Combat!, a one-hour WWII drama series on television,
followed a frontline American infantry squad as they battled their way
across Europe. With mud-splattered realism, the show offered ...
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Stars:
Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, Pierre JalbertStoryline
Combat!, a one-hour WWII drama series on television, followed a frontline American infantry squad as they battled their way across Europe. With mud-splattered realism, the show offered character studies of men striving to maintain their own humanity in the midst of a world torn by war.
Season 1
2 Oct. 1962
Forgotten Front
Searching for a Nazi gun emplacement, the GIs try to pump information from a German deserter who is unsure of his loyalties.
9 Oct. 1962
Rear Echelon Commandos
In desperate need of replacements, the squad is finally given three new
men. However, the new troops are not quite what Saunders was
expecting--one is an overage, overweight former cook, another is an
arrogant radio announcer who wants nothing else than to get back to his
former cushy job in London, and the third was a ballet dancer before he
got drafted--and none of them have any combat experience whatsoever.
16 Oct. 1962
Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd
A lone wolf tank commander whose men revile him, saves Hanley's squad.
Then, without explanation, the tank sergeant blows the cross off a
French village's church, and roughs up its wounded priest. Now the whole
infantry squad hates Sgt. Dane too. Sgt. Saunders confronts Dane to
find out why he's so violent, while the 2 squads occupy the mysteriously
abandoned town.
23 Oct. 1962
Any Second Now
When a time bomb crashes unexploded in a church, a rattled British
officer's the only disposal expert in the sector. The Tommy seems more
wired than the bomb, despite just being put on leave. He sniped at Lt.
Hanley for having an innocent chat with his ex-girlfriend, then refused
to join the rest of patrons in the French tavern's wine cellar during a
Luftwaffe raid.
30 Oct. 1962
Far from the Brave
When the squad's BAR man is killed saving them from being wiped out in
an ambush, the men aren't too happy with his replacement--including
Saunders, who was especially close to the man, and particularly Kirby,
who expected to be promoted to BAR man. The fact that the new man was,
up until a few days ago, a cook's helper with no combat experience
doesn't help matters, either.
13 Nov. 1962
Missing in Action
Retrieving a downed pilot becomes even more nerve-wracking, because Lt.
Hanley's battle-fatigued squad mistakenly shot the messenger who
delivered the U.S. war hero pilot's whereabouts to them. Hanley doesn't
want this mission, but he's assured that a grizzled Maquisard truck
driver will transport them safely to the farm where French Resistance
hide the wounded bomber pilot.
20 Nov. 1962
Escape to Nowhere
A German general calmly kills his chauffeur and forces Hanley to replace
him. While playing possum behind enemy lines, the wounded Hanley was
captured, then interrogated. When Hanley wouldn't cooperate, Gen. Von
Strelitz took Hanley away for further questioning. Von Strelitz refuses
to explain what he's plotting, and Lt. Hanley doesn't appreciate the
promotion to Kapitan in the Heer.
27 Nov. 1962
The Celebrity
Del Packer, a famous baseball star who was drafted into the army, winds
up as a replacement in the squad. While Kelly looks for a way to make
some money by setting up a baseball game with a neighboring outfit,
Billy--a devoted baseball fan--is awestruck to be in the same squad as
one of his heroes. However, Packer has his own demons to fight, and
while the other squad members are too star-struck to notice that
something may be wrong, Saunders isn't.
4 Dec. 1962
Cat and Mouse
Saunders is ordered to join a reconnaissance patrol whose Sergeant doesn't like him or want him along.
11 Dec. 1962
I Swear by Apollo
Behind enemy lines, Saunders and his men struggle to keep a critically wounded French partisan alive.
18 Dec. 1962
A Day in June
In a flashback story told as the men rest on a rainy night, Sgt.
