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{{Short description|1952 film by Tay Garnett}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| image = One minute to Zero (movie poster).jpg
| image = One minute to Zero (movie poster).jpg
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| starring = [[Robert Mitchum]]<br>[[Ann Blyth]]<br>[[Charles McGraw]]<br> [[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]]
| starring = [[Robert Mitchum]]<br>[[Ann Blyth]]<br>[[Charles McGraw]]<br> [[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]]
| music = [[Victor Young]]
| music = [[Victor Young]]
| cinematography = [[William E. Snyder (cinematographer)|William E. Snyder]]
⚫
| distributor = [[RKO Radio Pictures]]
| editing = Robert Belcher
⚫
| released = {{Film date|1952|7|21|''US''|ref1=<ref>[http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=50606 "One Minute to Zero: Detail View."] ''American Film Institute''. Retrieved: May 31, 2014.</ref>}}
| studio = [[RKO Pictures]]
⚫
| distributor = RKO Pictures
⚫
| released = {{Film date|1952|7|21|''US''|ref1=<ref>[https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/50606 "One Minute to Zero: Detail View."] ''American Film Institute''. Retrieved: January 15, 2024.</ref>}}
| runtime = 105 minutes
| runtime = 105 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
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| gross = $1.6 million (US rentals)<ref>"Top Box-Office Hits of 1952." ''Variety'', January 7, 1953.</ref>
| gross = $1.6 million (US rentals)<ref>"Top Box-Office Hits of 1952." ''Variety'', January 7, 1953.</ref>
}}
}}
'''''One Minute to Zero''''' (1952) is a [[romance film|romantic]] [[war film]] starring [[Robert Mitchum]] and [[Ann Blyth]], set during the [[Korean War]], and produced by [[Howard Hughes]] as the last film he fronted.<ref name="TCM article"/> The film showcases the contributions of the [[U.S. Army]] and [[U.S. Air Force]], the South Korean Army, the [[United Nations]], the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] during the early days of the [[Korean War]].<ref>Appleman, Roy E. [http://www.history.army.mil/BOOKS/KOREA/20-2-1/toc.htm ''South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950).''] Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1961.</ref> The effects of air power in the Korean War were also vividly depicted through the use of combat footage.
'''''One Minute to Zero''''' is a 1952 American [[romance film|romantic]] [[war film]] starring [[Robert Mitchum]] and [[Ann Blyth]], set during the opening phases of the [[Korean War]], and produced by [[Howard Hughes]] as his last film as producer.<ref name="TCM article"/> [[Victor Young]]'s score for the film includes the first appearance of "[[When I Fall in Love]]", as the instrumental titled "Theme from One Minute to Zero". The film showcases the contributions of the [[U.S. Army]] and [[U.S. Air Force]], the South Korean Army, the [[United Nations]], the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] during the early days of the [[Korean War]].<ref>Appleman, Roy E. [http://www.history.army.mil/BOOKS/KOREA/20-2-1/toc.htm ''South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950).''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207235336/http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/20-2-1/toc.htm |date=2014-02-07 }} Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1961.</ref> The effects of air power in the Korean War were also vividly depicted through the use of combat footage.
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}


==Plot==
==Plot==
Just prior to the [[North Korea]]n invasion of [[South Korea]], [[World War II]] U.S. Army veterans Colonel Steve Janowski ([[Robert Mitchum]]) and Sergeant Baker ([[Charles McGraw]]) are teaching South Korean soldiers how to use a [[bazooka]] to stop an enemy tank. Linda Day ([[Ann Blyth]]) is a [[United Nations]] worker assisting refugees. Janowski warns Day and her colleagues to leave the area because hostilities are imminent. Day, however, insists that the North Koreans would not risk the wrath of [[world opinion]]. In response, Janowski asks her if world opinion stopped Hitler.
Just prior to the [[North Korea]]n invasion of [[South Korea]], [[World War II]] U.S. Army veterans Colonel Steve Janowski ([[Robert Mitchum]]) and Sergeant Baker ([[Charles McGraw]]) are teaching South Korean soldiers how to use a [[bazooka]] to stop an enemy tank. Linda Day ([[Ann Blyth]]) is a [[United Nations]] worker assisting refugees. Janowski warns Day and her colleagues to leave the area because hostilities are imminent. Day, however, insists that the North Koreans would not risk the wrath of [[world opinion]]. In response, Janowski asks her if world opinion stopped Hitler.


