Hold Back the Night (1956) User Reviews

It's all about a bottle of Scotch.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 November 2021]

John Payne stars as Captain McKenzie, a marine serving during the Korean War. He and his men are having a hard time, as the Chinese have just entered the war and are pushing the UN troops back because of their overwhelming numbers. During this time, McKenzie shows a bottle of Scotch to one of his sergeants and this bottle leads to a variety of flashback scenes set during WWII. Again and again, he planned on drinking the Scotch, but again and again he decided to wait for another day.

This is a nice, gritty film that shows what it was often like for American troops during the Korean War. Well made, well acted...worth seeing. My only complaint is minor, as the Australian woman in one of the flashbacks sounded about as Australian as Eva Gabor!

A Bottle Of Scotch

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 November 2019]

Korea, 1950: the Chinese have just joined the war. John Payne's company of marines is ordered to march parallel to the main force, covering their retreat to the sea. It's a gloomy, snowy fighting retreat, no walk in the sun.

Allan Dwan's 402nd is a tough war movie shot in the wintery Sierra Nevada, with a bottle of Scotch whiskey linking back to San Francisco, where Payne's girl, Mona Freeman gave him the bottle in 1942, telling him to save it for an important occasion. It's an important bit of relief, providing some emotions to counterpoint the tough fighting scenes.

Both Payne and Dwan were near the ends of their big-screen careers. Dwan would make five more movies through 1961. Payne four more over the next couple of years, and an outlier in 1968. Payne's career had begun in the middle of the 1930s, and for a decade or so, he played the handsome leading man, often in Fox musicals starring Betty Grable. In the latter half of the 1940s, he had moved into tough-guy roles, first in film noir, then in war movies as the increasingly grizzled veteran. In this one, he has a mix of half-misfits to lead, under conditions that cut his company to a couple of dozen wounded and exhausted men; the actors certainly look the parts, including Peter Graves as a lieutenant, Chuck Conners as his leading sergeant.

Retreat in Korea

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 1 March 2021]

Hold Back The Night is a Korean war film seen through the eyes of both a tough and compassionate company commander played by John Payne. The Marines in Payne's charge are on the front lines when the Chinese intervene in full force. Payne has to lead them in a fall back fighting every step of the way.

The action also centers around a bottle of scotch that Payne's then sweetheart Mona Freeman which he carries for 'a special occasion' which never quite comes. The unopened bottle becomes a company talisman.

A few flashback scenes of Payne and Freeman and one with an Australian war wife Audrey Dalton break up some of the grim action scenes from the Korean War. The battle scenes are staged well and nicely integrated with real combat footage.

Chuck Connors and Peter Graves have some good roles as a sergeant and lieutenant under Payne. But one performance that stands out is that of John Wilder as a young Marine who performs a heroic act. You'll have to see what he does.

A good and gritty war drama.

Pain for Payne ?

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7 December 2008]

Strangely, I have this one in my library since the late 80's. And I realize only now that it's really a rare film. No one has commented it yet and it is on any lists on any dealers in the USA.

What a shame.

It's a strange, weird, abashed movie. But not disappointing one. A war movie about the Korean war - till here nothing new - and the "relationship" between a soldier - Payne - and a bottle of liquor he always carries with him. And since WW2, as I remember...

Of course, through this "friend", and the "souvenirs" stuck to it, he lives everything again: friends, women, beautiful and difficult moments of his life. It's not a real actionner, but a rather solid drama.

A very strange one. Like a TWILIGHT ZONE episode. And it seems, as far as I remember, that there was an episode around this topic. But I am not sure. Sorry.

I hope this little movie will be aired again, for the happiness of gem searchers.

And this was also an Allan Dwann film.

Excellent Korean War Film

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 14 January 2015]

HOLD BACK THE NIGHT-1956

This Allied Artists film is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Pat Frank. It tells the story of a U.S. Marine Captain played by John Payne. Payne has been carrying around a bottle of Scotch given to him in 1942 by his girl, Mona Freeman. She tells him to only open it if he really needs it.

It is now 1950 and Payne is part of a Marine company chasing the North Korean Army up to the Chinese border. The Marines are caught off guard by the invasion of the Chinese Red Army, and are forced to retreat. This film follows the company as it fights a rear guard battle against relentless Red Army attacks.

The company is slowly being chopped up as it moves through the mountains from the Chosin Reservoir to the sea. At each stop the company makes, Payne pulls out the bottle and thinks back to better times, and his romancing Miss Freeman. He then smiles and puts the bottle away. "It can keep." he says to himself.

The company is losing men and vehicles, both to the Chinese and the bitter cold as they retreat. They are also getting bogged down with all the wounded. They are quickly running out of food and medical supplies. There is the odd supply run by a Marine helicopter to drop off some ammo, but it is not enough. The helicopter is only able to take out a few of the more seriously wounded out at a time.

After 5 days, the company is down to just 28 men, and they still have 7 miles to go to reach the Marine front line. The men are exhausted, and can barely move. Payne pulls out the bottle and promises them all a belt when they make it to safety.

They spot a Red Chinese ambush in the hills ahead. The men flank it and manage to destroy the waiting tank and supporting troops. Payne is wounded in the firefight. The remaining Marines pick up the wounded and stagger their way forward. The group reaches safety and Payne is airlifted to a hospital ship. Payne still has his bottle because the survivors refuse to crack open the Scotch. The company figures it is their good luck charm.

Also in the cast were future television stars, Chuck Connors (Rifleman) and Peter Graves. (Mission Impossible) There are several, well done combat scenes throughout the film, and some impressive pyrotechnics as well. For an Allied Artists film, it is quite good.

The director, Allan Dwan, started out in films in 1912, and directed his last feature in 1961. Dwan himself said he directed over 500 films in his long career. He worked in all genres, from silents starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.to Shirley Temple films. He was also a steady hand at westerns and war films. His best known film is likely, 1949's, THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA, where he directed John Wayne to his first Oscar nomination.

The author, Pat Frank, was a war correspondent in Korea during the war. He also wrote the cold war novel, "Alas, Babylon".

Far BetterThan Expected

[jayraskin · 10/10 · 28 February 2020]

Peters Graves ("Mission Impossible," "The Thing," and "Airplane") and Chuck Connors (the Rifle Man) are iconic television stars. John Payne, like James Cagney, and William Powell, is a song and dance man who can also play believable tough guys. Together, they make you feel confident, even as the movie shakes you to the core with great, realistic battle scenes. This group of Marines has not only to fight Korean, Chinese and Mongolian armies, but must contend with a mountainous frozen snowy Korean landscape. Here having dry socks is as important as hand grenades for survival. The only other Korean War movie that I can compare it to is Robert Altman's M.A.S.H. That was an anti-war movie that actually makes war look like fun, for the most part. This is outwardly a pro-war movie, but it makes war look like hell. It is also a little bit similar to Carl Foreman's World War 2 movie "The Victors." (1962). That too has excellent battle scenes but ultimately cares more for characters in a platoon than action.