The Glory Brigade (1953) is an interesting if overlooked and obscure film purporting to be a Hollywood tribute to the Greek Expeditionary Force that took part in the UN mission to defend South Korea against North Korean invasion in the first years of the 1950s.
The Greek Expeditionary Force to Korea became known as the ‘Spartan Brigade’ and such was the good fighting reputation and devotion to the cause it demonstrated that the unit of 900 men was awarded the US Presidential Unit citation.
Seizing on the the widespread praise and interest the Greek soldiers garnered in the US press, Hollywood decided that a film depicting the brigade’s exploits would be appropriate.
Twentieth Century Fox undertook the production, no doubt inspired by the legendary head of the studio, Spyros Skouras, and the result is a good and more complex film than one would have expected, not only interested in recreating the brutal hell of the Korean War but also in dealing with issues such as American exceptionalism and racism – the Greek troops are initially disparaged by the Americans they are asked to fight with, who don’t want to trust their lives to foreigners they regard as inherently cowardly; but also the immigrant experience – the detachment of US engineers assigned to work with the Greeks is led by a Greek-American, Lt. Sam Pryor (superbly played by Victor Mature), whose attitude to his Greek colleagues goes from exaggerated admiration to loathing and rejection before he finds a more moderate and realistic way to deal with his heritage.
Unusually, the film depicts the Greek soldiers and their commanders as smart, disciplined and naturally brave while it is the American soldier, expressing individualism, cynicism and gung-hoism who is criticised and depicted as a threat to the military mission.
This is in contrast to any number of war films – The Guns of Navarone, The Angry Hills, Ill Met by Moonlight, They Who Dare – that portray Greek fighters as valiant but flawed by an excess of emotion. In The Glory Brigade, it is the American warrior who is shown as enthral to his emotions, irrational and impetuous.
