The Korean experience changed the way Americans viewed war.  The lack of a clear-cut victory inspired filmmakers to try to make sense of fighting another country’s civil war and risking American lives for an unpopular cause.  In many ways the Korean War was a bridge between the very understandable and patriotic sacrifice necessary in World War II and the muddy, senseless bloodshed in Vietnam.

Korean War Filmography details more than ninety English-language films.  Each entry includes complete cast and credit listings, a plot synopsis, evaluation, review snippets, and notice of video availability.  The book places each film in historical context, assesses the essential truthfulness of each film, evaluates its entertainment value, and discusses how — and why — Korean War films differ from other Hollywood war genres.  Appendices list the films by chronology; production company and studio; level of historical accuracy; and subject and theme.  Additional appendices list films with incidental references to the Korean War; documentaries; and South Korean films about the war.  Photographs, a bibliography and an index are included.

This book is the most comprehensive reference regarding Korean War movies yet written.  It includes not only the well-known titles (MASH, Pork Chop Hill, The Steel Helmet, The Manchurian Candidate, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, etc.) but those that have languished in obscurity for decades (Combat Squad, Iron Angel, Sky Commando, Mr. Walkie Talkie, etc.).  More modern takes on the war are covered, too, such as Field of Honor, Inchon, For the Boys and Truman.

Various appendices contribute to the book’s usefulness.  Each film is “rated” low, medium or high depending on its Historical Accuracy level, which should be self-explanatory, and its Patriotic Propaganda level, which measures each film’s stance against the spread of communism, and how much support is generates for America’s military presence in the Korean theatre.  In addition, for each entry there is an “elements” tag which indicates what specific elements it encompasses, such as Marine Corps, Winter Fighting, Prisoners of War, Courts-Martial, Espionage, etc. Thus, films can be found in the Subject and Theme appendix by those specific elements.

Darcy Paquet of the Institute of Foreign Language Studies of Korea University in Seoul has contributed a detailed listing of South Korean movies that deal with the war.  This feature introduces western audiences to the most prominent movies made from the South Korean perspective, which, of course, was quite different than our own.  Darcy’s website is www.koreanfilm.org.

The artwork and photographs included also strengthen the book’s appeal.  Most of the discussed movies are represented by at least one photo and one poster or ad image that reveals how the film was advertised to the public.  The best-known films are even better represented in terms of illustration.

Korean War Filmography remains the most comprehensive volume regarding the history and culture of Korean War movies.  It is the volume that I am most proud of writing during my brief career.  Because I have since found other movies that should have been included (but which I simply did not know about at the time) I am looking forward to someday updating this work and making it even more complete.

I was led to the subject of Korean War movies by Lee Marvin.  As I was finishing Lee Marvin: His Films and Career and looking around for a second project to tackle, I kept returning to the fact that Marvin had appeared in three Korean War films, and I was very familiar with them, having just written about them.  A little research indicated that only one book (by Paul Edwards) had been written about Korean War films specifically, and the fiftieth anniversary of the conflict was about to arrive.  So I jumped in and decided that I would document Korean War films for my next project. There couldn’t be all that many, right?

Korean War films are, generally, obscure.  I quickly learned that most people cannot name more than five.  I could barely name ten when I began the project and I ended up with ninety-one!  I had to set parameters for the book, and so determined that in order to qualify a movie had to have at least a glimpse of war action — or be a dedicated “homefront” movie like I Want You or Three Wishes, where the war’s presence is constant and its effects are inevitable.  By doing so, I was able to include a host of movies that reference the war, illustrate all sorts of things about it, and encompass virtually every cinematic variance that could be imagined.

It was also important that because of the fiftieth anniversary, the Korean War was back in the news again.  Had I thought of the idea five years earlier I could have had the book ready by 2000, taken advantage of all the publicity and sold a few more copies.  But I was writing the Marvin book during that time.  So I finished KWF and had it ready for 2003, the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Korean War. That was better than nothing.

