Description
The company commander was Capt. Jim Benedict, played by William Reynolds, who later appeared in the long-running series, The F.B.I.. Their exploits were narrated by a newspaper correspondent—Conley Wright, played by Robert McQueeney—who accompanied them on their missions. The show lasted only one season. It succumbed to tough competition from the other networks and so-so responses from critics and audiences. The show also faced unfavorable comparisons with ABC's other World War II series launched the same year, Combat!.
The Gallant Men tended to be formulaic in plotting and characterization, with such well-worn stereotypes as ladies' man PFC Pete D'Angelo (played by Eddie Fontaine), hard-as-nails Sgt. John McKenna (Richard X. Slattery), and inseparable buddies Pvt. Ernie Lucavich (Roland La Starza) and Pvt. Sam Hanson (Robert Gothie). The show also betrayed more than an occasional touch of Stormtrooper effect, an ironic term for a World War II series (the regular cast easily and frequently dispatched large numbers of German troops while experiencing minimal or no injuries themselves). This was particularly unrealistic for the Italian campaign, where the Allies suffered heavy casualties from determined German resistance that lasted until the end of World War II in Europe.
The series not only featured stock footage from Warner Bros war films such as Force of Arms and Darby's Rangers but also used scenes from A Walk in the Sun.
Read more about this topic: The Gallant Men
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