Director Lewis gives it a lively pace and combines old newsreel and new studio footage to a strong effect. Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson and Russ Tamblyn make something of their thinly-etched characters as battalion commander, regular-guy captain and brave rookie.

Also appearing in the film is Peter J Ortiz, a highly decorated Marine who acted in films after retiring from the military.

The characters are fictional, but the film tells the true story of the 1st Marine Division’s battles at Inchon and Seoul and can be seen as one of the most realistic movies about the Korean War, thanks to Marine Corps co-operation in the script and production, providing location filming at Camp Pendleton on the Southern California coast, as well as financial support.

The script attempts diversity. Richard Carlson’s character is a Norwegian-American from Minnesota, and Ned Young’s character is Sergeant Novak, a name of Slovak origin.

Warner Bros hired Joseph H Lewis after his 1949 success with Gun Crazy and eventually assigned him this film as he had directed US Army training films about the M1 Garand rifle in World War Two.

Frank Lovejoy’s character Lt Col Steve Corbett says: ‘Retreat, hell! We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.’ In real life, this was said by Major General O P Smith, Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

The cast

The cast are Frank Lovejoy as Lt Col Steve L Corbett, Richard Carlson as Captain Paul Hansen, Russ Tamblyn [Rusty Tamblyn] as PFC, later Cpl Jimmy W McDermid, Anita Louise as Ruth Hansen, Nedrick Young [Ned Young] as Sergeant Novak, Lamont Johnson as Captain ‘Tink’ O’Grady, Robert Ellis as Shorty Devine, Paul Smith as Andy Smith, Peter Ortiz as Major Knox, Dorothy Patrick as Eve O’Grady, and Peter J Ortiz.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,461

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