Something that is sadly more common than you might expect in Combat is the show wasting the talents of many well known guest stars. This episode is a great instance of this, as one of the characters featured is played by a noir icon, but his role in the episode is that of a cowardly writer who only seems to care about his own well-being. Dateline starts with Saunders and the others meeting up with an American captain who says his objective is to rescue a legendary war correspondent named Robert Barton, currently being held in a German POW camp. Saunders questions him as to how they're going to get Barton out and take on a whole german camp all by themselves, and the captain says he is going to allow himself to be taken into custody by the Nazis. The captain is aware that a previous american prisoner in the camp dug a tunnel in order to escape, and the captain knows where the tunnel is. He will get into the camp, escort Barton through the tunnel, and they'll both be home free. Unfortunately, as Saunders is escorting the captain to the objective, the latter steps on a mine and dies. Shortly after, a large gunfight erupts between the squad and a large group of germans. Saunders and the others try their best to use the crater left by the mine explosion as cover, but ultimately, they are subdued. After surrendering, Saunders and the others are brought to the POW camp the captain was meant to infiltrate. After they are herded into a very empty looking room (with what looks like horse stables), the men come across Barton himself (Dan Duryea), and Saunders says how the captain sent him to break him out of here. Because the captain is dead and has no way of telling Saunders where the tunnel is, Saunders has to locate it himself. After the germans check on the squad to make sure they're not trying to run away, Saunders discovers (by accident) that a furnace in the middle of the room is able to be moved around, and a different color of sand is hidden in the floorboards above the furnace, as opposed to the sand on the ground. The men help Saunders move the furnace and he finds there is a trap door underneath it. Confident they've found their escape route, they start attempting to open the trap door, but Doc alerts the others that the germans are coming back. Saunders manages to push the furnace back to its original spot just in time. Meanwhile, Barton is miserable because one of his legs is nearly broken, and he doesn't want to escape with Saunders. A german officer gives him morphine and tells him an ambulance is coming by at 8 pm to take him out of the camp. After the germans leave, Saunders investigates the tunnel, this time lowering himself into it. To his dismay, he finds the tunnel wasn't even finished and leads into solid rock. Adamant the captain knew what he was talking about when he said there is a finished tunnel somewhere, he keeps searching and eventually finds that smoke from Kirby's cigarette is going right through a certain portion of the wall where Barton is laying. Saunders pulls the wooden boards off the wall and discovers the real tunnel. It leads to a small opening just outside the camp, with the exit being concealed by shrubs. Saunders tries to convince Barton to leave with them, but he doesn't want to, saying the ambulance is coming for him in just a few minutes. Saunders forces him through the tunnel anyway, with the rest of the squad in tow. Almost immediately after everyone exits, the ambulance arrives, and the german officer in charge of the camp discovers the prisoners have escaped. Saunders and the others then trek through the woods on their way to safety, but are caught by a german. Barton, who tripped and fell just prior to this, manages to hide himself and distracts him long enough for Saunders to kill him. Back at a motor pool, Barton tells Saunders his leg is now much better and he's off to write a story about soldiers; not just World War 2. This episode was ok. It has a tendency to rely too much on shots of the squad on patrol or walking through a certain area, and some of the settings are way too simplistic. The building Saunders and the others are confined in is so barren looking it's sad. I know it's supposed to be a prison, but still. My main problem with the episode is how it wastes the acting abilities of Duryea. After seeing him in many noir movies, I know what he's able to do in front of a camera. Here, he's just a pathetic whiner, and sadly, his character is the hinge on which the whole episode swings. It's hard to like an episode when the focal point is a mediocre character, but it is what it is. This show has enough classics already.
5 Reviews
Comedy of Errors
jmarchese8 August 2014
Dateline is a story about the rescue of a war correspondent who's been captured by the Germans. Rumor has it Correspondent Barton (well played by Dan Duryea) possesses valuable information the Germans want. After Captain Reardon fails to get himself captured by the Germans in the same vicinity as where Barton is being held, Saunders and squad manage to get themselves captured and thrown into the same POW camp as Barton. Their objective is to get Barton out in short time through a tunnel which they must first locate.
I'm very critical of G-2 sending a captain to pull this off. The Germans would immediately grill someone of this rank and would most likely immediately move him to headquarters for interrogation. Better to send a sergeant or lower to accomplish the objective since the Germans would not consider one of such rank important.
I'm also very critical of the capture scene in that not one of the 4 squad members received so much as a nick. That literally made me laugh and goes well beyond the laws of ballistics.
Dateline lacks the essence of the Combat series in that other than the capture scene, there's not enough action. Even the mine scene looks phony in that they used a crater made by a large cannon projectile to approximate that of a land mine.
Vic Morrow and Dan Duryea have some good dialog, and their acting skills do them well, but Dateline suffers from a weak script and nothing can bring this one to life.
I'm very critical of G-2 sending a captain to pull this off. The Germans would immediately grill someone of this rank and would most likely immediately move him to headquarters for interrogation. Better to send a sergeant or lower to accomplish the objective since the Germans would not consider one of such rank important.
I'm also very critical of the capture scene in that not one of the 4 squad members received so much as a nick. That literally made me laugh and goes well beyond the laws of ballistics.
