THE GALLANT MEN: The Bridge 1963
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the boot of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 17th episode.
The company is sent on a behind German lines mission. They are to take several explosive experts to a bridge behind the front. Their orders are to destroy said bridge and trap the German forces on the wrong side of the river. They take along an Italian partisan as a guide.
The officer in charge of the explosives, Peter Brown, is not amused with the need for a guide. He figures that the older gent, Ernest Sarracino will just slow them down. The company however ends up being delayed anyways after they run into a German patrol. There is a bloody firefight with both sides taking dead and wounded.
One man, George Murdock, is too badly hurt to continue. They leave him in some abandoned buildings under the care of a local woman. The woman, Jana Taylor, however is not what she appears to be. She has her German boyfriend stashed in the same building. This leads to more gunfire with Murdock and the German biting the dirt.
The remaining patrol members reach the German held bridge. There, with the help of the local partisan band, set the explosives and prepare to destroy the bridge. Needless to say the German are not amused, they put up a stiff fight and several more Americans are killed. Explosives man Brown is killed and the old Italian gent, Sarrcino, sets off the charges, blowing himself and the bridge to pieces. The Germans are trapped on the wrong side of the river when the Allies attack the next day.
Not bad, there are several well done battle scenes in the episode, though the bit with Miss Taylor is a bit far-fetched.
"The Gallant Men" was an American television series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1962. It followed a company of US soldiers from the Sept 1943 invasion at Salerno, and their battles up the boot of Italy. The series ran for a total of 26 episodes during 1962-63. Leading the cast is Robert McQueeney, who also narrates the story. McQueeney is a newspaper reporter who follows the company on their exploits. (Sort of an Ernie Pyle clone) The rest of the regulars are played by, William Reynolds, Robert Ridgely, Francis X Slattery, Eddie Fontaine, Roland La Starza, Roger Davis and Robert Gothie. There are the standard types sprinkled throughout, the joker, the card sharp, the loner etc. This is the 17th episode.
The company is sent on a behind German lines mission. They are to take several explosive experts to a bridge behind the front. Their orders are to destroy said bridge and trap the German forces on the wrong side of the river. They take along an Italian partisan as a guide.
The officer in charge of the explosives, Peter Brown, is not amused with the need for a guide. He figures that the older gent, Ernest Sarracino will just slow them down. The company however ends up being delayed anyways after they run into a German patrol. There is a bloody firefight with both sides taking dead and wounded.
One man, George Murdock, is too badly hurt to continue. They leave him in some abandoned buildings under the care of a local woman. The woman, Jana Taylor, however is not what she appears to be. She has her German boyfriend stashed in the same building. This leads to more gunfire with Murdock and the German biting the dirt.
The remaining patrol members reach the German held bridge. There, with the help of the local partisan band, set the explosives and prepare to destroy the bridge. Needless to say the German are not amused, they put up a stiff fight and several more Americans are killed. Explosives man Brown is killed and the old Italian gent, Sarrcino, sets off the charges, blowing himself and the bridge to pieces. The Germans are trapped on the wrong side of the river when the Allies attack the next day.
Not bad, there are several well done battle scenes in the episode, though the bit with Miss Taylor is a bit far-fetched.