Combat! reviews by Jo Davidsmeyer * Episodes rated from 0 to 4 bayonets

The First Day

Rating: 3 bayonets

First aired 09-21-65
Episode 2 of Season 4

Written by Esther and Bob Mitchell
Directed by Georg J. Fenady
Produced by Gene Levitt
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Review

Our beloved squad, worn-out and exhausted, receives four green replacements. In this tight, fat-free script by Esther and Bob Mitchell, we follow these four teenagers as they attempt to survive their first day on the front line. Among the newbies are: a high-school football star, a wise-cracking street- smart kid, a sweet country boy, and the clean-faced boy next door. Who will survive?

This episode provides a little more background info on Doc. Here he claims to have been a grocery clerk before the war. He also shows familiarity with 4H, knowing what type of projects and info would be in a project book.

firstday4.jpeg (40214 bytes) Georg J. Fenady, a regular associate producer of "Combat!", makes a great debut behind the camera as director of this episode. He makes sure the pacing of camera and actors matches the pace of this first-rate script. I do have a bit of a problem with the initial premise of the episode, though. The squad acts as if it's so unusual to have soldiers of this age. In reality, many sol- diers who fought on the frontlines in WWII were between the ages of 18 and 20. These replacements were typical -- guys in their late 30s and 40s, such as Saunders, Kirby, and Caje, were rarer than the teens.

Later in the season this same combination of writers, Esther and Bob Mitchell, and director Georg J. Fenady give us the flip side of this story, as three old men become the squad's replacements in the episode "The Old Men". I wonder if the Mitchells sold the two scripts as a package?

Oddities and Notes

Just how many cotter pins does a soldier lug around? Kirby seems to have a never-ending supply.
Shouldn't Kirby have marked his path as he crossed the mine field?
The squad doesn't carry mess kits with them? Then how come they always have their kits whenever there's a fire or a hot meal around?
Kevin Coughlin (Loomis) also appeared as an MP in "Off Limits." In that episode, shot three seasons earlier, no one thought he was too young to be a soldier.

See Production Schedule for filming "The First Day."

Cast Credits

Vic Morrow
as Sgt. Saunders

Rick Jason
as Lt. Hanley
(Note: does not appear in episode)

Jack Hogan as Kirby
Conlan Carter as Doc
Pierre Jalbert as Caje

Dee Pollack ... McBride
Buck Taylor ... Tobin
Kevin Coughlin ... Loomis
Robert Biheller ... Tate
John Nealson ... Anderson
Rick Weber .... German

Dialog Excerpts

Tate:: I didn't freeze.
Kirby:: Well, you can call it anything you want to, Tate. All I know is, you didn't act like a soldier. You don't get many chances up here. Don't waste 'em.
Saunders:: What are you waiting for, a speech? He made a wrong move and he's dead. That's all the speech there is. Let's go.
Kirby:: Caje, we better win this war soon. We're runnin' out of men.