The Films of Samuel Fuller. Lisa Dombrowski
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fit neatly into defined genres and feature tight, causally-driven plots free of the narrative digressions, didacticism, and offbeat humor that cropped up in various Lippert films. While Fuller’s dialogue remains punchy and his protagonists gruff, increased use of subjective narration, particularly in Fixed Bayonets, encourages greater alignment with his primary characters. Visually, Fuller’s films continue to develop the diverse staging strategies previously seen in The Baron of Arizona, as both long takes with camera movement and analytically edited scenes enable action to be fully covered from a variety of angles and shot scales. Fox’s state-of-the-art equipment, sound stages, and highly trained crews encouraged Fuller to craft intricately choreographed shots featuring extended tracking and craning as well as movement by multiple characters, shots he simply did not have the resources to attempt while at Lippert. At the same time, dialogue-heavy scenes are more likely to feature multiple camera setups and cuts from establishing shots into and out of tighter framings—conventions developed at the studios to ensure quality scene construction—rather than simply an extended master shot with inserts. The pressure to conform to classical norms during the Fox years smoothes many of Fuller’s rougher edges, resulting in the most elegant films of his career. Nevertheless, given the proper encouragement and appropriate story material, Fuller was still able to craft distinctively idiosyncratic films under the studio system, films that forcefully deliver truth and emotion.
Return to War: Fixed Bayonets
Fuller’s first picture for Fox, Fixed Bayonets, functioned as a transitional film, exploiting many of the same elements as The Steel Helmet while introducing Fuller to production on a larger scale. Released less than a year after the premiere of The Steel Helmet, again set during the ongoing Korean War, and starring the same grizzly, up-and-coming actor, Gene Evans, Fixed Bayonets appeared positioned to capitalize on its predecessor’s success. Production values were low for a Fox film but significantly higher than Fuller was used to at Lippert, and they are evident on the screen. Fuller still lacked a star-studded cast, shot the entire film on two sets on a single soundstage, and had one of the smallest budgets of any Fox picture that year; nevertheless, he enjoyed a two-month shoot and a $685,000 budget—more than triple his previous schedules and production costs—as well as access to a crane for the first time.6 The larger cast; swooping, intricately choreographed long-take cinematography; fake ice and snow; large munitions explosions; and realistic, functioning tanks all distinguish Fixed Bayonets from its lower-budgeted predecessor.
Fixed Bayonets follows a platoon left behind as a rear guard decoy on a snowy mountain pass as its soldiers attempt to hold off the North Korean army long enough to let the rest of the brigade escape. Leading the platoon are a lieutenant, two sergeants, and a corporal, Denno (Richard Basehart), who fears to assume command and cannot bring himself to kill. After the rest of the brigade has left, the platoon splits into two squads, one of which, led by Sergeant Lonergan (Michael O’Shea), establishes a series of observation posts and digs in; the other, led by Sergeant Rock (Gene Evans), sets mines in a pass, goes out on patrol, and holes up in a cave. In between enemy bombardments, the soldiers in the cave huddle together to keep warm, drink weak coffee, eat bad chow, massage their feet to ward off frostbite, and sleep when they can. A sniper kills the lieutenant, and Denno confesses to Rock that he is afraid of ever having to be responsible for the lives of other men. Rock tells him, “You gotta have the guts to lead.” After snipers bring down Lonergan in the middle of the minefield and a medic is blown up trying to retrieve him, Denno crosses the minefield to save him, proving he has guts but failing to keep Lonergan alive. Following another enemy artillery strike, a bullet ricochets through the cave and kills Rock, leaving Denno in command with just an hour left to hold back the enemy. As the platoon packs up to retreat, North Korean scouts and a tank come through the mountain pass. Denno devises a plan to take out the tank, kills his first enemy soldier, and earns the respect of his men. As the exhausted and injured platoon rejoins the rest of the brigade, Denno remembers Rock’s words: “Ain’t nobody goes out looking for responsibility. Sometimes you get it whether you’re looking for it or not.”
Fixed Bayonets is one of Fuller’s tightest plots and, when compared with The Steel Helmet, demonstrates how the classical narrative conventions championed by the major studios affected Fuller’s writing style. Working from a treatment written by Sy Bartlett, Fuller drafted an original outline for the story, the screenplay, and two revisions. Zanuck worked closely with Fuller during script development, focusing the narrative on Denno’s fear of command and arguing that nothing in the story must “cover or make fuzzy” this primary theme.7 In his notes on Fuller’s original outline, Zanuck suggested the plot structure, the use of voice-over, and the content of the final scene, all of which Fuller incorporated into his subsequent scripts. As a result of Zanuck’s oversight, absent from Fuller’s second Korean War film are the racially mixed unit, episodic plot, digressive episodes, and didactic interludes that characterized his first. In their place are more typical character types (the loud-mouth from Brooklyn, the wide-eyed farm boy) and a causally driven plot that carefully guides the viewer through the story.
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