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I remember "Combat!" when I was a little kid. I always liked the intro to the show, and always like Morrow. Lots of guys that guest appeared on that show became famous later in their careers, just like other shows of the era, Twilight Zone, etc.
The show has a great intro, the rows of bayoneted riffles coming at you and the pixel graphics, with great music theme to get you ready for battle. Sgt. Saunders had a great squad. I liked LittleJohn the best, and imagine me being the most like him if I could stay alive long enough. I also liked Cage (the french speaking guy) and "Doc" who was the medic guy and also a very good supporting actor, Kirby could be a wiesel sometimes but usually a good soldier.
Sgt. Saunders had his job keeping the squad in line and carrying out the mission, but Leiutenant Hanley had the burden of command and we got to see just how heavy that could be sometimes. Like the 2 part episode where they had to take a bunker on top of a hill, without support. They try and fail many times, losing so many men in what seemed like a futile effort. First they try bazookas, then mortars, then they call in the 88's, and finally get a tank to show up, which gets shot up, then I think they use smoke and the bazooka again to finally knock 'em out, can't remember every detail but that put some light on what you might be up against, as a WW2 enlisted man. It was a hell of lot more fun to just watch it on TV, and give a salute on Veterans Day, lol.
The scary episodes were the ones where they took on new guys to the squad, and one or more of them was a German infiltrator, and they knew one of them was a Kraut, but not which one. So they became mistrustful of each other and everyone had to watch everyone else, creating an atmosphere of paranoia among the squad. Pretty intense. Taking on German prisoners behind the lines always made for good episodes too, the guys who played the Germans were good actors, very convincing and the uniforms were historically accurate.
The one with the french woman who wanted to get her son buried with the coffin, and they had to transport it behind enemy lines in the truck, as part of a deal they made with her, but then they had to use the coffin as a wedge to support a bridge they needed to cross, which was damaged by shelling. It worked! That was awesome, and the one with Saunders and the guy with the glider plane, whom crash in Kraut territory but plane was not disabled, they find gas for it, and get an old french guy to help them remove the stones from the pasture so the plane could take off....that was a killer episode.
I particularly liked the use of a stylized bayonet as the exclamation point in the title.
Yes, the use of the bayonet as an exclamation point was clever.
I remember VM, and knew that he was in Combat!, but never watched the show. I checked out the opening titles and, interestingly, don't even remember them.
I found a clip with all 5 seasons. They're almost identical (last season in color), except for one thing: Rick Jason (Who? LOL) got top billing on the first season, VM did on the second, third, and fourth....then Rick Jason did, again, on the fifth.
Anyway, I had never heard of Rick Jason before seeing the intro. Sadly, he committed suicide in 2000--according to Wikipedia, a week after a Combat! reunion.
Last edited by Delahanty; 01-24-2018 at 09:55 AM..
Yes, Combat ! with a bayonet for an exclamation point, very endearing addition to the title name, I like it. They really cover all the angles with how a new guy might handle themselves when they are still green. Some are too gung ho and have to learn to be patient, others find out they are cowardly and try to hide it best they can, but later in the episode they find bravery, which is enjoyable to watch. Sometimes they crack up or have some mental guy transferred to their squad whom they have to watch out for, or the looking out for #1 types they can't trust.
Speaking of guest stars, my favorite serial guest star of all time for any war or western TV series has to be Claude Akins. He was great in the movie Stalag 17, and in Combat he is an undercover Kraut in a POW camp, getting well fed in the kommandant's office, while he is parroting information he learns from the prisoners. Sanders get captured and figures it out when prisoners are being transferred, that Akins was a Kraut, so they escape and go to back to the camp to shut him down. Of course they wasted him and were able to escape, Combat never disappoints in that regard.
Another episode had a Kraut kill a priest and steal his clothes, then pretend to be a priest while he carries out his plans. But one of the guys in the squad is Catholic and asks him to perform a ceremony/ritual thing and he can't do it right. YEAH, he gets WASTED !!!!
When I was a kid, I liked Vic as Sgt. Saunders in "Combat". When I saw them later, I liked his performances in "Blackboard Jungle" and "King Creole". I was really saddened by his death on the set of "The Twilight Zone", and was particularly sad when I saw how great his performance was. I think that if he'd lived, that movie would have made for a big resurgence to his career.