Saunders recalls the experiences of himself and several other men on the
day of the D-Day invasion, including tales about Braddock, who won the
platoon pool for when the invasion would take place; Doc Walton, who was
reluctant to go into battle; Caje (called "Caddie" in this episode),
who is accompanied by another Cajun; and Lt. Hanley, who at the time was
still a sergeant, and had little battle experience compared to
Saunders. Following the landing, the men move inland and come upon a
farmstead held by ...
25 Dec. 1962
The Prisoner
Braddock, while on duty as Lt. Hanley's runner, is "appropriated" by a
tough-talking, overbearing colonel as his jeep driver. Unfortunately the
colonel decides to drive the jeep himself, and his reckless driving
results in an accident in which both men are knocked unconscious. When
Braddock awakens he is captured by a German patrol, but since he happens
to be wearing the colonel's coat--which he put on to keep warm while
the colonel was zooming around the countryside--the Germans think that
he actually IS a colonel, and nothing Braddock can say or do will
convince ...
1 Jan. 1963
Reunion
After the battalion pushes the Germans out of a small French town, Pvt.
Paul Villers, a member of Saunders' squad, asks permission to look for
his father, a French doctor. Villers' was born in France but his parents
divorced when he was four and his mother, an American, took him back to
the US. He knows the town they're in is where his father was born and
looks for him there. It doesn't take him long to find his father, but it
takes him a bit longer to find out some things about his father that he
wasn't counting on.
8 Jan. 1963
The Medal
D'Amato and Wharton, two close friends within the platoon, become
separated from the rest of the men when the platoon comes under fire
from a German tank and its machine gunner. D'Amato manages to flank the
armor and capture the machine gun, which he then uses against the
supporting German infantry. D'Amato is wounded in the process, however,
and by the time the rest of the platoon reaches the position, Wharton
has taken over the machine gun -- making Lt. Hanley think that it was
he, not D'Amato, who singlehandedly captured the German armor.
15 Jan. 1963
Just for the Record
Sgt. Saunders is taken prisoner by a German patrol, and is being
transported with three other men (two Canadians and a French civilian)
when they are freed by a group of Resistance fighters. The civilian
turns out to be a Resistance operative as well, and with the unwitting
help of a woman named Annette, who provides ration coupons, he is able
to buy gasoline to transport the three Allied soldiers to Paris. Annette
initially resists providing further help when they reach Paris, but
reluctantly agrees to take in Saunders for a few nights -- but it seems
Annette has ...
S1, Ep16
22 Jan. 1963
The Volunteer
An exasperated Hanley finds himself saddled with a 13-year-old French orphan who wants to join the squad.
29 Jan. 1963
The Squad
Saunders' and Hanley's platoon is joined by a replacement soldier from
Georgia named Moseby Lovelace, who comes complete with a new set of
boots that the other troops, especially Saunders, highly covet. Lovelace
is eager to see action, but not interested in the ordinary work of
soldiering, such as digging foxholes. He jumps at the chance to join a
night reconnaissance patrol headed by Hanley that will check to see
whether the Germans have pulled back their lines.
5 Feb. 1963
Next in Command
A battle-hardened corporal joins Sgt. Saunders squad, but remains
distant and aloof from the other members, causing dissension in the
ranks.
12 Feb. 1963
The Chateau
Doc, Braddock and several wounded GIs take refuge in a French château
owned by a wealthy aristocrat and his daughter. The father, concerned
only with saving his estate, wants no part of them and orders them off
the property. Unfortunately, a strong German patrol shows up intending
to use the château as an artillery observation post, and the GIs are
taken prisoner. While the captured soldiers make plans to escape, the
aristocrat sees a kindred spirit in the seemingly cultured German
commander, but doesn't realize that the officer has designs on the
château's treasures-...
19 Feb. 1963
Off Limits
When a new squad member named March suddenly kisses a nurse at the
evacuation hospital, it shocks everyone, until they learn the two are
married. During the night, Kirby sneaks into the French village to
carouse but is beaten up in a fight. The next morning he's AWOL, forcing
March to take his place on a patrol where he is severely wounded and
sent to the same aid station where his wife is working. While Kirby is
recovering from his injuries, he discovers March's wife is really in
love with the surgeon at the hospital.