Soon after, Janowski and [[U.S. Air Force]] Colonel Joe Parker ([[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]]) wake up and find themselves under attack. They compare the attack to [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] ("Isn't this where we came in?" "It's even Sunday morning!"). Janowski takes command of an [[U.S. Army]] unit which is helping to evacuate Americans and refugees. While doing his job, he keeps crossing paths, and falling in love, with Day. It turns out that she is reluctant to get involved with a soldier because she is the widow of a [[Medal of Honor]] recipient.
Soon after, Janowski and [[U.S. Air Force]] Colonel Joe Parker ([[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]]) wake up and find themselves under attack. They compare the attack to [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] ("Isn't this where we came in?" "It's even Sunday morning!"). Janowski takes command of a [[U.S. Army]] unit which is helping to evacuate Americans and refugees. While doing his job, he keeps crossing paths, and falling in love, with Day. It turns out that she is reluctant to get involved with a soldier because she is the widow of a [[Medal of Honor]] recipient.


As part of a desperate situation, Janowski is confronted by a column of refugees which has been infiltrated by armed North Korean [[guerrilla]]s. He has no choice but to call in an artillery strike. Even though Janowski is remorseful for the civilian casualties, Day initially condemns him for killing innocent people. After she finds out the reason for Janowski's action (and that he was right), she apologizes.
As part of a desperate situation, Janowski is confronted by a column of refugees which has been infiltrated by armed North Korean [[guerrilla]]s. He has no choice but to call in an artillery strike. Even though Janowski is remorseful for the civilian casualties, Day initially condemns him for killing innocent people. After she finds out the reason for Janowski's action (and that he was right), she apologizes.


Janowski leads a successful American counter offensive against the enemy.
Janowski leads a successful American counter offensive against the enemy. The contributions of the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] are both featured in the film, and are both explicitly mentioned as evidence that "the whole world" is "in this together".


==Cast==
==Cast==
[[File:One Minute to Zero (film still).jpg|thumb|Robert Mitchum and Charles McGraw were inseparable during the film's production and ended up in trouble at a local bar.<ref name="TCM article"/>]]
[[File:One Minute to Zero (film still).jpg|thumb|Robert Mitchum and Charles McGraw were inseparable during the film's production and ended up in trouble at a local bar.<ref name="TCM article"/>]]
As appearing in ''One Minute to Zero'' (main roles and screen credits identified):<ref name= "credits">[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1482/One-Minute-to-Zero/full-credits.html "Credits: One Minute to Zero."] ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: November 23, 2012.</ref>
As appearing in ''One Minute to Zero'' (main roles and screen credits identified):<ref name= "credits">[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1482/one-minute-to-zero#credits "Credits: One Minute to Zero."] ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: January 15, 2024.</ref>
{{Div col}}
{{Div col}}
* [[Robert Mitchum]] as Col. Steve Janowski
* [[Robert Mitchum]] as Col. Steve Janowski
Line 35: Line 39:
* [[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]] as Col. John Parker
* [[William Talman (actor)|William Talman]] as Col. John Parker
* [[Charles McGraw]] as Sgt. Baker
* [[Charles McGraw]] as Sgt. Baker
* [[Margaret Sheridan]] as Mary Parker
* [[Margaret Sheridan (actress)|Margaret Sheridan]] as Mary Parker
* [[Richard Egan (actor)|Richard Egan]] as Capt. Ralston
* [[Richard Egan (actor)|Richard Egan]] as Capt. Ralston
* [[Eduard Franz]] as Gustav Engstrand
* [[Eduard Franz]] as Gustav Engstrand
Line 43: Line 47:
* [[Kathleen O'Malley]] as Mrs. Norton
* [[Kathleen O'Malley]] as Mrs. Norton
* Wallace Russell as Pilot Norton
* Wallace Russell as Pilot Norton
* Eddie Firestone as Lt. Stevens (uncredited)<ref name="es100252">{{cite news |last=Carmody |first=Jay |title=Korea's Early, Desperate Days Recalled at Keith's |work=Evening Star |date=October 2, 1952 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=53 |via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
* Peter Thompson as Lt. Cronin (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
* Steve Flagg as Lt. Martin (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
* Ted Ryan as Pvt. Noble (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
* Larry Stewart as Pvt. Weiss (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
* [[Lalo Ríos]] as Pvt. Chico Mendoza (uncredited)
* [[Hal Baylor]] as Pvt. Jones (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
* Tom Carr as Pvt. Clark (uncredited)<ref name="es100252" />
{{Div col end}}
{{Div col end}}


