16 Apr War Hunt
(1962) At the end of the Korean War, a new replacement, played by Robert Redford in his film debut, watches the emerging insanity of one of the other men in his company. It is a dark story, and not just because most of the action is filmed at night.
Redford was 26 years old and had acted several times on television. In this movie, he worked along several other men who continued to rise high in the industry. Sydney Pollack once said that Bob Redford had been a “young blond surf god.” And that’s exactly how Redford looked … young, handsome, and blonde. His fee for the three week’s work was $500.
This was an impressive first role for him.
Besides Redford and Pollack, War Hunt also featured John Saxon as the crazed soldier. Future director Francis Ford Coppola was a gofer on the set and Dean Stockwell was in charge of still photography.
My favorite WWII era New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther, wrote “Mr. Saxon is aptly awesome in his meatiest screen role to date, and Mr. Redford, a movie newcomer, is excellent as his impressionable tormentor.”
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