During the 2021 National Day holiday, near the 71st anniversary of the volunteer army's participation in the war in North Korea, the epic blockbuster "Chosin Lake" of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea landed in theaters across the country, winning wide praise and arousing heated discussions from all sides, and the box office is expected to exceed 5 billion. In addition to the commemorative significance of this film itself, what is even more valuable is that it is based on the theme of the Battle of Chosin Lake, the most tragic battle of the Volunteer Army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which can be called a major breakthrough in similar theme films.
■ Promotional poster for the film "Chosin Lake", which is the first film in China with the theme of the Battle of Chosin Lake.
So, as an opponent on the battlefield of Chosin Lake, did the Americans ever shoot a film and television work reflecting this battle? The answer is yes, and it was released 70 years before we do! In fact, before the end of the war, Hollywood produced a number of films set on Chosin Lake, the purpose of which was certainly not to reflect on the failure, but to eliminate the negative impact of the retreat of the US military from the north of Korea, with the "glorious deeds" of the First Marine Division breaking through from Chosin Lake as a gimmick to publicize and encourage and whitewash the war. Although Western war history works have no choice but to admit the strategic failure of the US 10th Army to reach the Sino-DPRK border when referring to the Battle of Chosin Lake, they do not hesitate to preach that the First Marine Division "successfully highlighting the siege of hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops is a great victory", and this argument of avoiding the heavy weight and neglecting the heavy and over-the-top of the literary scene also set the tone for Hollywood to shoot the theme film.
■ Officers and men of the US 1st Marine Division retreating from the Chosin Lake front.
The earliest American film about the Battle of Chosin Lake was Samuel Fuller's Tough Bayonet, based on John Broffie's novel of the same name, about a platoon of Marines blocking the attack of several Chinese divisions at Chosin Lake, and was released in November 1951. Constrained by a lack of budget and tight shooting schedules, the film became a naked war propaganda film, described by the current popular term as an "anti-Chinese drama", full of scandals against the volunteer army, and today's rating on IMDB is 6.9.
■ Volunteer officers and soldiers played by Vietnamese Americans in the film "Tough Bayonet".
Compared with "Tough Bayonet", "Never Retreat", which was also released in February 1952 and also based on the Battle of Chosin Lake, has a very different narrative style, the ideological color is relatively weak, the character portrayal is more objective, and it is unique among many Korean War films produced by Hollywood in the 50s and 60s to praise American heroes and demean the Chinese and North Korean armies, and from a modern perspective, this film is more similar to the Vietnam War anti-war films represented by "All Metal Shell" in the 1970s. Measured by the standards of good war films as anti-war films, it should be considered excellent, but the film's IMDB score is only 6.5 points.
■ Promotional poster for the film "Never Retreat", produced by Warner Bros.
Amazingly, the idea of "Never Retreat" began on December 7, 1950, when the Battle of Chosin Lake was not yet over, and the First Marine Division was still retreating south on the road, Warner contacted the Marine Corps Propaganda Department to propose a film reflecting the Battle of Chosin Lake, which was immediately endorsed and strongly supported by the Marine Corps. Former Marine and filmmaker Milton Spiellinger completed the script in August 1951, directed by director Joseph Lewis and starring film star Frank Wallerjoy. The Marines allowed the film crew to shoot inside Pendleton Barracks for six weeks, and deliberately opened a road to be sprinkled with plaster to simulate the frozen Chosin Lake Highway, and the site and equipment support provided by the military is estimated to be worth $1 million! The original English title of Never Retreat was Retreat, Hell! derived from the famous quote of Major General Oliver Smith, commander of the First Marine Division: "Fuck the retreat!" We didn't retreat! We're just attacking in the other direction! This sentence also became the line of the protagonist in the film. The Hollywood Distribution Office, which was reviewed, dismissed the title as indecent and initially rejected it, but maintained the original name at the insistence of the Marines.
■ The title of the film "Never Retreat" was initially questioned, but the military insisted on using the title.
■ Major General Smith (left), commander of the First Marine Division in the film "Never Retreat", the title of the film comes from his famous words.
The main plot of "Never Retreat" tells the whole process of a Marine Corps infantry battalion from conscription, training, and rushing to the battlefield until the defeat of Chosin Lake, and like "Chosin Lake", the first half paves the way for the plot, and the second half enters the battle, perhaps it is more appropriate to name it "Marine Corps Korean Conquest". There are three main characters in the film: male number one is Lieutenant Colonel Steve Corbett, a battalion commander played by Waller Joy, who is an experienced World War II veteran who has retired to work in the diplomatic service and was drafted into the army again after the outbreak of war; male number two is Captain Paul Hansen, a reserve officer played by Richard Carlson, who is also a World War II veteran and communications expert; and the third is Jimmy McDermid, a 17-year-old recruit played by Ruth Tambering, who falsely reported his age to join the army and hoped to follow his brother who also served in the Marine Corps.
