Review of All the Young Men (1960) by Andrew H — 17 Aug 2009

This could have been a really good war film which tackled issues such as racism and the difficulties of command. Both issues are tackled but for about 10 minutes throughout the entire film then everyone seems to accept that their sergeant is black and is in command and that they are staying in the farm house. The difficulties of command are only portrayed by a minor, very short fight between Sidney Poitier and Alan Ladd and thatâ??s it really. There is a few action scenes which are not too bad and are frequent enough to keep your attention on the film. There is a bit of an interesting ending to it though and its left up to the audience to decide for themselves if two of the characters lived or died.

Sidney Poitier plays the sergeant really well as he has the right persona for the role and to a certain degree Poitier is the only actor who stands out. Alan Ladd should have been given more screen time as he only just gets more screen time than the supporting cast. His acting is also quite wooden and emotionless. I think with more time on screen it could have been improved.

Overall, quite poor. This film had the potential to be a really good war film which tackled delicate issues. On a large scale these opportunities were missed. The acting is good from one of its principal actors. The other is not given enough screen time to judge properly.