Line 48: Line 60:
The film's [[working title]] was ''The Korean Story''. [[Ted Tetzlaff]] was the first director assigned by [[RKO]]. He was replaced, however, by [[Tay Garnett]] because producer Edmund Grainger (famed for ''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]'' and ''[[Flying Leathernecks]]'') wanted a "bigger" name as director.<ref name="Rode"/>
The film's [[working title]] was ''The Korean Story''. [[Ted Tetzlaff]] was the first director assigned by [[RKO]]. He was replaced, however, by [[Tay Garnett]] because producer Edmund Grainger (famed for ''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]'' and ''[[Flying Leathernecks]]'') wanted a "bigger" name as director.<ref name="Rode"/>


The original actress chosen as leading lady was [[Claudette Colbert]]. She became ill with pneumonia, however, and although Grainger wanted [[Joan Crawford]], the role had been rewritten for a younger person. Eventually, Ann Blyth became the replacement.<ref name="Rode">Rode 2007, pp. 95–96.</ref>
The original actress chosen as leading lady was [[Claudette Colbert]]. She became ill with pneumonia, however, and although Grainger wanted [[Joan Crawford]], the role had been rewritten for a younger person. Eventually, Ann Blyth became the replacement.<ref name="Rode">Rode 2007, pp. 95–96.</ref>


Although RKO attempted to shoot [[second unit]] footage in South Korea,<ref name="Rode"/> ''One Minute to Zero'' was filmed at [[Fort Carson]], [[Colorado]], using troops of the 148th Field Artillery.<ref>[http://museum.mil.idaho.gov/Newsletter/1stQtr2002.htm "Korean War 50th Anniversary."] ''Pass in Review newsletter'' (Idaho Military History Museum), March 2002.</ref> During a break, Mitchum, Egan, McGraw and other cast members showed up at a local hotel bar frequented by the soldiers in the nearby base. McGraw got into an argument with an army private escalating from a shoving match to a fistfight when Mitchum tried to break it up. The soldier ended up being stretchered out but news of the altercation resulted in Hughes having to intervene when U.S. Army officials threatened to pull their support for the film.<ref name="TCM article"/>{{#tag:ref| "The incident might have rated only a paragraph ..." biographer George Eells recounted in ''Robert Mitchum'' (1984), "... had Mitchum's adversary not turned out to be [a] former light heavyweight professional boxer with a record of twenty-six wins – nineteen of them knockouts – and two losses between 1946 and 1947."<ref>Eells 1984, p. 156.</ref>|group=Note}}
Although RKO attempted to shoot [[second unit]] footage in South Korea,<ref name="Rode"/> ''One Minute to Zero'' was filmed at [[Fort Carson]], [[Colorado]], using troops of the 148th Field Artillery.<ref>[http://museum.mil.idaho.gov/Newsletter/1stQtr2002.htm "Korean War 50th Anniversary."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617081147/http://museum.mil.idaho.gov/Newsletter/1stQtr2002.htm |date=2010-06-17 }} ''Pass in Review newsletter'' (Idaho Military History Museum), March 2002.</ref> During a break, Mitchum, Egan, McGraw and other cast members showed up at a local hotel bar frequented by the soldiers in the nearby base. McGraw got into an argument with an army private escalating from a shoving match to a fistfight when Mitchum tried to break it up. The soldier ended up being stretchered out but news of the altercation resulted in Hughes having to intervene when U.S. Army officials threatened to pull their support for the film.<ref name="TCM article"/>{{#tag:ref| "The incident might have rated only a paragraph ..." biographer George Eells recounted in ''Robert Mitchum'' (1984), "... had Mitchum's adversary not turned out to be [a] former light heavyweight professional boxer with a record of twenty-six wins – nineteen of them knockouts – and two losses between 1946 and 1947."<ref>Eells 1984, p. 156.</ref>|group=Note}}