As I said, it was Lee Marvin who led me to the subject.  I loved writing the book and it has introduced me to a lot of great people, mainly Korean War veterans, whom I would not have met had I not written it.  I did some programs on the book at local venues (and am available for others) that not only informed the public of all the films they missed on this esoteric subject, but persuaded me that I had written something worthwhile and lasting.  They provided a forum for veterans to recall their own military service and contrast it against Hollywood’s perception of such service.  And since we have once again been embroiled in controversial action overseas, the book seems more relevant than ever.

There are ninety-one English-language movies made and released before 2000 in my Korean War Filmography, all of which dramatize some aspect of the Korean War. Some are fictional representations of the war; others are historically authentic. Some take place solely on the faraway, bloody battleground of Korea; others occur right here in the States, as young men of draft age face a frightening future.  Some are intensely dramatic, a few horrific and some are surprisingly funny.  Many are dull; a few are nerve-wracking.  All are movies about a period in our history with which most people are relatively unfamiliar.

Films about the Forgotten War reflect that war’s anonymity.  It is undeniable that the majority of Korean War films are of minor status.  Most people would be hard-pressed to name five Korean War films; to name ten would be most impressive. Take a moment now, before you view the contents list of this book, and try to name ten Korean War movies.  Write them down if need be.  Then peruse the contents list below.  Chances are that a few of your choices will not be there, because they are World War II films.  Many of the “combat” Korean War films, especially those made during the war (from 1951-1953), are virtually indistinguishable from those made about World War II, with only the location and enemy being changed.

Nevertheless, study of these films as a genre can provide a valuable view of the time and the pervasive social attitudes of that time, especially when compared to World War II and Vietnam War dramas.  Just as this particular war provokes differing responses in people than the previous and later international conflicts, so do the films about the war.

To qualify for inclusion and commentary in this book, each film had to fulfill at least one of two criteria (and preferably both): at least some of the film’s story and action must be set in Korea during the war, or the war must be important enough to the film’s story that character action is affected by the war.  Thus, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing qualifies because William Holden’s war correspondent character visits U.N. troops and sees enemy action firsthand (though only briefly near the movie’s end), I Want You because of the war’s pervasive effect on the rural American life of its characters, and Back at the Front and Geisha Girl because the war profoundly affects the film’s action six hundred miles away in Japan.  Others, such as The Rack, Japanese War Bride, Top Secret Affair and Chattahoochee refer to specific (fictional) incidents which occurred during the war which are crucial to their storylines.  Thus, they are included as well.

Taken as a whole, these films form a general impression of the war from the American frame of reference.  About half of them feature extensive battle action, while others depict how civilian lives have been altered by the war, or explore how it is viewed back in America, some six thousand miles from the battlefront.  They comprise a time capsule of the era’s customs and attitudes, of a important period in history that, like the war itself, is gradually being forgotten.  The main purpose of my book is to faithfully chronicle those movies and help people remember.

The movies themselves are arranged alphabetically, as follows, with a few of their stars listed to help identify the titles:

Air Strike  (1955)  Richard Denning, Gloria Jean, Don Haggerty

All the Young Men  (1960)  Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, Ingemar Johansson

An Annapolis Story  (1955)  John Derek, Diana Lynn, Kevin McCarthy

Back at the Front  (1952)  Tom Ewell, Harvey Lembeck, Mari Blanchard

The Bamboo Prison  (1954)  Robert Francis, Dianne Foster, Brian Keith

Battle Circus  (1953)  Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Robert Keith

Battle Flame  (1959)  Scott Brady, Elaine Edwards, Robert Blake

Battle Hymn  (1957)  Rock Hudson, Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea

Battle Taxi  (1955)  Sterling Hayden, Arthur Franz, Marshall Thompson

Battle Zone  (1952)  John Hodiak, Linda Christian, Stephen McNally

Bombers B-52  (1957)  Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Marsha Hunt

The Bridges at Toko-Ri  (1955)  William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March

Cease Fire  (1953)  Captain Roy Thompson, Jr., Corporal Henry Gozkowski

Chattahoochee  (1990)  Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand

Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur  (1976, TVM)  Henry Fonda, E. G. Marshall

