Distinctly Montana Magazine

82 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4 I T'S HARD TO GRASP NOW JUST HOW TRANSFORMATIVE SIDNEY POITIER WAS AS A MOVIE STAR DURING THE 50S AND 60S. The significance of his screen presence and the projects he participated in can sometimes, in light of a later historical vantage point, be seen as somehow inevitable or as a stock feature of the mid-century American cultural landscape. Subsequent generations of African American actors would re- spond against what came to be seen as the limitations, if not pas- sivity, of his star image. But the fact remains that Poitier redefined the parameters of what an American movie actor could be, and aided in the fight for societal change in the process. Glacier Na- tional Park served as one the canvases where Poitier's career took shape, in masquerading as wartime Korea. All The Young Men (1960) may not be widely remembered now, but it still serves as an intriguing and revealing capsule of American culture. Nomi- nally a genre picture about the Korean war, it says as much, if not more, about the dawn of the 1960s. The plot concerns a company of marines on a mission to take hold of an abandoned farm house in a strategically significant canyon. But on the way there they are ambushed by Chinese communist troops; the Lieutenant (Charles Quinlivan) is killed in the fighting. Before passing, he passes on command to Sgt. Eddie Towler (Poitier). Towler, the only Black member of the company, faces reluctance from the rest of the men, who have a preference for the older and more experienced Sgt. Kincaid (Alan Ladd). But Towler is committed to seeing the mission through. And besides, they have no other choice but to go forward. Even when they do reach the farmhouse, there is no guarantee that the hoped for re- inforcements will come before the enemy closes in. The film was directed by Hal Bartlett, a director and producer who formed his own independent production company in 1952 (creatively titled Hal Bartlett Productions). Though he period- ically did work within the major studio system, he wanted the leeway to pursue projects that dealt with the struggles of those by KARI BOWLES MONTANA MEDIA ALL THE YOUNG MEN AND THE POWER OF POITIER ROBERT RATH

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