The Steel Helmet (1951)

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller

Release Date:

2 February 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

It's the REAL Korean Story!

Plot:

A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.

Plot Keywords:

Buddhist Temple | Sergeant | Korean War | Korean Boy | American Soldier

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Gene Evans	...	Sgt. Zack
Robert Hutton	...	Pvt. Bronte
Steve Brodie	...	Lt. Driscoll
James Edwards	...	Cpl. Thompson
Richard Loo	...	Sgt. Tanaka
Sid Melton	...	Joe
Richard Monahan	...	Pvt. Baldy
William Chun	...	Short Round
Harold Fong	...	The Red
Neyle Morrow	...	First GI
Lynn Stalmaster	...	Second Lieutenant

Directed by
Samuel Fuller

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Samuel Fuller

Produced by
William Berke	....	associate producer
Samuel Fuller	....	producer
Robert L. Lippert	....	executive producer (as Robert Lippert)
Murray Lerner	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Paul Dunlap

Cinematography by
Ernest Miller

Film Editing by
Philip Cahn

Art Direction by
Theobold Holsopple

Set Decoration by
Clarence Steensen		(as Clarence Steenson)

Costume Design by
Alfred Berke

Makeup Department
George Bruce	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Francis Murphy	....	assistant director (as John F. Murphy)

Sound Department
William H. Lynch	....	sound (as William Lynch)

Special Effects by
Ben Southland	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Ray Mercer	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Noble Craig	....	grip (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Robert L. Lippert Jr.	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Paul Dunlap	....	musical director

Other crew
Stanley Price	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Deputy Corporation

Distributors

• Lippert Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Weiss Global Enterprises (1979) (USA) (all media)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD) (as Eclipse from the Criterion Collection)
• Burbank Video (????-????) (video)
• Kit Parker Films (2004) (worldwide) (all media)

Also Known As:

"38ste breedtegraad" - Netherlands (alternative title)
"Acélsisak" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Casco de acero" - Spain
"Corea in fiamme" - Italy
"De hel van Korea" - Netherlands (alternative title)
"Die Hölle von Korea" - West Germany
"J'ai vécu l'enfer de Corée" - France
"Korea-patrulje" - Denmark
"Sergeant Zack" - Netherlands (imdb display title)
"Stålhjälmen" - Sweden
"Teräskypärä" - Finland
"To sidiroun kranos" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #14901) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Deputy Corporation

Trivia:

Although it looks like there are quite a bit more, there were actually only 25 extras in this picture, playing both American and North Korean soldiers, and all of them were students from UCLA (the battle scenes were shot in Griffith Park).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: (At 51:00) Sgt. Zack shoots a door in the temple but no holes appear in the door. In a subsequent scene he does the same thing to another door but this time there are holes in the door,

Quotes:

Sergeant Zack:Where's your people?
Short Round:With Buddha.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller (2002) (TV)

Strong effort

This movie feels a little dated but still powerful. Very evolved for a war movie of its time. Characters seem very real: the movie avoids stereotypes typical to war pictures. I thought the supporting characters were the strongest part of the movie. Manages to operate almost entirely independently of plot, focussing on character and situation instead. The very first scene is particularly arresting, and the abrupt beginning and partial ending are very effective at making the film feel real.