Sergeants 3: The Rat Pack & Gunga Din

This 1962 western is really a remake of 1939's "Gunga Din," made by RKO Pictures, but this movie changes the setting from late 1800's India to the American West of the 1870s. I saw this picture three times at a movie theater when it was released in 1962: with my dad and with my older brother. The third time was with my mother, my grandmother and 2 of my great aunts, all of whom were taken with Frank Sinatra in those times. As in "Gunga Din," "Sergeants 3" is a drama with numerous bits of comedy injected. The main cast of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop were part of what had come to be known as, "the Rat Pack." The group often performed on stage together in Las Vegas and elsewhere, as well as being featured in some films together. 

The basic plot involves a group of Indians rallying to a call by a religious leader to unite to defeat U.S. army personnel and settlers in the region. The movie opens with a raid by a group of Indians on a small town. The town's telegraph office is able to send a message to the army stationed in a fort some miles away, prompting the fort's commander to decide to send three sergeants and a small troop of men to the town to investigate what has happened. The three sergeants are close friends and we first meet them at a fight in a saloon (see "Word History," below). Sergeant Mike is played by American actor and entertainer Frank Sinatra, Sergeant Chip is played by American actor and entertainer Dean Martin and Sergeant Larry is played by English born actor Peter Lawford.* Larry is planning to leave the army when his soon to expire enlistment runs out. He'll then marry Amelia, played by Canadian born actress Ruta Lee.** Mike and Chip plan to keep the trio together by finding some way to get Larry to sign a new enlistment form. At the saloon we also meet Jonah, a former slave who is a trumpet playing entertainer at the saloon, who wants to be in the army. Jonah is played by American actor and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. The sergeants are all rounded up at the saloon by Sergeant Boswell, played by American actor and entertainer Joey Bishop.

The three sergeants lead a troop of men to the town that was attacked, only to come under attack by Indians themselves. The Indians are called to attack by one of their religious leaders, played by American actor Henry Silva. Later, we learn that this Indian leader is the son of the main leader and medicine man, Watanka. The troops hold off the attack and return to the fort, only to be ordered back to the town, but without Larry, whose enlistment is nearly over. The commander orders Sergeant Boswell to replace Larry, a thought Mike and Chip find repulsive, as Boswell is a proper soldier, all spit and polish. So Mike and Chip proceed to get Boswell drunk, and thus, sick. Larry is ordered back with his pals until his enlistment runs out. Later Chip and Jonah slip off to try to discover just where the Indians are located. They find a large cave where the Indians hold religious ceremonies. While there, the Indians show up, led by Watanka, played by Australian actor Michael Pate, and Chip is captured, even though he comically tells the Indians that he is arresting them in the name of the President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant.*** Hahahaha! Meanwhile, a disguise and the diversion of Chip's capture help Jonah to escape and he returns to the town to alert Mike and Larry about Chip's plight. Mike is under strict orders from the unit's commander, Colonel Collingwood, played by American actor Dick Simmons,**** not to get involved in any other mission except to garrison the town. Mike tells Larry he can't go on any rescue mission, because he's now a civilian, but that he can go along to help Chip if he signs another enlistment form, which he does, and Mike puts the signed form into his pocket. Mike, Larry and Jonah set out to free Chip. The three men arrive at the cave and find Chip tied up. Watanka, his son and many other Indians emerge and take the three wannabe rescuers prisoner. Watanka tries to make Mike tell him where the colonel is with the main body of soldiers. Mike grabs the knife of one of his captors and holds it to the throat of Watanka's son, bringing Watanka and his men to go down the mountain, leaving his son as a captive of the soldiers. (Note: One of the Indians in the group is Eddie Little Sky, a true Oglala Lakota, who was born on a reservation in South Dakota. He appeared in many films and television shows over the years.)

