Take the High Ground! (1953) on Netflix
At Fort Bliss, Sergeant Thorne Ryan drills new Army recruits through sixteen weeks of basic training. A veteran of Korea, he keeps requesting a transfer back to the front.
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- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.0/101,250 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
In May 1953, recruits arrive at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and meet their drill sergeants, Laverne Holt and Thorne Ryan. Ryan gives the newcomers a caustic appraisal, and Holt undertakes to turn them into soldiers across sixteen weeks of basic training. The two sergeants are combat veterans of Korea, and Ryan resents his stateside posting, filing request after request for a return to the front. On a night out across the border in Mexico, the men spot Julie Mollison in a bar, buying drinks for young recruits, some of them their own. The sergeants see the inebriated Julie back to her apartment, and Ryan is drawn to her. Training grows harsher, with Ryan sending his men through tear gas to ready them for battle.
Cast
- William Hairstonas Daniel Hazard
Show all 20 cast
- Matilda Caldwellas Mrs. Hazard (uncredited)
- John Closeas Military Policeman (uncredited)
- Joe Dominguezas Shooting Gallery Proprietor (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Take the High Ground! (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Take the High Ground! was first planned as The Making of a Marine, to be shot at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. The Marines refused to cooperate, reportedly to avoid stirring up old controversy over the toughness of their training, so the Army cooperated fully and filming moved to Fort Bliss, Texas.
- A pre-production item in The Hollywood Reporter said James Arness, Ralph Meeker, James Whitmore, William Campbell and Richard Anderson had been cast, but none of the five ended up appearing in the film.
