Underplayed Gems

The Steel Bayonet (1957)

The Steel Bayonet poster
Directed by
Michael Carreras
Genre
war film
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
1h 25m
Rating
5.7 of 10 from 6 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

A small British observation unit gets trapped in a Tunisian farmhouse by German forces during World War Two. The soldiers hold their position and try to survive against overwhelming odds.

grittytenserestrainedclaustrophobicgroundedstarkunvarnishedunderstated

What happens

The Steel Bayonet is a 1957 British war film directed by Michael Carreras and starring Leo Genn, Kieron Moore and Michael Medwin. Michael Caine also had a small role in the film, early in his career. It is set during the Second World War, in the Tunisian desert when a small British observation force are surrounded in a farm by overwhelming forces of the German Afrika Korps. Filming took place on Salisbury Plain, which doubled for North Africa. This was Michael Carreras' first film he directed for Hammer. Phil Leakey did Makeup and Sid Pearson did Special Effects. The film's original working title was Observation Post. The German soldiers actually spoke German (with English subtitles) in the film, which was unusual for its time. Filming wrapped on Sept. 20, 1956, it was trade shown in London on May 14, 1957, and released on June 3, 1957. It was released in the US in 1958 on a double bill with a Forrest Tucker western called Fort Massacre. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.