■ A group photo of the three male protagonists in the film, in which Jimmy operates the US military M20 super Bazooka anti-tank rocket launcher.
Captain Hansen (right), who was re-recruited, was with the recruits.
The film opens with a brief background: the sudden outbreak of the Korean War prompted the U.S. military to mobilize urgently and recruit reservists into the army. The First Marine Division in California had only more than 3,000 men left after post-war disarmament, and more than 10,000 reserve soldiers needed to be recruited to replenish the shortfall, of which, with the exception of a small number of experienced World War II veterans, most of them were inexperienced 19-24-year-olds. Captain Hanson reluctantly bids farewell to his family and goes to the barracks to report to Lieutenant Colonel Corbett and is ordered to train new recruits in basic subjects such as shooting, assassination, bomb throwing, grappling and dismantling rifles. Historically, with the exception of the 5th Marine Regiment, which had earlier gone to operations on the Nakdong river and the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment transferred from the Mediterranean, the rest of the 1st Marine Division was organized in mid-August, and the recruits had only two weeks to train before landing at Inchon on September 15.
■ In the scene of the Seoul battle in the film, the KPA soldiers operate the Type 99 light machine gun to aim at the advancing Marines.
■ The bodies of marines killed in the Seoul Lane Battle in the film are placed on the side of the street.
After the training, Lieutenant Colonel Corbett led his battalion to participate in the landing at Inchon and the capture of Seoul, interspersed with many field-based news documentary clips, which not only saved costs but also added realism. Jimmy, who witnessed his comrades die in his arms during the fierce battle, once lost his courage, regained his morale with the encouragement of Captain Hansen, and used grenades to eliminate enemy snipers in the Battle of Seoul. Sadly, Jimmy found his brother in a pile of corpses. As winter approached, the battalion began to march north of Korea, and Captain Hansen's troops engaged in an encounter with the Volunteers, and after finding themselves at a disadvantage, they retreated decisively, leaving only a few corpses, and the first contact with the Chinese army made Hansen feel bad. The film's performance of the battle is quite objective, but according to the history of the war, the first Chinese soldiers encountered by the First Marine Division were several volunteer soldiers who were frozen and left behind.
■ In the film, Captain Hansen examines the remains of a sacrificial volunteer soldier.
■ In the film, the volunteer troops launched an attack on the American positions, and the volunteers' offensive formation was quite evacuated.
As the snow and wind shrouded the land, the nightmare of the First Marine Division began, and the volunteers launched a night attack on the positions of the Marine Battalion in the military trumpet and shouts, of course, we cannot expect the American director to restore the classic three-three offensive formation of the Volunteer Army, but compared with the future Korean god films and some domestic dramas of the sea of people scenes, the offensive formation of the volunteer army in the film is unexpectedly more evacuated. The American forward positions were successively captured, and the ammunition was about to run out, Captain Hansen asked the Marines to put on bayonets to prepare for hand-to-hand combat, and at the critical moment, the American fighters provided air support and helped the Marines hold the position with fierce air raids. After that, Lieutenant Colonel Corbett led his troops to retreat south along the mountain road. The volunteer troops infiltrating the rear of the front line have been waiting in a tight position on the hills on both sides of the road, taking turns to attack the American convoy, but the firepower gap between the two sides is huge, and the American army relies on trucks and armored vehicles, supported by the fire support of aviation and artillery, to repel the volunteer attack and successfully break through, and the film ends abruptly in the majestic background music.
■ The U.S. troops in the film use machine guns to inflict great casualties on the volunteers in positional defense battles.
■ In the film, volunteer soldiers ambush on the hill next to the road, preparing to ambush the retreating American convoy.
In general, "Never Retreat" accurately restores the process of the first marine division breaking through from the Chosin Lake area from the perspective of the US army, which is basically in line with historical facts, and the 26th Army of the Volunteer Army recorded in the post-war summary that due to the lack of artillery support and the impact of air raids, it was impossible to gather troops, and it could only use small troops to harass the US troops with small troops, and finally could not prevent the US troops from breaking through, which was consistent with the depiction of the film.
■ The image of the volunteer army in the film was not too much ugly and distorted, which can be said to be quite rare in the environment at that time.
"Never Retreat" was well received after its release, known as the top war film, critics believe that the film's grasp of rhythm and the performance of the war face foreshadows the trend of war films in the next 20 years, and under the vigorous promotion of the film, the film achieved a box office of 2 million, which was a considerable record at the time, and even inspired many young audiences to sign up for the Marine Corps. However, with the end of the Korean War, "Never Retreat" became obscure, so that it is not well known in the United States today. In the author's opinion, although this film avoids the heavy and light, does not tell the real reason for the defeat of the US army, and the performance of the volunteer army is superficial, it is still a relatively objective and suitable for domestic audiences to enjoy the AMERICAN version of "Chosin Lake", which is worth recommending.
■ The DVD packaging of "Never Retreat".