Combat Squad  (1953)  John Ireland, Lon McCallister, Hal March

Cry for Happy  (1961)  Glenn Ford, Donald O’Connor, Miiko Taka

Dragonfly Squadron  (1954)  John Hodiak, Barbara Britton, Bruce Bennett

The Eternal Sea  (1955)  Sterling Hayden, Alexis Smith, Dean Jagger

The Fearmakers  (1958)  Dana Andrews, Dick Foran, Marilee Earle

Field of Honor  (1986)  Everett McGill, Ron Brandsteder, Bart Romer

Fixed Bayonets!  (1951)  Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O’Shea

Flight Nurse  (1953)  Joan Leslie, Forrest Tucker, Arthur Franz

For the Boys  (1991)  Bette Midler, James Caan, George Segal

Geisha Girl  (1952)  Steve Forrest, Martha Hyer, Archer MacDonald

Glory Alley  (1952)  Ralph Meeker, Leslie Caron, Kurt Kasznar

The Glory Brigade  (1953)  Victor Mature, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin

The Great Impostor  (1960)  Tony Curtis, Edmond O’Brien, Arthur O’Connell

Hell’s Horizon  (1955)  John Ireland, Marla English, Bill Williams, Chet Baker

A Hill in Korea  (1956)  George Baker, Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews

Hold Back the Night  (1956)  John Payne, Mona Freeman, Peter Graves

The Hook  (1963)  Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker, Jr., Nick Adams

The Hunters  (1958)  Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Richard Egan

I Want You  (1951)  Dana Andrews, Dorothy McGuire, Farley Granger

Inchon  (1982)  Sir Laurence Olivier, Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara

Iron Angel  (1964)  Jim Davis, Don “Red” Barry, Margo Woode

Japanese War Bride  (1952)  Shirley Yamaguchi, Don Taylor

Jet Attack  (1958)  John Agar, Audrey Totter, Gregory Walcott

Korea Patrol  (1951)  Richard Emory, Benson Fong, Al Eben

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing  (1955)  William Holden, Jennifer Jones

MacArthur  (1977)  Gregory Peck, Ed Flanders, Dan O’Herlihy

The Manchurian Candidate  (1962)  Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey

Man-Trap  (1961)  Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Stella Stevens

Marine Battleground  (1966)  Jock Mahoney, Pat Li

Marines, Let’s Go  (1961)  Tom Tryon, David Hedison, Tom Reese

MASH  (1970)  Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt

Mask of the Dragon  (1951)  Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton

The McConnell Story  (1955)  Alan Ladd, June Allyson, James Whitmore

Men in War  (1957)  Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith

Men of the Fighting Lady  (1954)  Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon

Mission Over Korea  (1953)  John Hodiak, John Derek, Audrey Totter

Mr. Walkie Talkie  (1952)  William Tracy, Joe Sawyer, Robert Shayne

My Son John  (1952)  Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Dean Jagger, Robert Walker

No Man’s Land  (1964)  Russ Harvey, Kim Lee, Lee Morgan

Not with My Wife, You Don’t!  (1966)  Tony Curtis, Virna Lisi, George C. Scott

The Nun and the Sergeant  (1962)  Robert Webber, Anna Sten

One Minute to Zero  (1952)  Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman

Operation Dames  (1959)  Eve Meyer, Chuck Henderson, Don Devlin

Pork Chop Hill  (1959)  Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn

Prisoner of War  (1954)  Ronald Reagan, Steve Forrest, Dewey Martin

The Rack  (1956)  Paul Newman, Wendell Corey, Walter Pidgeon

The Reluctant Heroes  (1971, TVM)  Ken Berry, Jim Hutton, Trini Lopez

Retreat, Hell!  (1952)  Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Russ Tamblyn

Return from the Sea  (1954)  Jan Sterling, Neville Brand

Sabre Jet  (1953)  Robert Stack, Coleen Gray, Richard Arlen

Sayonara  (1957)  Marlon Brando, Patricia Owens, Red Buttons

Sergeant Ryker  (1968)  Lee Marvin, Bradford Dillman, Peter Graves

Sky Commando  (1953)  Dan Duryea, Frances Gifford, Mike Connors

Sniper’s Ridge  (1961)  Jack Ging, Stanley Clements, John Goddard

Starlift  (1951)  Dick Wesson, Janice Rule, Ron Hagerthy, Doris Day

The Steel Helmet  (1951)  Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie

