THE GALLANT MEN: The Leathernecks 1963
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the boot of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 18th episode.
By this time in the series run, the producers knew that one season was all they were going to get. They used this episode to pitch a new series idea to the network. Newsman, McQueeney, gets a telegram that his brother, a Navy pilot in the Pacific, has been posted as missing. He was shot down over a Japanese held island while on a recon flight. McQueeney catches a transport to the Pacific.
The Navy sends in a small patrol of Marines to see if they could retrieve the film from the recon plane. The Marine patrol, David Brandon, George Murdock, Douglas Lambert, Armand Alzamora and Phil Carey recover the film from the crashed aircraft. They also discover that the pilot had survived and was being hidden by some local natives. The patrol is unable to grab up the pilot as they become involved in a firefight with some Japanese troops. They barely escape the island to reach their submarine transport.
McQueeney by this time has reached the Pacific. He has a talk with the men who were on the patrol. He of course figures the men did not try hard enough to rescue his brother. The patrol Sgt, Phil Carey, sets him right about things. They were there for the film, not to rescue the pilot. Several less than friendly words are exchanged.
The next week happens to be the invasion of said island, so reporter McQueeney sticks around. He hopes that his brother will be found. The troops go in with a new Lt. in charge of the squad. The new man, Van Williams, is a new officer fresh out of the Academy. Needless to say Williams and his Sgt, Phil Carey, do not strike it off.
The Marines hit the beach and work their way inland. The Japanese put up a ferocious defence and casualties are heavy. The new Lt, Williams, shows Carey that he has the right stuff by taking out several Japanese machine gun nests himself. The men find the remains of McQueeney's pilot brother. It seems the Japanese had found the pilot and executed the man. After the island has been taken, Carey gives the dead pilot's dog-tags to his reporter brother, McQueeney.
This one really comes off as a rush job by the studio to get ABC to bite on another series. The network was not fooled and did not pick up the series. ABC's other war series, COMBAT! was a smash, and ran for 5 years and 152 episodes.
Phil Carey was on screen and television from 1950 to 2008. Van Williams was known for SURFSIDE 6 (a clone of 77 Sunset Strip set in Miami) and as the GREEN HORNET in the 1966-67 series co-starring Bruce Lee.
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the boot of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 18th episode.
By this time in the series run, the producers knew that one season was all they were going to get. They used this episode to pitch a new series idea to the network. Newsman, McQueeney, gets a telegram that his brother, a Navy pilot in the Pacific, has been posted as missing. He was shot down over a Japanese held island while on a recon flight. McQueeney catches a transport to the Pacific.
The Navy sends in a small patrol of Marines to see if they could retrieve the film from the recon plane. The Marine patrol, David Brandon, George Murdock, Douglas Lambert, Armand Alzamora and Phil Carey recover the film from the crashed aircraft. They also discover that the pilot had survived and was being hidden by some local natives. The patrol is unable to grab up the pilot as they become involved in a firefight with some Japanese troops. They barely escape the island to reach their submarine transport.
McQueeney by this time has reached the Pacific. He has a talk with the men who were on the patrol. He of course figures the men did not try hard enough to rescue his brother. The patrol Sgt, Phil Carey, sets him right about things. They were there for the film, not to rescue the pilot. Several less than friendly words are exchanged.
The next week happens to be the invasion of said island, so reporter McQueeney sticks around. He hopes that his brother will be found. The troops go in with a new Lt. in charge of the squad. The new man, Van Williams, is a new officer fresh out of the Academy. Needless to say Williams and his Sgt, Phil Carey, do not strike it off.
The Marines hit the beach and work their way inland. The Japanese put up a ferocious defence and casualties are heavy. The new Lt, Williams, shows Carey that he has the right stuff by taking out several Japanese machine gun nests himself. The men find the remains of McQueeney's pilot brother. It seems the Japanese had found the pilot and executed the man. After the island has been taken, Carey gives the dead pilot's dog-tags to his reporter brother, McQueeney.
This one really comes off as a rush job by the studio to get ABC to bite on another series. The network was not fooled and did not pick up the series. ABC's other war series, COMBAT! was a smash, and ran for 5 years and 152 episodes.
Phil Carey was on screen and television from 1950 to 2008. Van Williams was known for SURFSIDE 6 (a clone of 77 Sunset Strip set in Miami) and as the GREEN HORNET in the 1966-67 series co-starring Bruce Lee.
