Pork Chop Hill (1959)

65% of users liked it
(2,476 ratings)

Pork Chop Hill was based on the eyewitness essays of ex-soldier S. L. A. Marshall. The film is set during the Korean "police action." While diplomats argue pointlessly over the shape of the negotiation tables at Panmunjon, United Nations troops bleed and die. Lieutenant Gregory Peck leads a 135-man… More Pork Chop Hill was based on the eyewitness essays of ex-soldier S. L. A. Marshall. The film is set during the Korean "police action." While diplomats argue pointlessly over the shape of the negotiation tables at Panmunjon, United Nations troops bleed and die. Lieutenant Gregory Peck leads a 135-man unit on the attack of the Chinese-held Pork Chop Hill. When reinforcements finally arrive, only 25 of Peck's men survive (and they aren't the usual survivors we've come to expect from earlier, cliché-ridden war films). Among the American troops are such dependable performers as Harry Guardino, Woody Strode, Rip Torn, Barry Atwater, George Peppard, Robert Blake and Martin Landau. Former cowboy-star Bob Steele also shows up briefly as an American general. According to director Lewis Milestone, Pork Chop Hill was cut by nearly twenty minutes because the wife of star Gregory Peck felt that her husband made his first entrance too late into the picture. True or not, the film does show signs of post-production tampering, with flashes of several excised scenes showing up under the main title credits. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Lewis Milestone
Written By: S.L.A. Marshall, James R. Webb
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

On DVD: May 15, 2001
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Told in a hard-nosed style.
Steve Crum, Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers
Gritty war, actually anti-war, movie directed by Lewis Milestone of "All Quiet on the Western Front" fame.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
In many ways the first modern war film.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

This is the kind of classic war film that I loved as a kid. It's full of heroics, non-stop battle sequences and no yucky girls! Well, there is one girl, but she's a North Korean soldier and nobody ever kisses her so she doesn't count. :)
xGary X

One of the best war movies out there as Gregory Peck endures seeing the sacrifice of the lives of his men for no discernible reason during the Korean war. Gritty, powerful and thought provoking stuff.

Cast

            Gregory Peck as Lt. Joe Clemons

            Harry Guardino as Forstman

            Rip Torn as Lt. Russell

            George Peppard as Fedderson

            George Shibata as Lt. O'Hashi

            James Edwards as Corporal Jurgens

            Woody Strode as Franklin

            Bob Steele as Kern

            Norman Fell as Sgt. Coleman

            Robert Blake as Velie

            Biff Elliot as Boven

            Barry Atwater as Davis

            Michael Garth as S-2 Officer

            Ken Lynch as Gen. Trudeau

            Paul Comi as Sgt. Kreucheberg

            Abel Fernandez as McKinley

            Lew Gallo as PI Officer

            Cliff Ketchum as Cpl. Payne

            Martin Landau as Marshall

            Kevin Hagen as Cpl. Kissell

            Leonard Graves as Lt. Cook

            Syl Lamont as Sgt. Kuzmick

            John Alderman as Lt. Waldorf

            Charles Aidman as Harrold

            Chuck Hayward as Chalmers

            Buzz Martin as Radio Operator

            Robert B. Williams as Soldier Runner

            William Wellman Jr. as Iron Man

            Gavin MacLeod as Saxon

            Barry McGuire as Lt. Attridge

            Carl Benton Reid
            
            Bert Remsen as Lt. Cummings

            Harry Dean Stanton as MacFarland

            John R. McKee as Olds
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