Veteran director Frank Borzage directed this entry in the "Screen Directors Playhouse" series, and it's not a particularly good one. A story set during the Korean War about a tough sergeant in charge of a squad of new replacements who must get them "ready" for upcoming combat, it's saddled with an uninspired script and performances from a second-tier cast (Rory Calhoun, Bobby Driscoll). Calhoun's sergeant turns out to be somewhat of a musician, and when one of his men finds a bugle on a dead Chinese soldier, Calhoun decides to show his men what the army was like "in the old days" by blowing bugle calls (Reveille, Charge, etc.) in hopes that it would help his squad become better soldiers. It's a fairly dumb premise, and not one that a sergeant with 19 years in the army who'd fought in both World War II and Korea would very likely come up with.
In any case, the hackneyed script and underwhelming performances aren't the episode's only problems--its chintzy production values only magnify its many shortcomings, resulting in a less-than-mediocre product that's not worthy of a major director like Frank Borzage. Skip it.
In any case, the hackneyed script and underwhelming performances aren't the episode's only problems--its chintzy production values only magnify its many shortcomings, resulting in a less-than-mediocre product that's not worthy of a major director like Frank Borzage. Skip it.