Edward Dmytryk directs this exploration of the boredom, comradeship and raw courage of troops in wartime. As a small squadron awaits orders to move out, bickering and daydreaming passes the time. When one soldier is trapped by enemy fire and can't get back from patrol, the others fight over whether, how, and who should try to rescue him. Sergeant Mooney (Lee Marvin, The Dirty Dozen, The Professionals) receives orders to move his troops, but his men harangue him about leaving one man behind, and tough-as-nails Mooney has to decide between disregarding direct orders and preserving his tiny, battle-scarred unit. Newly remastered.

Bonar Colleano, who spent the war years playing brash Americans in British films, makes his final screen appearance in the Stanley Kramer production EIGHT IRON MEN. Set during WW II, the film follows the exploits of a small Army squadron, billeted in a bombed-out house on the front lines. Tensions mount as the men attempt to save one of their number, who is trapped behind enemy lines and heavily surrounded. Essentially a single-set film (it was based on A Sound of Hunting, a stage play by Harry Brown), EIGHT IRON MEN works better as a character study than a war flick. Colleano dominates the proceedings as a self-styled Lothario, while Arthur Franz, Lee Marvin, Richard Kiley, Nick Dennis, James Griffith, George Cooper and former child-star Dick Moore likewise register well. For no discernible reason, the screenplay manages to include several extra characters, including Mary Castle as "The Girl" in a dream sequence.