"Hills Are For Heroes" is a story about realities of the military and how incompetence at the top can prove fatal to many below. King 2 must knock out two firmly entrenched pillboxes containing brutal German Maschinengewehr 42 machine guns while running uphill with virtually no cover. And King 6 has no back up for them with respect to needed artillery or tanks to get the job done. As Alanis Morisette said in her hit "Isn't It Ironic," "It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife." The "old man" referred to by Company Commander could be any of many high ranking big shots who've been promoted to their level of incompetence.
Gene Coon wrote an outstanding screenplay in which dialog is phenomenal across the board. Lieutenant Gil Hanley is at his very best playing the boss. He has outstanding comebacks for all of King 2's ails & concerns and even a wise remark for the "old man." Character development amongst the squad is excellent and Littlejohn's exchange with The Sarge is priceless. Kirby is vintage Kirby when dealing with Hanley. And for a 41 year old, Caje can really pick em' up and lay em' down.
Vic Morrow directed this hugely successful episode and it must have been fun watching him busting the studio's chops going way over budget. Extremely graphic machine gun scenes, close-ups of the soldiers' terrorized faces, and coordination of mortar fire and its effects on the pillboxes give the viewing audience a sense of being there. Vic had a fine collusion with A. D. Flowers on this one. It's a wonder no one was injured making this episode.
"Hills Are For Heroes Part 1" is extremely entertaining and gives one a sense of empathy for anyone mixed up in a war, especially when the top commanding officer is incompetent. German Maschinengewehr 42 machine guns were capable of firing between 900 & 1500 rounds per minute depending on the bolt used. Just listening to two of these fine weapons going at it get's one's undivided attention.
Sit back and enjoy!