User Reviews

STUDIO ONE "The Strike" 1954

This is a "live" episode from the long running anthology series, "WESTINGHOUSE: STUDIO ONE". This series ran for 467 episodes between, 1948 and 1958.

The episode is set in North Korea just after the Red Chinese have joined the conflict. The United Nations troops are caught flat-footed and forced to retreat.

James Daly is a Major in charge of the remains of a U.S. regiment. The men are holding a section of the line waiting for orders to pull out. The men are cold, low on ammo and food. They are also overloaded with a large amount of wounded.

Daly is concerned about a 20 man patrol he had sent across the river into Chinese territory. The patrol was to see if the Chinese had moved artillery into the area. They have had no contact with the patrol. Stragglers from various units, including several British Royal Marines join up with Daly's group. Daly has his headquarters in a bombed out house.

The patrol is finally heard from and gives a report telling of a massive Chinese build up. The patrol however is unable to get out of the area. Daly now gets orders that there will be an air strike on the Chinese that night. Needless to say, the exact spot of the strike is where the patrol is hiding. Daly cannot warn the patrol because they only have one way contact.

Daly, a veteran from WW2, has seen his share of death, but not being able to warn the patrol eats at him. His junior officers, Bert Freed and Frank Marth try to talk to Daly. They tell him that the death of the 20 men will save the 500 men left of the regiment. Daly asks to be relieved of command but is told to man up. His is the burden of command.

The wounded are loaded up and sent off while everyone else waits for the orders to retreat. The time comes to order the air strike and the reluctant Daly does just that. He then leads his men off as the Chinese catch holy hell.

This is a pretty intense production that was helmed by future Oscar winner, Franklin J. Schaffner. Schaffner started out on early television in 1949 before getting a shot at big screen work in the 60's. He scored with a string of hits such as, PLANET OF THE APES, PAPILLON, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and PATTON.

The episode was written by Rod (Twilight Zone) Serling.

This is one of Rod Serling's earlier writing credits. There is a lot to like--at least in the first portion of the film. However, the film ends poorly and shows that Serling isn't yet the master of his craft. Still, you can see seeds within this story of his later efforts.

"The Strike" is a one-hour teleplay that was performed live on "Studio One". While today the notion of a weekly original play being performed live is unheard of, in the 1950s it was not uncommon and this was just one of many such TV shows. Serling and many other top writers (such as Paddy Chayevsy) got their start in TV--as TV was actually featuring the top writing, direction and actors that Hollywood.

This teleplay is set in North Korea and features James Daley as a seemingly tough-as-nails major in charge of a group of hard-luck soldiers. Later in the film, the weight of such a responsibility begins to become evident--and it nearly breaks him.

Considering that Serling was a paratrooper in WWII, it's not surprising that this and several of his "Twilight Zone" shows had to do with men in combat. However, the problem is that although it seemed realistic and well-done early in the show, by the end Daley's once believable character was pretty histrionic and clichéd. It's too bad and it makes this particular episode just watchable and not much more.