Edward Dmytryk returned from the McCarthy hearings to direct this slightly expanded stage show of eight World War Two soldiers, sitting around in a wrecked basement, waiting for their chance to go on furlough .... but the sergeant --- played by a Lee Marvin so young that he still has dark hair -- wants to go out and find a missing man. The endless talk talk talk is alleviated occasionally as Marvin goes out to see the company's captain, who also lives in a wrecked basement.<br /><br />Dmytryk and the screenwriters have done very little to expand this for the screen. You may, if you like, interpret this as a failure of nerve of Dmytryk's part: he had originally refused to testify as to who was a Communist before the House Unamerican Activities Committee. A few months in jail broke his resolve, and he spent the remainder of his career directing ever larger, ever glossier and ever emptier films.