I have a copy of a page from some fan magazine from around 1963 that shows "Beatles' Faves". While the other three Beatles show favorite actors like Marlon Brando and Paul Newman, George Harrison claims Vic Morrow as his favorite.
I need to see "Portrait of a Mobster" again. I think it's now available on DVD.
Any other Vic Morrow fans out there?
The horrific death of Morrow and those two kids by the copter blades is on YT somewhere.
The show has a great intro, the rows of bayoneted riffles coming at you and the pixel graphics, with great music theme to get you ready for battle. Sgt. Saunders had a great squad. I liked LittleJohn the best, and imagine me being the most like him if I could stay alive long enough. I also liked Cage (the french speaking guy) and "Doc" who was the medic guy and also a very good supporting actor, Kirby could be a wiesel sometimes but usually a good soldier.
I assume that you mean the second "Doc" played by Colan Carter in the last 4 years and not the first Doc played by Steven Rogers , in the first season which had Shecky Greene providing comic relief as Pvt Braddock. Also in hindsight recognizing that they were not an Airborne unit meaning that all the times a regular squad member got hit and evacuated that Cage, Kirby or Littlejohn would not go back to that squad by be sent to the next division which needed a replacement. I remember one Kirby episode where SGT Saunders left him in charge when he went back to the command post and Kirby had to lead the squad during a German counter attack and when it was all over he couldn't be happier than to hand the squad back.
This was one show that should have stayed in black and white.
Quote:
Sgt. Saunders had his job keeping the squad in line and carrying out the mission, but Leiutenant Hanley had the burden of command and we got to see just how heavy that could be sometimes. Like the 2 part episode where they had to take a bunker on top of a hill, without support. They try and fail many times, losing so many men in what seemed like a futile effort. First they try bazookas, then mortars, then they call in the 88's, and finally get a tank to show up, which gets shot up, then I think they use smoke and the bazooka again to finally knock 'em out, can't remember every detail but that put some light on what you might be up against, as a WW2 enlisted man. It was a hell of lot more fun to just watch it on TV, and give a salute on Veterans Day, lol.
I never made that commander/leader distinction especially in US Army terms it was the Company Commander who was the first actual "command" and not the Platoon Leaders, the USMC call them Platoon Commanders. In hindsight while Hanley rose from the Platoon Sergeant at D-Day to the Platoon Leader you could be surprised they never had him take over the company. Where I think Vic Morrow;s Saunders was the Platoon Sergeant and not just the squad leader on occasion, maybe even in that take the hill episode. As it played it just seemed like rotating leads with the occasional show where SGT Saunders and LT Hanley where in the same location. I do remember that taking the hill 2 part episode well. SGT Saunders was wounded early on so it was a Hanley episode. But taking the hill just to give it up was a rough one and it predated the most famous Vietnam War example of doing the same thing on Hamburger Hill by a couple of years.
One nit pick 88's were the Germans perhaps most famous field gun.
When I was a kid, I liked Vic as Sgt. Saunders in "Combat". When I saw them later, I liked his performances in "Blackboard Jungle" and "King Creole". I was really saddened by his death on the set of "The Twilight Zone", and was particularly sad when I saw how great his performance was. I think that if he'd lived, that movie would have made for a big resurgence to his career.
I have a copy of a page from some fan magazine from around 1963 that shows "Beatles' Faves". While the other three Beatles show favorite actors like Marlon Brando and Paul Newman, George Harrison claims Vic Morrow as his favorite.
I need to see "Portrait of a Mobster" again. I think it's now available on DVD.
Any other Vic Morrow fans out there?
He was my first TV love when I was a kid and coincidently, George was my favorite Beatle. I remember that Vic Morrow and Rick Jason used to alternate as to who would be the lead for a particular episode of Combat and I was always disappointed if the story wasn't more about Sgt. Chip Saunders than Lt Hanley.
I assume that you mean the second "Doc" played by Colan Carter in the last 4 years and not the first Doc played by Steven Rogers , in the first season which had Shecky Greene providing comic relief as Pvt Braddock. Also in hindsight recognizing that they were not an Airborne unit meaning that all the times a regular squad member got hit and evacuated that Cage, Kirby or Littlejohn would not go back to that squad by be sent to the next division which needed a replacement. I remember one Kirby episode where SGT Saunders left him in charge when he went back to the command post and Kirby had to lead the squad during a German counter attack and when it was all over he couldn't be happier than to hand the squad back.
