THE STEEL BAYONET is a Hammer war film made in 1957, cashing in on a craze for similarly-plotted movies made during the 1950s. Once again the film has a North African setting, with the battle of Tunisia serving as the real-life backdrop for the events portrayed. The heroes are a bunch of tired British soldiers tasked with holding a ruined outpost from a Nazi advance. The movie was shot on Salisbury Plain which does a decent job of standing in for a more exotic location. It's generally a slow burner, with a number of suspense set-pieces thrown into the mix, and the format works rather well. The cast is small but studded with familiar British character actors, from the big leads (the reliably down-to-earth Leo Genn and the prim-and-proper Michael Medwin) to the underrated bit-part stars like Michaels Ripper and Balfour. Hammer producer Michael Carreras wasn't known for being one of the studio's best directors, but he handles the material well here, and things end on a rousing, extended battle sequence which is undoubtedly worth the wait.

Photographed in black-and-white Hammerscope (advertised as "CinemaScope" in the U.S.A.). Producer: Michael Carreras. A Hammer Production, released through United Artists. Copyright 1957 by United Artists Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: March 1958. U.K. release: 3 June 1957. No record of Australian theatrical release (probably 1958). 7,652 feet. 85 minutes.SYNOPSIS: "C" company under Major Gerrard (Leo Genn) are the remnants of a battle-weary battalion in the North African campaign in WW2. They are ordered to occupy a deserted farm-house and use its tall wind tower as an observation post in preparation for a full- scale allied counter-attack against the Afrika Corps.NOTES: Locations included the British Army's tank training grounds at Aldershot, England.COMMENT: Over-cluttered with dialogue. But if the film was trimmed (a lot of Leo Genn's dialogue could go — his heart was obviously not really in the role anyway — he enunciates his lines beautifully but with an almost total absence of conviction), there would be sufficient action left to satisfy the fans, although the all-male cast and the absence of any interesting players will limit the film to the lower half of double bills.The characters are one-dimensional anyway, and the plot is the usual hoke. The direction is mostly stolid, but it has a few imaginatively atmospheric touches and the use of exterior locations is quite effective.OTHER VIEWS: During the French liberation, actor-barrister Leo Genn, received the Croix de Guerre for bravery whilst serving in the Royal Artillery during World War II. In "Steel Bayonet", he stars as a brave infantry commander assigned the vital task of taking a derelict Tunisian farm building, for use as a British observation post, and holding the position against overwhelming odds.At the end of hostilities, Genn was posted to S.H.A.E.F. Special Enquiries Branch tackling War Crimes Investigations — working on Belsen among other assignments, he held an important brief during the subsequent trials, thus returning to his pre-war legal profession for a short time.Genn returned to the screen to star in "Green For Danger". A Broadway stage version of "Another Part of the Forest" and a co- starring screen role in "Mourning Becomes Electra" followed. "Snake Pit" and "The Velvet Touch" came next in Hollywood before he returned to England to appear in the stage version of "The Seventh Veil" with Ann Todd. Several films followed that and included a second trip to Hollywood in 1952. Constantly acting on both sides of the Atlantic made Genn in demand and popular with both Americans and his native countrymen. Though many of his roles have been military, he played Buckingham in an Old Vic production of "Henry VIII". On the screen, he appeared in "The Miniver Story", "Quo Vadis", "The Magic Box", "Moby Dick" and "Lady Chatterley's Lover". .Co-starring with Kieron Moore in "Steel Bayonet", Leo Genn plays his fourth military role. — Hammer Publicity.An earnest, but inept attempt. — Variety.

The tale of an army patrol holding a desert outpost has been filmed many times.Two examples that come to mind are John Ford's"The Last Patrol" and Ealing's "Nine Men".Whilst this film is not quite up to their standard this is nevertheless an exciting war film with plenty of action sequences well staged.The cast is good.Leo Genn as a Major concerned for the welfare of his men.Michael Medwin,playing somewhat against type,as a by the rules young lieutenant,and Kieron Moore,who for some reason wont come down from the water tower unless he is either fried to a frazzle or blasted out of there.Actually he rings the one false note about the film.You would suspect that the first thing that the German tanks would destroy is the water tower,yet it remains standing till almost the end.Percy Herbert is also in the film.A desert war film without him would be unthinkable.

Hammer Films was really a very good studio. Not only for horror movies but also for war ones. Remember Val Guest's films such as CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND and YESTERDAY'S ENEMY. Perhaps one or more. Very tense, well paced, sharply shot, with very deep characters. Emotion and action in the same scheme. What else could we ask for?The story of a group of British soldiers, during WW2, in Tunisia, who gets order to hold a position, in the middle of the desert, in order to prevent Afrika Korps to advance.I have seen many British war movies, academic ones, very talkative, flat, even with great actors such Dirk Bogarde, Richard Attenborough, Richard Todd or some others...Movies very long, long, long. Boring at the most. Not bad ones, not corny, but long. Period.But, I repeat, the Hammer war films are worth the detour.