Review of The Sergeant (1968) by Jesse K — 25 Dec 2010

This movie caught my adolescent imagination on British TV late one night when I was about 14 years old. As a keen film-buff many years later, I've tried to seek it out time and time again but never knew the actor, director or even the title of the film before today. It's taken years to find a clip on YouTube, but the full movie is there in eleven parts and that's where I've just watched it again.

Another superb performance from Rod Steiger of course, but this time as the lovelorn Master Sergeant Albert Callan, obsessed with one of his men. The inevitably tragic ending is typical of its time, but seems much more like a modern documentary drama against a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in the army than Hollywood fiction over forty years old.

Still hard to find on DVD or for sale anywhere on the net, the silent opening sequence alone with its mournful jazz score and blend of B&W and colour footage is still masterly cinematography/storytelling as good now as it was back then. You've just got to love the Internet!