All the Young Men
| All the Young Men | |
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1960 theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Hall Bartlett |
| Produced by | Hall Bartlett Alan Ladd |
| Written by | Hall Bartlett |
| Starring |
Alan Ladd Sidney Poitier |
| Music by | George Duning |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Al Clark |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | over $1 million |
| Box office | $2,000,000 (US/ Canada) |
All the Young Men is a 1960 Korean War feature film starring Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier dealing with desegregation in the United States Marine Corps.
Poitier plays a U.S. Marine sergeant commanding a small, isolated and decimated platoon in the Korean War. The film explores the racial integration of the American military, centering on the African-American sergeant's struggle to win the trust and respect of the men in his unit.
When the platoon commander is mortally wounded in an ambush, he passes the role of platoon leader to the next highest ranking man, Sergeant Towler (Sidney Poitier). Towler initially feels the role should be taken by the combat experienced former Sergeant now Private Kincaid (Alan Ladd) who has eleven years of service as a Marine. However, Kincaid lost his former rank through misconduct and doing things his own way. Kincaid's prowess as a hero is demonstrated in the opening battle scene where he picks up a M1919 Browning machine gun and fires it from the hip into charging North Korean soldiers.
Before he dies, the Lieutenant reminds Towler that he is next in line for command, not Kincaid. One of the platoon, Pvt Bracken (Paul Richards), openly questions Towler's authority in favour of Kincaid.
With their radio destroyed in the ambush, Sgt Towler leads the ten survivors of the platoon to a house strategically located at a pass that the men can hold until the rest of the battalion arrives.
Hall Bartlett designed a film as a vehicle for Sidney Poitier, based on the integration of the military in the Korean War. Bartlett came up with the original story with Gene Coon and wrote the script himself. He aimed to make the film independently, though the exact start date was going to be dependent on Poitier's success in A Raisin in the Sun.
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Wikipedia