[[Howard Hughes]], the owner of RKO, had received massive U.S. military cooperation in the making this film.<ref name="TCM article">Steinberg, Jay S. [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1482/One-Minute-to-Zero/articles.html "Articles: One Minute to Zero."] ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: November 24, 2012.</ref> Nonetheless, he refused to delete the refugee massacre scene when requested to do so by the U.S. Army.<ref>Suid 2002, p. 137.</ref>
[[Howard Hughes]], the owner of RKO, had received massive U.S. military cooperation in the making this film.<ref name="TCM article">Steinberg, Jay S. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1482/one-minute-to-zero#articles-reviews "Articles: One Minute to Zero."] ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: January 15, 2024.</ref> Nonetheless, he refused to delete the refugee massacre scene when requested to do so by the U.S. Army.<ref>Suid 2002, p. 137.</ref>


[[Victor Young]]'s score for the film includes the first appearance of "[[When I Fall In Love (song)|When I Fall In Love]]." It is performed as an instrumental piece by its lyricist, [[Edward Heyman]]. The song, performed here by [[Doris Day]], went on to become a popular hit song recorded by a variety of artists.<ref>Whitburn, Joel. ''Top Pop Records 1940–1955''. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-89820-003-4}}.</ref>
[[Victor Young]]'s score for the film includes the first appearance of "[[When I Fall In Love (song)|When I Fall In Love]]." It is performed as an instrumental piece by its lyricist, [[Edward Heyman]]. The song, performed here by [[Doris Day]], went on to become a popular hit song recorded by a variety of artists.<ref>Whitburn, Joel. ''Top Pop Records 1940–1955''. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-89820-003-4}}.</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
Although considered standard fare for war films, even tinged with propaganda, ''One Minute to Zero'' received notice because of one controversial scene showing the U.S. shelling refugees being forced through U.N. lines by North Korean infiltrators.<ref>Evans 200, p. 144.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The incident in the film closely resembled that of the [[No Gun Ri Massacre]] on July 26–29, 1950.<ref>Hanley et al. 2001, pp. 110–114.</ref>|group=Note}} [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' dismissed most of the action-based story in a review that noted, "Like a great many war pictures, this one is patly contrived with elements not only of romance but also of melodrama, comedy and tears. There is the usual amount of jaw-jutting by angry and earnest G. I.'s who find themselves caught in situations from which salvation seems beyond hope. ... Plainly, "One Minute to Zero" is a ripely synthetic affair, arranged to arouse emotions with the most easy and obvious clichés. And, although some of the battle talk sounds faithful and the inter-cut news shots are sincere, neither the story nor the performances of the actors, including Miss Blyth and Mr. Mitchum, rings true. Here is another war picture that smells of grease paint and studios."<ref>Crowther, Bosley. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE4D8133AE23BBC4851DFBF668389649EDE "One Minute to Zero (1952)' One Minute to Zero,' a Korean War Picture with Robert Mitchum, at Criterion."] ''The New York Times,'' September 20, 1952.</ref>
Although considered standard fare for war films, even tinged with propaganda, ''One Minute to Zero'' received notice because of one controversial scene showing the U.S. shelling refugees being forced through U.N. lines by North Korean infiltrators.<ref>Evans 200, p. 144.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The incident in the film resembled that of the [[No Gun Ri Massacre]] on July 26–29, 1950, when up to 300 refugees were killed, except that no evidence emerged of infiltrators at No Gun Ri.<ref>Hanley et al. 2001, pp. 110–114.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=NO GUN RI: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths |journal=Critical Asian Studies |date=2010-11-15 |last=Hanley |first=Charles J. |volume=42 |issue=4 |page=594 |doi=10.1080/14672715.2010.515389 |s2cid=146914282 |quote="... no documentary or other hard evidence emerged of infiltrators among the No Gun Ri civilians, or of gunfire from among them." }}</ref>|group=Note}} [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' dismissed most of the action-based story in a review that noted, "Like a great many war pictures, this one is partly contrived with elements not only of romance but also of melodrama, comedy, and tears. There is the usual amount of jaw-jutting by angry and earnest G. I.'s who find themselves caught in situations from which salvation seems beyond hope. ... Plainly, "One Minute to Zero" is a ripely synthetic affair, arranged to arouse emotions with the easiest and obvious clichés. And, although some of the battle talk sounds faithful and the inter-cut news shots are sincere, neither the story nor the performances of the actors, including Miss Blyth and Mr. Mitchum, rings true. Here is another war picture that smells of greasepaint and studios."<ref>Crowther, Bosley. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE4D8133AE23BBC4851DFBF668389649EDE "One Minute to Zero (1952)' One Minute to Zero,' a Korean War Picture with Robert Mitchum, at Criterion."] ''The New York Times,'' September 20, 1952.</ref>