Watanka has assembled a large force to attack Colonel Collingwood's column of troops. Two of Watanka's scouts gallop up and tell him the Colonel and his men are approaching. Mike gets Watanka's son and tells the medicine man to disburse his men, or he will kill his son. The son tells his father to go ahead with the attack and he jumps off the cliff and plunges to his death. Without the medicine man's son as hostage, the sergeants and Jonah are now in peril. Some Indians ascend the mountain path and take the men prisoner again, but Jonah is severely wounded and left for dead and Chip is knocked unconscious. Watanka has Mike and Larry brought over to watch as the Colonel and his men are attacked. Jonah looks over and sees his trumpet. He takes the trumpet and goes into the cave, where there is a small opening in the upper part of the cave. Jonah struggles and climbs to the opening and then outside. He stands and blows the trumpet, alerting the Colonel and the column. He is then hit with an arrow.

The Indians attack, but the element of surprise is now gone. A large battle takes place, with much hand to hand fighting, but the soldiers are able to deploy artillery they have and the Indians turn in retreat, only to finally surrender. Up on the mountain, Chip has regained consciousness, and he comes at Watanka from behind and knocks him off the cliff, as Larry knocks one of the other captors off of the cliff. Larry now schemes to get his reenlistment paper from Mike's shirt pocket by pretending to be seriously hurt. When Mike kneels down to help him, Larry reaches into Mike's shirt and gets the reenlistment form.

The scene shifts back to the fort where Colonel Collingwood reads a special citation to honor the three sergeants and private citizen Jonah, who has been granted a place in the army with the rank of private. Jonah is shown with bandages on his wounds, but in his new uniform. Larry and Amelia get ready to leave, and Chip takes Larry's reenlistment paper from Larry's possession and tears it up, making Larry think everything is clear for him to leave. BUT... Chip had concealed a blank piece of paper in his hand, and that was what he had destroyed. When Larry and Amelia drive off in a buggy, Chip hands the real form to Mike, who then orders Sergeant Boswell to, "Arrest that man.... he's a deserter."    


* Though Peter Lawford was born in England, he spent much of his adult life in the United States, where he became a citizen. He became well known in the U.S. when he married the sister of then Senator John F. Kennedy, who would later be elected president of the United States.

** Ruta Lee was born in Canada, but her family moved to the United States, where she later became a citizen. Her parents were immigrants to Canada from Lithuania.

*** Grant was president from March of 1869 until March of 1877. Until the Constitution was changed by the 20th Amendment in 1933, presidents and vice presidents assumed office on March 4 following a presidential election of the previous November. The amendment moved the assumption of office to January 20.

**** Those who can remember the 1950s may not remember Simmons' name, but you will likely recall the television show, "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon." Well it was Dick Simmons, also known by his proper name, Richard Simmons, who played Sergeant Preston. The show also "starred" the Sergeant's faithful dog, "Yukon King." Simmons is not to be confused with exercise promoter and entertainer, Richard Simmons, who later became popular on television, more so in the 1980s and thereafter. 


 Photo is of the 2008 MGM DVD ...

WORD HISTORY: 
Salon (Saloon)-"Salon" goes back to Indo European "sel," which had the notion of, "settlement, living area." This gave Old Germanic "salaz," with the meaning, "living area, living quarters." This gave Lombardic (also known as: Langobardic) "sala," meaning, "abode, large room." This was borrowed by Latin (or the developing northern Italian dialects?) as "sala," meaning, "large room/hall." This then became Italian "salone," with the same meaning and this was borrowed by French as "salon," with the meaning, "room for receiving guests." English borrowed the word from French circa 1700 with the meaning, "large room, often in a palace or in the residence of well to do people, used for entertaining guests." The meaning expanded to include dining and entertainment rooms on ships, especially in first class sections. Later still, the term was often used for the dining car on trains. "Saloon" was initially simply a variation in the spelling of "salon," but by the mid 1800s it had come to be used as a term for a public tavern/bar in American English, where its meaning has remained ever since. NOTE: The Old Germanic form was passed to its offspring in various forms, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sele" (house, large hall, often used for dining and entertainment). German still has "Saal" (large hall for dining and entertainment, and also a large room for displays of art or other collections), East Frisian "soal" (large hall), Swedish "sal" (ward). Low German had "sel'/"sal," but seems to have borrowed "Saal" from standard German in more modern times.       

