User Reviews

When the radio of a British unit is broken, Sgt. Saunders and his squad are assigned to cross the German lines and inform the British commander to leave the train depot that they are protecting and retreat to Iceland since the German will massively attack the area. Saunders meet the arrogant British Capt. Johns that orders the American squad to stay to help them to protect the strategic train depot despite Saunders information. What will happen to the Allied unit?

"What Are the Bugles Blowin' For?: Part 1" is an excellent episode of "Combat!", with a story that discloses rivalry between British and American units in World War II; the danger of a fanatic captain looking for glory at any price; and the other side of the chain of command. The action scenes are impressive for a 1964 television show. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Para Que as Cornetas Estão Soando? – Parte 1" ("What Are the Bugles Blowin' For?: Part 1")

What Are the Bugles Blowin' For ? is one of the better Combat episodes made. First of all the special effects of A.D. Flowers are superbly graphic and intense. Again, I doubt the episode could have been made without his input.

Secondly, the cannon fire at the beginning is actual WW 2 footage - a massive salvo to lead off !

Saunders and his squad must break through to the north and deliver orders for English Captain Johns (played by Ronald Howard) to retreat. Upon arrival, Johns will not follow the orders because he cannot confirm them by radio. We see the English-American rivalry just as in the movie Patton between Generals Patton and Montgomery. Captain Johns is a glory seeker and ends up needlessly endangering numerous lives to hold a train depot. Interesting how a Captain can disobey orders in the event he does not get them by voice to voice communication from superiors.

Furthermore, Johns orders Saunders to stay and help fortify the train depot position. The Sarge has all he can do to bite his lip and obey the Captain's orders.

The way I see it Saunders' orders should've superseded anything Johns had to say in the matter. I do not understand the logic of the rule that allowed Johns to override orders.

Littlejohn sticks up for Saunders in a rather amusing scene with one of the more arrogant English corporals.

The actual combat scenes are brilliantly graphic and intense. The night scenes excellently utilize machine gun flash.

Vic and his squad are ordered to contact a British troop that's holding a railroad depot, to warn them that they're being encircled by the Germans. A young French boy they find helps out by guiding them toward their objective.

Unfortunately, the British commander Ronald Howard wants to mull over what to do next, refusing to act immediately on Vic's urgent message to abandon the depot. In fact, Howard proves to be a self-important martinet who won't listen to Vic's message and in fact orders the Americans to stay and defend his doomed unit.

Vic follows Howard's orders yet the British soldiers don't cooperate with Vic, whose frustrations with the situation are mounting. It's an interesting premise as the war of wills simmers with Howard holding all the cards since he outranks Vic.