Along with [[Retreat, Hell!]] which premiered earlier in the same year, One Minute To Zero was heavily promoted in some locales where a number of drive-in theaters showed it as their only option for several consecutive months. This was the case at a series of locally owned drive-in theaters in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. As a result of this in the Wisconsin counties of [[Polk County, Wisconsin|Polk County]], [[Barron County, Wisconsin|Barron County]], [[Price County, Wisconsin|Price County]], [[Clark County, Wisconsin|Clark County]], [[Marinette County, Wisconsin|Marinette County]], [[Oconto County, Wisconsin|Oconto County]], [[Shawano County, Wisconsin|Shawano County]], [[Waupaca County, Wisconsin|Waupaca County]], [[Dodge County, Wisconsin|Dodge County]] and [[Taylor County, Wisconsin|Taylor County]] it was the only movie one could see in a drive-in for multiple consecutive months. This was also the case in the Indiana counties of [[Kosciusko County, Indiana|Kosciusko County]], [[Whitley County, Indiana|Whitley County]], [[Huntington County, Indiana|Huntington County]], [[Adams County, Indiana|Adams County]], [[Morgan County, Indiana|Morgan County]], [[Jackson County, Indiana|Jackson County]] and [[Greene County, Indiana|Greene County]] as well as in [[Ogle County, Illinois]] and [[Bureau County, Illinois]]. These same theaters had shown Retreat Hell! as their only feature for several months earlier in the same year until they switched over to showing One Minute to Zero as their only option for the following several months that July. These same drive-in theaters would only do this again on one more occasion, which would be for the movie [[Tarzan and the Lost Safari]] which was released in 1957<ref>Movies Under the Stars: A History of the Drive-in Theatre Industry, 1933-1983 by David Bruce Reddick, University Microfilms, 1989 pp. 27-28</ref>


The intercutting of stock footage of USAF [[Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star|Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star]] and Royal Australian Air Force [[North American P-51 Mustang]] fighter-bombers, along with other aerial sequences has made ''One Minute to Zero'' an aviation film buff's favorite.<ref name="TCM article"/>
The intercutting of stock footage of USAF [[Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star|Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star]] and Royal Australian Air Force [[North American P-51 Mustang]] fighter-bombers, along with other aerial sequences has made ''One Minute to Zero'' an aviation film buff's favorite.<ref name="TCM article"/>


==References==
==Notes==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
{{Refbegin}}
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==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
⚫
* {{tcmdb title|id=1482}}
* {{imdb title|0044997|One Minute to Zero}}
* {{TCMDb title|i1482}}
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* {{IMDb title|0044997}}
* {{allMovie title|36388}}
* {{AFI film|50606}}
* {{YouTube|rwJV5EdRk60|''One Minute to Zero'' film trailer}}


{{Tay Garnett}}
{{Tay Garnett}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:One Minute To Zero}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:One Minute To Zero}}
[[Category:1952 films]]
[[Category:1952 films]]
[[Category:Korean War films]]
[[Category:1950s war drama films]]
[[Category:Aviation films]]
[[Category:American aviation films]]
⚫
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American war drama films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Tay Garnett]]
[[Category:Films scored by Victor Young]]
[[Category:Films scored by Victor Young]]
[[Category:Films shot in Colorado]]
[[Category:Films shot in Colorado]]
[[Category:Films directed by Tay Garnett]]
[[Category:Korean War films]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]
⚫
[[Category:War romance films]]
[[Category:United States in the Korean War]]
[[Category:United States in the Korean War]]
[[Category:1950s war romance films]]
[[Category:1952 drama films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:American war romance films]]
[[Category:English-language romance films]]
[[Category:English-language war drama films]]

Latest revision as of 05:26, 3 October 2024

One Minute to Zero
Original film poster
Directed byTay Garnett
Written byWilliam Wister Haines
Milton Krims
Produced byEdmund Grainger
Howard Hughes
StarringRobert Mitchum
Ann Blyth
Charles McGraw
William Talman
CinematographyWilliam E. Snyder
Edited byRobert Belcher
Music byVictor Young
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Pictures
Release date
  • July 21, 1952 (1952-07-21) (US)[1]
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
Budget$2,181,000[2]
Box office$1.6 million (US rentals)[3]

One Minute to Zero is a 1952 American romantic war film starring Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth, set during the opening phases of the Korean War, and produced by Howard Hughes as his last film as producer.[4] Victor Young's score for the film includes the first appearance of "When I Fall in Love", as the instrumental titled "Theme from One Minute to Zero". The film showcases the contributions of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, the South Korean Army, the United Nations, the British Army and the Royal Australian Air Force during the early days of the Korean War.[5] The effects of air power in the Korean War were also vividly depicted through the use of combat footage.

