Near the end of the French phase of the Vietnam War, a group of mercenaries are recruited to travel through enemy territory to the Chinese border.
Direction
Fuller's tabloid poetry—cheap sets, expensive feelings
Cinematography
Scope frame crammed with grit and studio smoke
Acting
Angie Dickinson owns every frame she walks through

Director
Samuel Fuller
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fuller fought in WWII and filmed this in studios while Vietnam was becoming 'America's war'—the timing makes every explosion prophetic.
Nat King Cole's 'China Gate' song was his last film appearance; he insisted on no special billing, just a soldier singing.