Strange Intruder  (1956)  Edmund Purdom, Ida Lupino, Ann Harding

A Stranger in My Arms  (1959)  June Allyson, Jeff Chandler, Sandra Dee

Submarine Command  (1951)  William Holden, Nancy Olson, William Bendix

Take the High Ground!  (1953)  Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Elaine Stewart

Tank Battalion  (1958)  Don Kelly, Leslie Parrish, Edward G. Robinson, Jr.

Target Zero  (1955)  Richard Conte, Peggie Castle, Charles Bronson

Three Wishes  (1995)  Patrick Swayze, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Time Limit  (1957)  Richard Widmark, Richard Basehart, Dolores Michaels

Tokyo File 212  (1951)  Florence Marly, Lee Frederick, Katsuhiko Haida

Top Secret Affair  (1957)  Susan Hayward, Kirk Douglas, Paul Stewart

Torpedo Alley  (1952)  Mark Stevens, Dorothy Malone, Charles Winninger

Toward the Unknown  (1956)  William Holden, Lloyd Nolan, Virginia Leith

Truman  (1995, Cable Movie)  Gary Sinise, Diana Scarwid, Richard Dysart

Twenty Plus Two  (1961)  David Janssen, Jeanne Crain, Dina Merrill

Underwater Warrior  (1958)  Dan Dailey, Claire Kelly, James Gregory

The Walking Major  (1970)  Dale Robertson, Yujiro Ishihara, Frank Sinatra, Jr.

War Hunt  (1962)  John Saxon, Robert Redford, Charles Aidman

War is Hell  (1964)  Tony Russel, Baynes Barron, Judy Dan, Burt Topper

A Yank in Korea  (1951)  Lon McCallister, Bill Phillips, Brett King

The Young and the Brave  (1963)  Rory Calhoun, William Bendix, Richard Jaeckel

Those are the titles discussed in detail in my book.  Unfortunately, two of them, Marine Battleground and War is Hell, I have yet to actually locate and watch (they were summarized, but not thoroughly discussed).  Any help finding them would be much appreciated.  A third, No Man’s Land, was recently located for me and its entry will be completed when the book is updated.

Since 2003, when this book was published, several other titles have surfaced that should have been included, but of which I was unaware.  They are, alphabetically:

The Amazing Colossal Man  (1957)  Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, James Seay

Family Album  (1994, TVM)  Jaclyn Smith, Michael Ontkean, Joe Flanigan

The Forgotten  (2003)  Randy Ryan, Betty Ouyang, Malcolm Barrett

Here Come the Jets  (1959)  Steve Brodie, Lyn Thomas, Mark Dana, John Doucette

The Hot Angel  (1958)   Jackie Loughery, Ed Kemmer, Alan Dinehart III

Marry Me Again  (1953)  Robert Cummings, Marie Wilson, Mary Costa

The McCulloughs  (1975)  Forrest Tucker, Julie Adams, Max Baer, Jr.

Though None Go with Me  (2006, TVM)  Cheryl Ladd, David Norona, Brad Rowe.

A Thousand Men and a Baby  (1997, TVM)  Richard Thomas, Gerald McRaney

Three Stripes in the Sun  (1955)  Aldo Ray, Phil Carey, Dick York, Chuck Connors

The Young Philadelphians  (1959)  Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith

There are probably other titles as well which would qualify for my book, and I am still looking for them.  Among the possibilities that I have yet to locate and watch are King of Love (1987, TVM) and Down the Road (2006).  Any help finding these titles would also be greatly appreciated.

Another group of films mentions Korea in context or has to do with Korean War veterans; these are what I term “incidental” Korean War titles, and I have made a separate listing of them in my book as well.  That list will also be posted, but I have not done so as yet.

I hope this is of interest to film fans, and sparks some interest in this neglected genre of filmmaking, as well as my book about it.  Feel free to let me know what you think.  16 May 2013.