26 Feb. 1963
No Time for Pity
When the squad enters a French village, they discover a small patrol of
German paratroopers have established an observation post in the town. A
ruthless, battle-hardened German Lieutenant is holding five French
children, a pretty young librarian and an old man hostage in hopes of
buying more time. Lt. Hanley pulls his squad back and decides to
infiltrate the village alone, in an attempt to rescue the children and
woman before the allies begin shelling the town at 2200 hrs. He has
little time to accomplish his mission.
5 Mar. 1963
Night Patrol
While on a night patrol to bring in a prisoner, Sgt. Saunders and his
squad discover an American GI in the woods waging a one-man war on his
own.
12 Mar. 1963
Survival
In enemy territory, his hands badly burned, Saunders weaves a treacherous path back to his own lines.
S1, Ep24
19 Mar. 1963
No Hallelujahs for Glory
French underground blow their cover, believing their village is
liberated. Actually Hanley's squad are retrieving a female
photojournalist star, who ducked through military lines to grab a scoop.
The undisciplined photog at first provided comic relief for U.S.
infantry, anxiously waiting out a chilling rain for the go-ahead to
liberate Trois Anges. Hanley and Saunders fear her actions endanger the
villagers.
26 Mar. 1963
The Quiet Warrior
Hanley is pulled off the line and sent to London, where he discovers
that he is to be used in a secret mission to aid a French physicist to
escape occupied France before the Gestapo gets ahold of him. Hanley and
the man's son were friends in college and Hanley spent one summer in
France at the family's home and is the only man the scientist will
trust--especially since it's been discovered that someone in the French
resistance who is helping them is a double agent.
2 Apr. 1963
The Battle of the Roses
A young woman who cannot face the horrors of the war isolates herself in
an idyllic garden which is unscathed by German bombs and refuses to
leave. Saunders attempts to evacuate her before more Germans come.
9 Apr. 1963
Hill 256
Kirby is being tried in a military court for desertion under fire, and
the penalty could be death. As the trial proceeds, Sgt. Saunders and
Caje try to gather evidence to prove his innocence.
16 Apr. 1963
The Sniper
The squad enters a French village that was recently vacated by the
Germans, and receives 48 hours of R&R. A German soldier has remained
behind, and is killing the Americans one at a time.
23 Apr. 1963
One More for the Road
The squad discovers an orphaned baby in a barn, and must bring the
infant with them as they traverse through enemy territory en route to
their own lines.
30 Apr. 1963
The Walking Wounded
A slightly wounded Sgt. Saunders travels to the aid station in an
ambulance with a beautiful nurse, a doctor who has lost his nerve and a
driver who never had any nerve.
7 May 1963
High Named Today
Hanley, Saunders and their men are worried that the reckless bravery of a
reputed one-man death-squad will get them all killed.
14 May 1963
No Trumpets, No Drums
Experiencing extreme guilt, Caje neglects his duties to spend time with a
young French girl whose father he accidentally killed in an assault on
their village.
User Reviews
Combat! is great televisionCineastes, just listen to Robert Altman's commentary on "Survival," one of the several early episodes of 'Combat!' that he directed. "If this is not one of the best things I've ever done, I don't know what is," he says (I'm paraphrasing). And he's right. This sixties WW II series is remarkable for its consistently good writing, direction, and acting -- especially acting. Vic Morrow is, in my book, one of the great, underrated, Method-trained actors of his generation. If his career had been on the large screen, he'd be celebrated in the company of Brando, Dean, Clift. With one look Morrow was able to convey exhaustion, disgust, concern, love for his men, and the burdens of duty. There's no one on television today with his subtlety and range. Somebody get that man his star on the Walk of Fame! Or how about a posthumous Emmy award (do they exist?).
Combat! S1E1 Forgotten Front, TV Series 1962
Combat!: Season 2
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