Music directorHans J. Salter Duration CountryUnited States
WriterWalter Doniger, John C. Higgins, Pat Frank Release dateJuly 29, 1956 (1956-07-29) (U.S.) CastJohn Payne (Capt. Sam McKenzie), Chuck Connors (Sgt. Ekland), Peter Graves (Lt. Lee Couzens), Mona Freeman (Anne Franklin McKenzie), Robert Easton (Ackerman, a soldier) Similar moviesM*A*S*H, Rebecca, The Order, The Front Line, Queen and Country, Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
Hold back the night
Hold Back the Night is a 1956 American war film about the Korean War based on the 1951 novel by Pat Frank, who had been a war correspondent in Korea. The film was directed by Allan Dwan; his third film with John Payne and his third film about the United States Marine Corps. The earlier films about the Marine Corps were Abroad with Two Yanks (1944) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).
The film tells the story in flashbacks of a bottle of Scotch carried by a World War II and Korean War Marine, Captain Sam MacKenzie.
Production
The film was shot with the cooperation of the United States Marine Corps at the Mountain Warfare Training Center at Pickel Meadows, California that recreated the events of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Allied Artists originally approached the Marine Corps for assistance after the book's initial release. The Corps turned down cooperation with the producers as they felt the film was too close to the recently filmed Retreat, Hell!. Though Allied Artists contemplated rewriting the film to involve the US Army, they shelved the film for a few years with the Corps cooperating. Sequences of the film were also shot at Bronson Canyon with artificial snow.