This was one show that should have stayed in black and white.
I never made that commander/leader distinction especially in US Army terms it was the Company Commander who was the first actual "command" and not the Platoon Leaders, the USMC call them Platoon Commanders. In hindsight while Hanley rose from the Platoon Sergeant at D-Day to the Platoon Leader you could be surprised they never had him take over the company. Where I think Vic Morrow;s Saunders was the Platoon Sergeant and not just the squad leader on occasion, maybe even in that take the hill episode. As it played it just seemed like rotating leads with the occasional show where SGT Saunders and LT Hanley where in the same location. I do remember that taking the hill 2 part episode well. SGT Saunders was wounded early on so it was a Hanley episode. But taking the hill just to give it up was a rough one and it predated the most famous Vietnam War example of doing the same thing on Hamburger Hill by a couple of years.
One nit pick 88's were the Germans perhaps most famous field gun.
Lots of good episodes where they interact with French civilians, women & children. Good thing they had Cage along, who was the only one that could speak French. They give a good picture of life in an occupied war torn country, and the impact it has on the local population. The resistance, the collaborators, the homeless children and general living conditions, which could vary widely for the average French citizen. Lots of heartbreaking stories with the widows and kids especially.
Speaking of the 88's, I wonder why they used a German gun in that 2 part episode? Did they capture some of those guns from the Germans and reuse them, because they were better guns? From what I have heard, they did about as good a job as could be done in adapting this to TV, keeping it authentic as possible. Of course they had to play with the command structure a little and keep the squad together, I understand why they had to do that for TV, which needs recurring characters.
I'm pretty sure Vic Morrow could have kicked Rick Jason's ass, if they ever had a throw down, as Rick had a bad back in real life. Rick looked pretty rough for that reunion show in 2000, kinda curious what the private family matters were that caused him to take his life, not really getting much info about that, he didn't leave a note or anything so I guess we'll never know for sure why.
I thought I saw Morrow on an episode of Chips too, but did not see any mention of that in his profile. I need to see Dirty Mary & Crazy Larry again, been a long time, as I recall it had a screwed up ending where they crash into a train, kinda like what they did in another Peter Fonda movie, Easy Rider, with the shotgun ending. I hate it when otherwise good movies are ruined with super lame endings like that.
I kinda like the last season of Combat in color, you can see the blood and uniforms so much better. Not that WW2 France was a very colorful place to be or anything, but I thought it was kinda interesting to see the show in color for one season, but also surprised they bothered to make the switch for just one last season, and did not continue the show for 6 or 7 seasons, since they already spent the money to retool for color, and it was a good show. Kinda nice how at least 6 to 50 guys get wasted in every episode of Combat. The show did not spare the meat grinder, plenty of bodies stacking up for every episode. Blood makes the grass grow, and I'm sure the French farmers were very happy those first few years after the war, not having to spend so much on fertilizer.
Ted Knight made a good Kraut in one of the episodes, and Lee Marvin also appeared in one episode. Always liked Lee Marvin in The Big Red One, and Dirty Dozen. Always good too, that whenever a TV show could not afford Lee Marvin, that Claude Akins was always hungry and available, he had a good voice. Claude played the evil ape in the last of the original POTA movies in the 70's. I recognized his voice immediately.
Korea had a few hamburger hills too, where they lost many men taking a hill, then abandoned it. Oh, and yes, I was referring to the second Doc as being a good character, not the first one.
I just watched him in something, but can't remember what. What I do remember commenting on was his untimely and gruesome death. Poor fella. Hey, wasn't he in The Bad News Bears (circa 1970s) too?
Yes, Vic Morrow was the coach of the team that beat the Bears in the championship game.
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, in the first season which had Shecky Greene providing comic relief as Pvt Braddock. Also in hindsight recognizing that they were not an Airborne unit meaning that all the times a regular squad member got hit and evacuated that Cage, Kirby or Littlejohn would not go back to that squad by be sent to the next division which needed a replacement. I remember one Kirby episode where SGT Saunders left him in charge when he went back to the command post and Kirby had to lead the squad during a German counter attack and when it was all over he couldn't be happier than to hand the squad back. 