Plot

[edit]

Just prior to the North Korean invasion of South Korea, World War II U.S. Army veterans Colonel Steve Janowski (Robert Mitchum) and Sergeant Baker (Charles McGraw) are teaching South Korean soldiers how to use a bazooka to stop an enemy tank. Linda Day (Ann Blyth) is a United Nations worker assisting refugees. Janowski warns Day and her colleagues to leave the area because hostilities are imminent. Day, however, insists that the North Koreans would not risk the wrath of world opinion. In response, Janowski asks her if world opinion stopped Hitler.

Soon after, Janowski and U.S. Air Force Colonel Joe Parker (William Talman) wake up and find themselves under attack. They compare the attack to Pearl Harbor ("Isn't this where we came in?" "It's even Sunday morning!"). Janowski takes command of a U.S. Army unit which is helping to evacuate Americans and refugees. While doing his job, he keeps crossing paths, and falling in love, with Day. It turns out that she is reluctant to get involved with a soldier because she is the widow of a Medal of Honor recipient.

As part of a desperate situation, Janowski is confronted by a column of refugees which has been infiltrated by armed North Korean guerrillas. He has no choice but to call in an artillery strike. Even though Janowski is remorseful for the civilian casualties, Day initially condemns him for killing innocent people. After she finds out the reason for Janowski's action (and that he was right), she apologizes.

Janowski leads a successful American counter offensive against the enemy. The contributions of the British Army and the Royal Australian Air Force are both featured in the film, and are both explicitly mentioned as evidence that "the whole world" is "in this together".

Cast

[edit]
Robert Mitchum and Charles McGraw were inseparable during the film's production and ended up in trouble at a local bar.[4]

As appearing in One Minute to Zero (main roles and screen credits identified):[6]

Production

[edit]

The film's working title was The Korean Story. Ted Tetzlaff was the first director assigned by RKO. He was replaced, however, by Tay Garnett because producer Edmund Grainger (famed for Sands of Iwo Jima and Flying Leathernecks) wanted a "bigger" name as director.[8]

The original actress chosen as leading lady was Claudette Colbert. She became ill with pneumonia, however, and although Grainger wanted Joan Crawford, the role had been rewritten for a younger person. Eventually, Ann Blyth became the replacement.[8]

Although RKO attempted to shoot second unit footage in South Korea,[8] One Minute to Zero was filmed at Fort Carson, Colorado, using troops of the 148th Field Artillery.[9] During a break, Mitchum, Egan, McGraw and other cast members showed up at a local hotel bar frequented by the soldiers in the nearby base. McGraw got into an argument with an army private escalating from a shoving match to a fistfight when Mitchum tried to break it up. The soldier ended up being stretchered out but news of the altercation resulted in Hughes having to intervene when U.S. Army officials threatened to pull their support for the film.[4][Note 1]

Howard Hughes, the owner of RKO, had received massive U.S. military cooperation in the making this film.[4] Nonetheless, he refused to delete the refugee massacre scene when requested to do so by the U.S. Army.[11]

Victor Young's score for the film includes the first appearance of "When I Fall In Love." It is performed as an instrumental piece by its lyricist, Edward Heyman. The song, performed here by Doris Day, went on to become a popular hit song recorded by a variety of artists.[12]

Reception

[edit]

Although considered standard fare for war films, even tinged with propaganda, One Minute to Zero received notice because of one controversial scene showing the U.S. shelling refugees being forced through U.N. lines by North Korean infiltrators.[13][Note 2] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times dismissed most of the action-based story in a review that noted, "Like a great many war pictures, this one is partly contrived with elements not only of romance but also of melodrama, comedy, and tears. There is the usual amount of jaw-jutting by angry and earnest G. I.'s who find themselves caught in situations from which salvation seems beyond hope. ... Plainly, "One Minute to Zero" is a ripely synthetic affair, arranged to arouse emotions with the easiest and obvious clichés. And, although some of the battle talk sounds faithful and the inter-cut news shots are sincere, neither the story nor the performances of the actors, including Miss Blyth and Mr. Mitchum, rings true. Here is another war picture that smells of greasepaint and studios."[16]