Dateline lacks the essence of the Combat series in that other than the capture scene, there's not enough action. Even the mine scene looks phony in that they used a crater made by a large cannon projectile to approximate that of a land mine.
Vic Morrow and Dan Duryea have some good dialog, and their acting skills do them well, but Dateline suffers from a weak script and nothing can bring this one to life.
Great Acting challenged by Weak Script
FloridaFred17 October 2017
Memorable acting by Don Duryea, Vic Morrow, Henry Beckman and the supporting cast keeps this episode moving along. Regrettably, the script is rather weak. The writers appear to have appropriated much of the story line from the movie, "The Great Escape". But unlike that screen classic, there are far too many improbabilities and absurdities in this episode of "Combat!".
The first disappointment for "Combat!" regulars is that "Dateline" lacks the battle scenes and action fights that make this such a great television show. There is one fire fight between the Germans and the Americans, but it stretches credibility (White Rook is under heavy fire from three sides, and how many are wounded?). There is also a scene wherein a land mine is detonated, but the crater from the blast looks more like something on the moon than the result of a land mine explosion.
Other parts of the story also come up short. Would the G2 send a Captain, and not a Sergeant, for this high-risk duty? Why isn't there any attempt by the Americans to overpower Major Mueller and his one and only disinterested Guard? Could an escape tunnel in a POW camp remain undiscovered by the Germans, especially after such a long time?
The script for "Dateline" is not up to the usual high standards of the "Combat!" scriptwriters. We might be tempted to reach for the off button at a couple of low points in the show, were it not for the great acting skills of Dan Duryea, Vic Morrow, and Henry Beckman.
I gave the entire "Combat!" series a vote of "10", but my vote for this episode is only a "6".
The first disappointment for "Combat!" regulars is that "Dateline" lacks the battle scenes and action fights that make this such a great television show. There is one fire fight between the Germans and the Americans, but it stretches credibility (White Rook is under heavy fire from three sides, and how many are wounded?). There is also a scene wherein a land mine is detonated, but the crater from the blast looks more like something on the moon than the result of a land mine explosion.
Other parts of the story also come up short. Would the G2 send a Captain, and not a Sergeant, for this high-risk duty? Why isn't there any attempt by the Americans to overpower Major Mueller and his one and only disinterested Guard? Could an escape tunnel in a POW camp remain undiscovered by the Germans, especially after such a long time?
The script for "Dateline" is not up to the usual high standards of the "Combat!" scriptwriters. We might be tempted to reach for the off button at a couple of low points in the show, were it not for the great acting skills of Dan Duryea, Vic Morrow, and Henry Beckman.
I gave the entire "Combat!" series a vote of "10", but my vote for this episode is only a "6".
Tunnel Rats
zsenorsock29 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is another one of those episodes where you wonder what Rick Jason ever did to get star second billing on the show. Once again he isn't in the show and is never referenced. (I'm surprised there was never an episode where the squad wasn't sent out to find the Lieutenant since no one's seen him in months) This time the squad has to escort a G2 intelligence officer behind enemy lines so he can be captured by the Germans! In a plan that sounds like it was devised by Maxwell Smart, the Captain plans to get himself captured so he can get into a nearby German prisoner holding area where they have captured top war correspondent Bob Barton (Dan Duryea, making his first of two appearances on "Combat!"). G2 knows of an unused escape tunnel in the holding area and plans to spirit Barton out in the middle of the night before the Germans discover his head is full of top secret information. But instead the G2 officer is killed and the squad is captured, so they try and take over the Captain;s mission--only to discover Bob Barton wants no part of it. He's terrified that he'll be killed.
Despite the ridiculous plan and the presence of not one but actually TWO tunnels the Germans have not discovered (and the fact the squad could easily overpower the officer--Henry Beckman--and the one guard they send in with him, take their guns and try to escape) the show is interesting thanks to the acting prowess of Duryea and Morrow. They do excellent work with what is essentially a weak script idea. It is not one of my favorite "Combat!" episodes, but they still make it worth watching.
Despite the ridiculous plan and the presence of not one but actually TWO tunnels the Germans have not discovered (and the fact the squad could easily overpower the officer--Henry Beckman--and the one guard they send in with him, take their guns and try to escape) the show is interesting thanks to the acting prowess of Duryea and Morrow. They do excellent work with what is essentially a weak script idea. It is not one of my favorite "Combat!" episodes, but they still make it worth watching.
Phony baloney
lor_9 August 2023
Vic and his men are assigned on an unusual mission, to get a captain played by Douglas Henderson into a German POW camp to rescue a prisoner, played by guest star Dan Duryea, who's a famous war correspondent privy to crucial Allied war plans.
It turns out that Vic and his men are taken prisoner and handle the derring-do of fashioning Duryea's escape. There's some suspense but it's a far-fetched story, with many hokey plot twists, never believable. Duryea turns out to be nothing but a pain in the neck in his role as a cynical coward. And Henry Beckman as the German major running the camp seems to be auditioning for a stereotyped role on "Hogan's Heroes".
It turns out that Vic and his men are taken prisoner and handle the derring-do of fashioning Duryea's escape. There's some suspense but it's a far-fetched story, with many hokey plot twists, never believable. Duryea turns out to be nothing but a pain in the neck in his role as a cynical coward. And Henry Beckman as the German major running the camp seems to be auditioning for a stereotyped role on "Hogan's Heroes".
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