The Steel Helmet

Sgt. Zack

Pvt. Bronte

Lt. Driscoll

Cpl. Thompson

Sgt. Tanaka

Pvt. Baldy

Short Round

The Red

First GI

Second Lieutenant

The budget was so low on this picture that the Chinese "tank" that attacks the patrol is actually made of plywood.

In an early scene, Cpl. Thompson identifies himself as a WWII veteran of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. That unit is the same one in which director Samuel Fuller served.

Director's trademark (Samuel Fuller): [Lemchek]: A recurring character name in Fuller's films.

Short Round sings the South Korean National Anthem to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" while Pvt. Bronte plays on his organ. However, the music to South Korea's national anthem was changed from Auld Lang Syne to the Finale of Korea Fantasiaat at a ceremony celebrating the founding of South Korea on August 15th, 1948, exactly three years after liberation from Japanese rule, and three years before The Steel Helmet was made.

The stock footage used in the artillery barrage of the North Korean attack includes WWII-era footage of German artillery on the Atlantic Wall.

(at around 1 min) Sgt. Zack shoots a door in the temple but no holes appear in the door. In a subsequent scene he does the same thing to another door but this time there are holes in the door,

Sgt. Tanaka: First we'll eat; then we'll bury them.

The Red: I just don't understand you. You can't eat with them unless there's a war. Even then, it's difficult. Isn't that so?

Sergeant Zack: Dead man's nothin' but a corpse. No one cares what he is now.