Along with Retreat, Hell! which premiered earlier in the same year, One Minute To Zero was heavily promoted in some locales where a number of drive-in theaters showed it as their only option for several consecutive months. This was the case at a series of locally owned drive-in theaters in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. As a result of this in the Wisconsin counties of Polk County, Barron County, Price County, Clark County, Marinette County, Oconto County, Shawano County, Waupaca County, Dodge County and Taylor County it was the only movie one could see in a drive-in for multiple consecutive months. This was also the case in the Indiana counties of Kosciusko County, Whitley County, Huntington County, Adams County, Morgan County, Jackson County and Greene County as well as in Ogle County, Illinois and Bureau County, Illinois. These same theaters had shown Retreat Hell! as their only feature for several months earlier in the same year until they switched over to showing One Minute to Zero as their only option for the following several months that July. These same drive-in theaters would only do this again on one more occasion, which would be for the movie Tarzan and the Lost Safari which was released in 1957[17]

The intercutting of stock footage of USAF Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and Royal Australian Air Force North American P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers, along with other aerial sequences has made One Minute to Zero an aviation film buff's favorite.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ "The incident might have rated only a paragraph ..." biographer George Eells recounted in Robert Mitchum (1984), "... had Mitchum's adversary not turned out to be [a] former light heavyweight professional boxer with a record of twenty-six wins – nineteen of them knockouts – and two losses between 1946 and 1947."[10]
  2. ^ The incident in the film resembled that of the No Gun Ri Massacre on July 26–29, 1950, when up to 300 refugees were killed, except that no evidence emerged of infiltrators at No Gun Ri.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ "One Minute to Zero: Detail View." American Film Institute. Retrieved: January 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Jewell and Harbin 1982, p. 262.
  3. ^ "Top Box-Office Hits of 1952." Variety, January 7, 1953.
  4. ^ a b c d e Steinberg, Jay S. "Articles: One Minute to Zero." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: January 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Appleman, Roy E. South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Archived 2014-02-07 at the Wayback Machine Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1961.
  6. ^ "Credits: One Minute to Zero." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: January 15, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Carmody, Jay (October 2, 1952). "Korea's Early, Desperate Days Recalled at Keith's". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. p. 53 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Rode 2007, pp. 95–96.
  9. ^ "Korean War 50th Anniversary." Archived 2010-06-17 at the Wayback Machine Pass in Review newsletter (Idaho Military History Museum), March 2002.
  10. ^ Eells 1984, p. 156.
  11. ^ Suid 2002, p. 137.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Records 1940–1955. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, 1973. ISBN 978-0-89820-003-4.
  13. ^ Evans 200, p. 144.
  14. ^ Hanley et al. 2001, pp. 110–114.
  15. ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2010-11-15). "NO GUN RI: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Critical Asian Studies. 42 (4): 594. doi:10.1080/14672715.2010.515389. S2CID 146914282. ... no documentary or other hard evidence emerged of infiltrators among the No Gun Ri civilians, or of gunfire from among them.
  16. ^ Crowther, Bosley. "One Minute to Zero (1952)' One Minute to Zero,' a Korean War Picture with Robert Mitchum, at Criterion." The New York Times, September 20, 1952.
  17. ^ Movies Under the Stars: A History of the Drive-in Theatre Industry, 1933-1983 by David Bruce Reddick, University Microfilms, 1989 pp. 27-28

Bibliography

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  • Eells, George. Robert Mitchum: A Biography. New York: Franklin Watts, 1984. ISBN 978-0-53109-836-3.
  • Evans, Alun. Brassey's Guide to War Films. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. ISBN 1-57488-263-5.
  • Hanley, Charles J., Sang-Hun Choe and Martha Mendoza. The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
  • Jewell, Richard and Vernon Harbin. The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. ISBN 978-0-70641-285-7.
  • Rode, Alan K. Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. ISBN 978-0-78643-167-0.
  • Suid, Lawrence. Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-81319-018-1.
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