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I just watched this today for the first time in several years and I must say that I didn't remember there being so many  well known actors in it, a lot of them in the start of their careers.  I figure most them must have been on contract to United Artists at the time.

Here' s the list:

Gregory Peck
Harry Guardino (spends first part of the movie trying get them to send him home because he had his points)
George Peppard (killed in a foxhole by artillery)
Woody Strode (did his best to desert, but Peck let him redeem himself by the end)
Gavin McLeod (had several lines, character got his foot blown off)
Harry Dean Stanton (about a minute of screen time, but did have lines, he's not in the credits)
Martin Landau (few minutes of screen time and several lines)
Norman Fell (Mr. Roper from 3's Co.,  he was the radioman, got blown up in a bunker)
Rip Torn (in charge of the reinforcements, also Peck's characters brother - in - law)
Bob Steele (he's the Colonel at HQ)
Robert Blake (he loses his gun and gets tapped to be a runner,  gets wounded when a grenade he's throwing into a bunker  bounces back on him)

This is not your run of the mill 50's war movie. The characters are very down to earth human.  I think this is a very realistic portrayal of the Korean war.  

The movie is based on real events and portrays an Army Reserve unit.  It also shows that Viet Nam was not the first war people didn't want to be in.  When they first storm the hill ,  several men have to be tackled and turned around while  running the other direction.  It also shows this as the first totally integrated war and the first war run strictly by politicians. They are taking the hill back just to make points at the peace table.

I would rate this as one the 5 best war movies ever made.

Wow, I didn't realize all those stars are in this film. I'll have to see it again soon. PORK CHOP HILL is most memorable WWII film growing up without a doubt right along with TO HELL AND BACK. The scenes I remember most of this great film are:

The scenes when the lights come on while they are going up the hill.

The shell that takes out all those men in the trenches.

The black soldier who is confronted by Peck.

Tokyo Rose type talking to the soldiers over the speakers set up along the hill.

When the reenforcements arrive with only a few men.

The ending with the flamethrowers and them trying to sandbag their position.

(http://di.image.eshop.msn.com/img/sinv/2771/17/565902.jpg)

I bought a VHS of this movie about 10 years ago and didn't watch it, but sold it when DVD came out.



Post Edited (09-07-04 07:54)

it was about the korean war not ww2

Thanks, jmmyd I remember well the chinese coming over the ridge, so I know it wasn't WWII.  The uniforms are similar and I made a quick post.

Something of an oddity for me. Usually, when I see a movie for the first time, I either like it or dislike it, and my opinion never changes. This one though, the first time I saw it, I disliked it. Maybe because it was different from what I was use to seeing. But, when I saw it again later, I changed my mind and found myself liking it.