The Warriors

The Warriors is the twenty-first episode of The Gallant Men. The teleplay was written by Richard Landau. It was directed by Richard C. Sarafian. It aired on February 23, 1963.

Plot summary
Conley Wright, Pete D’Angelo and Roger Gibson take a few days’ break from the front. On their way to Naples, they meet Blagdon, a British army captain, and Wells, a Canadian lieutenant. Blagdon informs the Able Company trio that the sector they’re entering is chaotic, a mix of Allied and Axis forces skirmishing over the same territory. Wright invites them along to Naples. Wells is eager, but Blagdon dithers. German shells arc in toward the group, and they take cover. One shell destroys the jeep, leaving the five stranded.

Gibson is jarred into catatonic shock by the blast. Blagdon insists the group move away from the road and try to find safety. They find a nearby house surrounded by wreckage. Entering the house, the group discovers four more servicemen: three Americans and an Australian. The Americans -- McQueen, Ayres and Hook -- claim to have been separated from their platoon during a mortar barrage. The Australian, Pvt. Archie Bolt, tells a similar tale. Blagdon, having the highest rank, assumes de facto command of the ragged group. Wright and Bolt put Gibson to bed.

Blagdon tells Wright the men will have to wait inside the house, but for what, he isn’t sure. Pvt. Ayers sees an approaching German ambulance truck. Wright deduces the Germans are collecting their dead before another round of shelling. Blagdon plans to send out a patrol that evening to find a viable escape route.

A German sniper sees the patrol and opens fire, scattering the patrol and causing Gibson (inside the house) to awaken in a panicked state. Wright subdues him and the young man drops back into stupor. The patrol enters a deserted Army Signal Corps communications post. Ayres gets the radio in working order as D’Angelo mans the post’s abandoned machine gun. Wright knows Gibson’s expertise with radio equipment would be helpful, but he is unable to rouse the private.

Ayres gets the radio working. He and D’Angelo are able to contact an American observation post and alert them to their predicament. The post can’t offer direct help, but promises to send the message along.

At the farmhouse, Wright picks up an M1 Garand and takes up watch at a window. Blagdon chastises him because war correspondents are non-combatants. Wright testily replies that he wants to defend himself because he doesn’t trust Blagdon to do it. After a tense exchange, he relents, putting the weapon down.

Dashing back to the house, Bolt is shot by the German sniper within sight of the front door. Ignoring Blagdon, Wells runs out of the house to help him. He avoids being shot himself and carries Bolt back into the house. Bolt’s news is not good: The Germans may break through at any moment, and the stranded group is on its own. Wells suggests the group try to evacuate, but Blagdon shoots down the idea. He insists their position and the working radio could be useful in transmitting information to the Allies. Wright is disgusted. Another artillery barrage rains down, and Hook is badly wounded by shrapnel. Unmoved, Blagdon sends Wells and McQueen to let Ayres and D’Angelo know the group is staying put. Before they can get to the radio post, however, the entire group hears the dreadful sound of an approaching German tank. Wells and McQueen dive into a bomb crater. They, D’Angelo in the radio post and Bolt inside the house, all open fire on the approaching tank and Wehrmacht soldiers. D’Angelo and Ayres evacuate the post; Pete makes it, but Ayres is killed by a blast from the tank.

A terrified Gibson breaks out of Wright’s grasp and bolts for the door. Blagdon prevents Wright from pursuing him. Gibson somehow snaps back to normal and begins firing on the advancing Germans himself. When his ammo runs out, he finds a bazooka in a bomb crater. D’Angelo kills the tank’s machine gunner and leaps into the crater to help Gibson. The radioman fires into the tank’s underbelly, crippling it and killing the driver. His joy is short-lived, as he and D’Angelo see McQueen carrying a wounded Wells forward. The lieutenant dies in McQueen’s arms. A moment later, McQueen sees that Hook has also died.

An American ambulance truck arrives and Bolt is loaded up to receive aid. Blagdon admits the deaths of Hook, Ayres and Wells are on his hands, and might have been prevented if the group had left as Wells had suggested. An American major stops by briefly and tells Blagdon his actions probably bought the Allies needed time. The survivors leave the house and its scarred property as Wright expresses his hope that this war will be the last one for humanity.

G-2 report

 * Dialogue in the first act hints that D’Angelo suspects the three Americans that were camped out in the house are deserters. Before he can press the issue, Ayres spots an approaching German ambulance and the matter is dropped. We never get closure on that plotline.
 * Ruminate on the chicken subplot, featuring Pvt. McQueen (Adam Williams from North by Northwest). That never really goes anywhere, either. The payoff is in the last scene, in which the barred rock hen McQueen doted on finally lays an egg. Whatever message that was meant to convey is unclear.
 * The things Lt. Wells says he is, instead of a warrior: a lover, a civilian, a philosopher, a poet, a pilgrim, a lotus eater, an aesthete.
 * In a lighter vein, D’Angelo, a quintessential Italian Jersey boy, mutters “Mazel tov” when told of Wells’ heroics.
 * That Gibson could be incoherent in one moment and expertly handle a bazooka moments later strains credulity. Gibson's breakdown in this episode is never referenced again.
 * In a nice touch, Richard Landau's script doesn't definitively answer the question of whether Blagdon did the right thing. The ambiguity lets viewers think about it on their own.
 * Blagdon, the British captain, is played by James Doohan, better known for his role as “Scotty” on Star Trek: The Original Series. Trek co-star DeForest Kelley appeared in “A Taste of Peace" and George Takei played a small role in "One Puka Puka."
 * The house where the ragtag warriors take shelter is the same one seen in “A Place to Die” and "Boast Not of Tomorrow." Part of it doubled as a German command post in “Ol’ Buddy.” The house’s interior was also seen in “To Hold Up a Mirror.” The slope where the initial quintet approaches the house is also seen in “Ol’ Buddy.” The water well is basically a recurring guest star, turning up in a handful of other episodes.