Combat! (TV Series) High Named Today (1963) User Reviews

The Brave One Man Army

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 4 July 2017]

When Lt. Hanley receives Rob Lawson as replacement, the squad learns that Lawson is known as one man army. They are ordered to take a barn, and while crossing a mined woods, they are attacked by a sniper. However Lawson sees the hidden sniper and alone he kills him. When they arrive at the barn, there are two German heavy machine gun nests. Lawson again goes alone and destroy the nests. Sgt. Saunders discuss with Lawson the danger of his attitudes for the squad and him but Lawson does not pay much attention. During the night, Kirby, Caje, Billy, Littlejohn and Doc have a serious conversation with Lawson telling that his actions would eventually kill them However Lawson tells that nobody will die because of him and that his fate is to die in the war. Then he explains why he believe that he will not return home.

"High Named Today" is an episode of "Combat!" with the story of a notorious lonely soldier known by his bravery and reckless behavior. Performed by Dean Stockwell, the screenplay is intriguing but the conclusion disappoints since there is no explanation of Lawson. Has his death wish gone? Some explanations are missing to be a great episode. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Perspectiva" ("Without Perspective")

An Exercise In Rational Thinking

[jmarchese · 9/10 · 1 August 2014]

"High Named Today" is a story about the motivations of Private Rob Lawson (played by Dean Stockwell) who appears to have a death wish. Lawson continually violates orders when in combat thereby making it more dangerous for the rest of the squad. Is it bravery under fire or section 8 ? The truth unfolds in good time.

Dialog is excellent between Saunders, Hanley, and the rest of the squad, a testament to solid screen writing by David Z. Goodman. Hanley seems to best understand Lawson feeling he'll shape up. Excellent conflict is created with respect to Lawson in that Nelson's in awe, Littlejohn's humorous, Saunders is frustrated, and Kirby 's ballistic. The Sarge finally comes through with solid wisdom for Kirby, who's carrying on like a kid who just had his candy taken away from him. In addition, Hanley barking orders at the barn is priceless!

The beginning artillery scenes reflected by archival footage are excellent. There's plenty of combat and I'm only critical of one scene, the barn. It's a shame Director Stanley did not fix this. Lawson entering the barn was well conceived and written, but Stanley cut the scene short. A few more seconds of filming should have been done inside the barn to appropriately tell the story.

As usual, you cannot keep Saunders down. After Lt. Hanley orders an attack on German recon vehicles, the Sarge picks Lawson to come along even though trouble may be imminent. The ending is very befitting & well executed.

Excellent story !

The showoff

[nickenchuggets · 9/10 · 10 July 2022]

Combat is a show that often includes moral undertones alongside dangerous World War 2 firefights, and this episode, while flawed, is good at showcasing this. High Named Today is about a soldier who joins Saunders' squad one day and threatens to get the whole squad killed, even though he means well. The episode begins with Saunders and the others under heavy fire from the Germans, and a US platoon is wiped out. A survivor named Rob Lawson (Dean Stockwell) is assigned to Saunders, and everyone who has had to work with him before has hated him. At first, Saunders doesn't realize why, but it soon becomes obvious. Lawson has a reputation for doing very foolhardy and impulsive things on the battlefield, such as when he rushed a sniper all by himself while the rest of Saunders' men hung back. Lawson succeeds in killing the sniper, but is scolded by Hanley because he's not working with his team. Later, Saunders and the others come across a seemingly abandoned farmhouse. Saunders suspect a setup, and sure enough, MG42's start spraying the surrounding area with machine gun fire. Saunders and the others suppress the barn with rifle bullets in order to allow them to get closer to it, when Lawson once again acts impulsively and storms the barn by himself, managing to kill all the germans inside. Saunders lectures Lawson on how incredibly dangerous the move he just made was, but the latter is thoroughly bored with what he has to say. The men later confront Lawson themselves, and question him as to why he fights like it's his last day on Earth all the time. Lawson says his father and grandfather were both killed in past wars, and now he's convinced dying in ww2 is his destiny. His mother doesn't think he will return. Lawson is told his actions are going to get the whole squad killed, but he says not to worry about it. The next morning, Saunders decides to try and see if Lawson's behavior really will result in men being killed. He takes Lawson, Kirby, and Little John on a patrol in order to destroy german reconnaissance vehicles. Upon arriving at their ambush location, they find armored halftracks instead of trucks. Lawson is given one last chance to redeem himself, and is told by Saunders that they'll be able to destroy the halftracks if and only if Lawson works together with the others. The other soldiers throw grenades simultaneously at one halftrack, disabling it. However, the second one is targeted by Lawson as he tries to drop a grenade into its turret, but the grenade doesn't explode. The vehicle manages to trap Lawson on a riverbank, but gets stuck in the mud. Saunders tells Lawson to stay where he is and not try and destroy the vehicle himself, or else he'll die. Saunders and the others draw the halftrack's fire, and Lawson makes a run for it, living to fight another day. The targets are destroyed, and Lawson has learned to not fight solo anymore. This is an odd episode. On the face of it, I think it's really well made because it involves tons of action, gunfights, and the part at the end where Saunders and the others take out the halftracks is just Combat at its best. On the other hand, there are numerous mistakes or oversights that are never really explained. For one thing, we're told early on that Lawson has a reputation for reckless behavior, so when he charges at the sniper all by himself, there's no surprise because we knew that was coming. We're also never told how Lawson will decide to behave after this episode, as this is Dean Stockwell's only appearance on the show. At the end of this installment, he seems willing to fight as a team from now on, but we don't actually find out for certain. I thought Lawson as a character was somewhat irritating, since he clearly doesn't care for authority and wants to act for himself at all times. Whenever he gets reprimanded for doing something stupid, his face makes it clear he's not paying attention. Despite this, I feel that this episode is one of the better ones because it includes a moral dilemma and a great amount of action, which are the two strong suits of this show.

An enigmatic approach

[lor_ · 12 July 2023]

The platoon has set up camp in the rain, and are joined by a replacement (Dean Stockwell). He's something of a mystery but some soldiers have heard of him. But in a series of incidents, he performs heroic acts, but appears to be reckless and unafraid of enemy fire -soft-spoken and something of an enigma. Though reprimanded by both Jason and Morrow, there's no denying he's an effective fighter against the Germans.

Suspense mounts gradually as one wonders whether guest star Stockwell can survive while taking such risks -does he lead a charmed life? Finally Morrow takes him aside and lectures him on false bravery and the importance of teamwork. "There's no room for show offs here Lawson", says Vic, but the young soldier seems unwilling to listen.

Cleverly plotted by writer David Zelag Goodman, the upisode plays almost like one written for "The Twilight Zone", in the strangeness of Dean's exploits and the fear and resentment toward the "outsider" that develops among the tight group of the other men. They decide to confront him, and matter-of-factly he explains his fatalism, convinced he, like his ancestors, will be killed in the war, so why worry?

It makes for a thoughtful, almost absurdist approach to the dire situation our heroes find themselves in -leading to a tense mini-battle and an unexpected conclusion.