Von Ryan's Express: Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard Star

This exciting 1965 film, based on a popular novel of the time by David Westheimer, is set in Italy (largely filmed there, too), beginning in August 1943. The Allies are about to complete the conquest of the Italian island of Sicily and Italian morale is low. Colonel Joseph Ryan of the U.S. Army Air Corps, played by Frank Sinatra, is captured by the Italians when his plane is shot down. Italian soldiers hide their prisoner from a couple of German army officers who come looking to see what happened to the pilot of the downed plane. Ryan is sent to an Italian prisoner of war camp, whose main prisoners are British army troops, now under the command of Major Fincham, played by Trevor Howard, as the previous British commander has just died as a result of spending a long time in a special little prison coop, called "the sweat box." Now Ryan is the senior officer, but he at first defers to Fincham and Ryan feels it will not be long before they are freed, so the overall strategy should be to survive in the best conditions they can get and await the arrival of the Allies. Ryan finds, however, that Fincham has let his own men and a couple of Americans suffer in sick bay with malaria, while holding back on medicines and some other supplies for a possible escape attempt. Fincham's contentious style has made the Italian commandant, Major Battaglia, played by Adolfo Celi, respond in a harsher way than he might otherwise have done. Ryan shows Battaglia the potential British escape tunnel and Battaglia has the showers turned on, razors given out and delousing powder dispensed to the POWs, but he will not issue the prisoners fresh clothing, because he is selling the Red Cross provided clothing to make money for himself. Ryan orders all of the prisoners to strip and to throw the raggedy uniforms into a fire they've built. This forces Battaglia to issue the fresh clothing, but he has Ryan locked in the sweat box.

The Allies invade the Italian mainland and Italy surrenders, causing the Italian guards to desert the camp. Ryan is freed, and Battaglia is locked in the sweat box, at Ryan's order, rather than being hanged as Fincham wanted. The 400 prisoners, now helped by anti-Nazi Italian officer, Captain Oriani, played by Sergio Fantoni, try to get to the not too distant coast in hopes of being rescued by Allied naval forces. German military forces arrive at the camp and free Major Battaglia and they then begin to pursue the fleeing prisoners, who have a number of sick men. Oriani goes ahead of the main group to see if he can contact the Allies. The Germans surround the prisoners, killing some, but the rest are captured. All but the sick and wounded are loaded onto a train. Fincham believes Oriani betrayed them, but Oriani is found badly beaten on a railway car, as he has been captured too. Who walks out and gives the fascist salute? Battaglia! The Germans shoot the sick and wounded, bringing Fincham to say, "You let Battaglia live ... You'll get your Iron Cross for this, 'von' Ryan." (The Iron Cross was a German military decoration.) Ryan is depressed. The train moves out and stops in Rome on its way northward headed toward the German border and Innsbruck (Austria was part of Germany, at that time). The train comes under the command of Major von Klemment, played by Wolfgang Preiss. If you've seen any World War Two movies with German officers made in the 1960s, you've seen Wolfgang Preiss.

Meanwhile, Ryan sees an opportunity to pull up some loose floor boards in his boxcar. When the train slows down, some of the men drop down onto the tracks, then climb up and overpower the guards stationed on top of the cars. They put on the helmets and the uniforms of the guards. When the train stops for water, the men now overpower the remaining guards, toss their bodies onto the train, capture von Klemment and take over the train. Off they go! Now you get the title... "Von Ryan's Express." When the train in underway, the men find a young Italian woman in von Klemment's car, ah... undoubtedly there to darn the major's socks. Von Klemment tells the men the train is scheduled to stop in Florence to feed the German troops and the prisoners. The British chaplain, played by Edward Mulhare, had studied some in Germany years before, and he is fluent in German. They dress him in the uniform of one of the killed German officers, so he will be able to address any German personnel when the train stops. He is highly effective and he helps to keep the group from being found out; after which, he promptly faints.

