User reviews

A company of the British Army is ordered to hold off the entire German army in North Africa while Raymond Francis -- called "The General" int he movie, but presumably intended to be Montgomery -- can get the rest of the British Army off their.... well, moving.

With explosions aplenty, what's most interesting about this Hammer film is how it tries, mostly successfully, to maintain the illusion of it taking place in North Africa, while being shot in the moorlands around Aldershot, where the British Army did a lot of training. There's smoke to obscure what's going on in the background. The camera shoots the players mostly in close-ups, or inside of tents, or occasionally at a high enough angle that obstructions hide the background. The clear shots show a very English-looking countryside, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that there are place that look like that in Tunisia.

I don't believe that the average movie-goer would have noticed those things. It's a pretty good, if generic, war flick.

This tale of a "bunch of shagged-out expendables" was first of a trio of sweaty war movies made by Hammer. Rather than the flamboyant colour of their horror films Michael Carreras for his debut feature as director presumably deliberately opted for murky black & white.

"The Steel Bayonet" is a very simple but well made WWII action film. In many ways, it's tense and exciting like another British war film, "Zulu" as both are about British soldiers who are badly outnumbered but somehow manage to hold tight and complete their missions.

When the story begins, a badly decimated group of British soldiers in North Africa have finally been pulled off the front lines for rest. However, almost immediately, they are called back into action for a special mission--to secure an observation post and hold it until told to leave. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered badly and their odds of success seem very slim.

This is a simple and well made film. My only complaint is a couple times, grenades land only a few feet from the Brits and after exploding, the men are just fine! Kids, don't try this at home...you will NOT survive! Overall, well worth your time and competently made.

Another film watched for The House of Hammer" podcast, "The Steel Bayonet" sees Hammer still flicking between low budget black and white films and full colour expensive affairs like "The Curse of Frankenstein". Despite being one of the former, I quite enjoyed "The Steel Bayonet" and thought it prime for a remake. I should also say that there are two versions of the film on Youtube at the moment. I'd suggest that, if possible, you should watch the colourised version. (Normally I hate those, but the overall quality of both the visual print and audio track are far superior).

Towards the end of the North African campaign of World War 2, a depleted force, led by Major Alan Gerrard (Leo Genn) is tasked with securing and defending a small farmstead. The farm is of key strategic importance as Military intelligence believes that the Germans are massing a larger army to lead a counterattack. From the farms water tower, Artillery Captain Mead (Kieron Moore) can call in strikes on the advancing Afrika Korps, but they eventually become aware of his position.

I thought that this was a really good war film, betrayed slightly by its filming location being somewhere in rural England and certainly not the North African desert. The main performances are really good, though on the version I watched it was unfortunate that the poor stock meant I couldn't tell a lot of the soldiers apart, so when they began to die it didn't mean as much to me as it might have. (I had no idea Michael Caine was in it until I read the Wikipedia page). It's a good story though, of heroism and sacrifice, and is perhaps surprisingly critical of the war office, given how soon after the conflict the film was made.

It's the first of these Hammer films that I've thought was crying out for a remake. A more genuine filming location and a little more realism in the dying acting is all that's required. As it was though it was a nice surprise and one of the few I'd actively recommend.

I saw this film at the cinema in 1963 - it was still doing the rounds since it was first released in 1957. Many young people, at the time, had an abiding interest in films about the Second World War.

What struck me most about the film was its realism, and how well acted it was - Leo Genn has always been a fine actor, especially when playing Military Officers. He, himself, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

The realism came in the form of the worthy absence of propaganda and social comment, and there were no staged heroics, nor poignant moments, that are sometimes designed the make the actors look good.

I think the film was shown as a second feature and had a 'A' certificate - which would have been equivalent to a 'PG' today.

The British Film Industry is always something I have been interested in, and I like to watch some films two or three times, but I have never seen this film again since I first saw it at the cinema. It has never been released on DVD, and I am surprised that it has never become a classic and that I have never seen it shown on television.

This really is a very good film. It's got everything a WWII war movie should have. You can almost feel that you are actually in situ when events take place. One not to miss.