Next of Kin

Next of Kin is the nineteenth episode of The Gallant Men. It was written by Ken Pettus and directed by Robert Sparr. It aired on February 9, 1963.

Plot summary
After Able Company enters the village of San Marco, it is taken off the line and placed in reserve. The men look forward to some down time, but Capt. Benedict needs to begin re-establishing the town’s government.

PFC D’Angelo become mesmerized by a church near the town center. He tells a questioning Sgt. McKenna that his parents were married in the church. D’Angelo learns his maternal uncle, Nicolo Borrelli, lives in the town. But none of the village’s residents will speak to him about Borrelli and he discovers Borrelli’s bank has been destroyed. Finally, he able to bribe a local, Cristina Sardo, to at least tell him where Borelli lives. D’Angelo approaches the house and has an emotional reunion with Borrelli.

Lt. Kimbro informs Benedict the political leaders of San Marco fled town when the Americans arrived, and suggests they enlist Borelli as a liaison since he is a powerful banker and property owner.

Over glasses of wine, Borrelli regales D’Angelo with stories about his parents’ wedding. Borrelli’s daughter, Teresa, enters. When Borrelli goes into another room to fetch more wine, Teresa telegraphs an unease and to D’Angelo’s visible consternation implies she was forced to sleep with the German commander, who “was much older than I.”

Benedict drops by the Borrelli home to discuss meeting with the townsfolk. Borrelli pre-emptively says there are negative stories about him floating around town, but Benedict waves this away and says he simply wants to let the people of San Marco know about American rules and regulations.

At a dinner party that night, Borrelli gets inebriated and holds forth with an increasingly defensive and resentful monologue about his impoverished past and his perceived enemies in town. Teresa and an embarrassed D’Angelo help him to his bed as the awkward party breaks up.

The next morning, Borrelli and Teresa go to the town hall to see Benedict. The townspeople treat him coldly as they pass him on the street. Gibson informs them Benedict is out, so Borelli leaves a basket of food and wine for the captain and tells Teresa to wait. She and Pvt. Gibson share quiet conversation.

Later in his office, Benedict tells Conley Wright there’s a Borrelli in every town they’ve visited, people with no moral compass searching to profit from the war with no regard for who wins. He tells Kimbro, McKenna and Wright to get ready to move out because the battalion is carefully getting ready to rejoin the front. Only Able Company stands between the Germans and San Marco, putting them in a vulnerable position.

Having overheard, Gibson goes to the Borrelli residence and warns Teresa to leave town. Borrelli deduces something is afoot. That evening, he is caught on the street after curfew. A soldier on guard, Pvt. Tucker, duty warns him, but before he can do anything else a silhouetted figure plunges a knife into Tucker’s chest and Borrelli flees.

Tucker dies by the following morning, and Cristina Sardo tells Benedict she knows who did it. She is reluctant to help the Americans because she is afraid the Germans will return to re-occupy San Marco. Assured by Benedict, Sardo says the assailant was Arturo Torrento, a man who works for Borelli.

Benedict asks D’Angelo if he unintentionally divulged information about the battalion’s move to Borelli. The private says he did not. Benedict then tells D’Angelo he should tread carefully if he speaks to his uncle again. The captain fills D’Angelo in on what Sardo shared with him.

D’Angelo immediately goes to Borelli’s house and confronts him about the accusations he’s heard. Borelli denounces Sardo and denies her account. He tells Pete he couldn’t bear a rift in the family. He tearfully embraces D’Angelo.

While on a scouting mission with McKenna, D’Angelo spies Torrento conversing with a German officer on a road leading to San Marco. After the German leaves, D’Angelo pursues and tackles Torrento. The two argue in Italian and an angry D’Angelo tells McKenna he has to get back into town, but won’t say why. Torrento attempts to flee and D’Angelo fatally shoots him.

D’Angelo goes back to Borrelli’s house, tells him of Torrento’s death and reveals what Torrento had said: That Borrelli could be exposed as a German agent and arrested. Teresa says her father used to be a decent, honest man. Borrelli angrily says he gave up on that persona because he was tired of being left behind in life and with the war he “became what everyone else was: Selfish, greedy, frightened animals.” Teresa rejects his self-pity and says he alone is responsible for his actions. Defeated, Borrelli accepts he could be arrested and says the people of San Marco will find it satisfying.

German guns begin firing on San Marco, presumably aided by the information given them by Torrento. From the damaged town hall, Benedict radios for reinforcements. Falling debris at the Borrelli house kills Teresa. D’Angelo blames his uncle and nearly shoots him as Borrelli flees into the street. He makes it to the family cemetery and fearfully pleads with a statue of St. Mary. An incoming shell blows up in the cemetery and kills Borrelli.

Able and Charlie companies repel the German advance. The final scene shows Gibson placing flowers at Teresa’s grave in the Borelli family plot. D’Angelo removes some of the debris from his grandparents’ grave and exits the cemetery.

G-2 report

 * The church where D’Angelo’s parents were married also appears, albeit shot from a different angle, in “The Bridge.” The town of San Marco is the stock backlot Italian village set on the Warner lot, and is seen in other Gallant Men episodes, including “The Bridge.” The church interior is also seen in “The Bridge.” The hillside where D’Angelo and Torrento fight is also seen in “Ol’ Buddy.” The cemetery where the Borellis are interred is also seen in "Fury in a Quiet Village."
 * We learn Pete’s mom’s name is Lucia.
 * While it may have been assumed before, this episode makes explicit Pete’s Catholicism: he performs the sign of the cross at the Borrelli family plot.
 * This is one of three episodes in which D'Angelo shoots someone. The others are "Advance and Be Recognized" and "The Crucible".
 * Nicolo Borelli was played by character actor Stanley Adams, whose credits include Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show and many other TV shows of the 1960s. Sci-fi fans will know him as Cyrano Jones from Star Trek: The Original Series. Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will recognize him from the 1959 film High School Big Shot, in which Adams played a pseudo-intellectual safecracker.
 * This episode and the next were directed by Robert Sparr. A Warner regular, Sparr’s prior work included episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6 and Cheyenne. His non-Warner work included The Rat Patrol, Perry Mason, Batman and Lassie. In August 1969, Sparr was killed in a plane crash while scouting locations for a film. He was 52 years old.