Ryan and Fincham find out from von Klemment that the train will switch crews and guards when it gets to Verona. So now, Ryan cannot take the train into Verona, or it will all be over. Von Klemment says to divert a train, there will need to be an order issued by a high ranking German officer. * The chaplain now goes back to portraying the German officer and he tells the Germans at the regional command center that he needs to change the train route because it is carrying important things for Hermann Göring. The ruse works, but it isn't long before the Germans check with the regional commander about the Göring shipment, about which, of course, he knows nothing. The alert goes out and a chase begins, as an SS officer takes a train load of troops and calls in air support. In the meantime, von Klemment and the woman escape, and Ryan first kills von Klemment, and then the woman, as she heads for a police office. No more sock darning for her... Damn! (or maybe 'Darn' would be more appropriate?) Ryan, Fincham and company head for the Swiss border, but the German planes attack as the train speeds through a number of small tunnels. The men manage to down one of the aircraft, but the planes damage a walkway on a mountainside and bring down rocks onto the tracks, blocking the train's advance. Meanwhile, the German troop train is nearing. Ryan has most of the men clear the tracks and repair damages to the rails with rails pulled up from behind the train. Ryan, Fincham and a few others try to hold off the German troops who are now moving in on them by foot. Lots of fighting takes place, and several of the men are killed, as well as many Germans, but finally the tracks are cleared and the train is ready to roll. Ryan and the rear guard, including Fincham, break off the fighting and dash for the train, which is just beginning to move. Ryan is the last to run for the train and the German troops are not far behind. The German commander grabs a submachine gun and fires a burst, striking Ryan as he nears the train. He dies on the tracks as the train and the rest of the men roll toward Switzerland and freedom.

* Just a little history: Mussolini was ousted from power in late July 1943, but the new Italian government proclaimed its loyalty to the alliance with Germany, although not so completely secret negotiations began with the Allies to get Italy out of the war. With the Allies in the process of conquering Sicily, the Germans sent more forces to strengthen the Italian mainland. In early September the Allies invaded the mainland and the surrender of Italy was announced, with Hitler reacting by sending more forces and literally taking over Italy, except for the far southern region, which was quickly occupied by the Allies. A very slow and bloody campaign to conquer Italy then began, ending only in late April/early May 1945. The movie shows how the Germans have taken over Italy, including the rail system, which retained many Italian personnel, but under German supervision; thus, written orders had to be from German military officers.

Photo is of Fox War Classics, 20th Century Fox 2001 DVD.

WORD HISTORY: 
Express-This prefixed word has uses as a verb, an adjective and a noun; all coming from the same ultimate source. The prefix, "ex," goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." This became a prefix in forming some words. The "press" part of the word goes back to Indo European "per/pre," which had the notion of  "to go forward, to go through;" thus also, "to apply force (to go forward or to go through)." This gave Latin "premere," meaning, "to squeeze, to compress." The two gave Latin "exprimere," which meant, "to make a visible impression or representation by squeezing;" thus also, "to make clear, to make known." Its participle form produced Latin "expressare," "to squeeze out, to make oneself clear." This passed to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "expresser," ("to make clear or known, to squeeze or compress). This was borrowed from French by English in the second half of the 1300s, but likely with influence directly from Latin, as the word meant, "to state clearly," but also, "to make a representation through a work of art." The Latin adjectival form ("expressus") had also given Old French the adjective "espres/expres," meaning, "clearly or distinctly stated." This was then also borrowed into English, but not until the second half of the 1400s. The noun in English came about from its initial meaning of, "direct messenger;" that is, "one who delivers directly from one location to a precise person or location." This meaning has carried over to modern times with the mail and package services. The further meaning of the modern noun, as in, "the Express," meaning, "express train, express bus," goes to the notion of "being direct, with travel service directly from one location to a precise destination." From all of this has also come the notion, "fast delivery or transport."