Film / The 24th

"Over there, over there! Send the word, send the word over there!"

"When I aimed the gun... I saw a man. I saw. A man. And you know the thing? He didn't see one back."

- Corporal Willam Boston, 24th Infantry Regiment

In the fall of 1917 as World War I is underway, the all-black regiment of the 24th Infantry, US Army is assigned to guard the construction of a military training camp in the outskirts of Houston, Texas. A well-educated black man by the name of Corporal William Boston (Trai Byers) hopes to turn their racial image around by serving his country and integrating with his peers. Colonel Norton (Thomas Haden Church), a respected white officer commanding the 24th wants only the best treatment, care and utmost respect for his men, but is shackled by the constraints of society due to his commitment to helping the colored soldiers.

Upon arrival however, the colored soldiers experience the brutal reality of living by the South's Jim Crow-era laws; constant harassment by racist whites, demeaning segregation in public transport and a severely bigoted police force looking for any excuse to mistreat the colored men.

As tensions mount on both sides and more blood is spilt over a course of several incidents, fear and paranoia begins to seep into the minds of everyone cumulating in an unfortunate incident that led up to the events of the mutiny and riots of 1917, which saw one of the largest murder trials in US history.

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The film provides examples of:

• Armor-Piercing Question: When Captain Abner voices his distaste for his superior's approval of the black soldiers and calls them inferior, Colonel Norton responds with this:
  "I'm curious about something Abner. Is it his education that makes you feel inferior?"
• Asshole Victim: The local Houston police, while horrible and physically abusive to the black soldiers, have never actually killed any of them despite their intent. However, the 24th Infantry later rolls into town and preemptively wipes them all out before they even get a chance to.
• Corrupt Cop: Zigzagged. While the Houston police are overly racist and violent to the black populace and the soldiers of the 24th, the Chief of Police Hammond does take his job seriously and properly arrests anyone, black or white if they were rightfully guilty, such as workman Tommy Lee who blatantly stabbed a black man in broad daylight and later Deputy Cross who was responsible for the brutal beatings of Pvt. Davids and Cpl. Boston. Tommy Lee however was later revealed to have been released by the local judge, who brought no charges upon the murderer.
• Coup de Grâce: Sergeant Hayes coldly executes a wounded Deputy Evans with a shot to the head during the riot.
• Court-martialed: The entire unit of the 24th Infantry gets into one for their march into Houston and the killing of civilians as well as fellow soldiers. It was also the largest murder trial in US history.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: For all their laid-back behavior and supposed "racial inferiority", the men of the 24th are shown to be a crack, disciplined unit executing drills in perfect formation during their march on the town. Cops die in droves from the 24th Infantry's' volley fire.
• Dark Reprise: Earlier in the film, Boston announces his intent to accept his transfer to officer school and hopefully get a real chance to fight in France. The whole platoon celebrates it by singing the patriotic war song, "Over There!" Later, Big Joe sings a slower, more somber version of "Over There" before the thirteen men get hanged for their part in leading the mutiny.
• Deep South: 1910s Houston, Texas has no shortage of redneck racists and oppressed blacks due to the Jim Crow laws still being enacted at the time.
• Driven to Suicide: First Sergeant Hayes, being wrecked with guilt and PTSD from the riot he started says farewell to his men and then tells Corporal Boston to shoot him. The latter refuses, so Hayes takes the revolver and does the job himself.
• The Dog Bites Back: The entire 24th Infantry, fed up with the constant racial abuse and a string of blatant injustices eventually rise up and conduct their march on the town, killing every single law enforcement officer and whites they could get their hands on.
• Downer Ending: Nineteen (including William Boston) out of the sixty men who marched on Houston were sentenced to death by hanging, the remainder would be sentenced to hard labor for the rest of their lives.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even the notably racist Deputy Evans thought that Jim Cross' accosting of a black woman in front of her baby was too much, and tries to call in to the station beforehand despite the latter's refusal to report the arrest.
• From Bad to Worse: Racial tensions between the black soldiers and the white police force have already gone past boiling point due to several violent incidents between the parties. Then Col. Norton is then reassigned to another unit and Major Abner takes over shaking the men's faith in their command's ability to protect them. And then it gets even worse when news of two of their men possibly being killed by the local police reaches the camp. And to top it all off: rumors of an angry white mob coming to kill the rest of them.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: In real life, the mutineers were not on a march for peace and justice, they were simply massacring White people. Their victims included children, ambulance drivers, and people attempting to surrender. They specifically stated their goal was to "shoot up every White son of a bitch on Washington Street." Another soldier said "Let's Go clean up the god damn city."
• Jump Scare: Boston receives one as a lighthearted prank from his comrades on his return from his first liberty pass into town.
• Military Brat: Col. Norton hails from a conservative family steeped in American military tradition, all whom were high-ranking officers and wish to see him retire as a General instead of being stuck as a Colonel of an all-black unit. Sergeant Hayes also reveals to Boston at one point that his father also served in the Army.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sergeant Hayes finally realizes that they've gone too far after the accidental killing of a fellow National Guard Captain and his military escorts.
• The Neidermeyer: Captain Abner Lockhart, in contrast to his superior clearly doesn't enjoy his post as a commander of colored men. He constantly calls them 'niggers' and uses slavery-era punishments for any infractions committed in his unit, such as tying up two rioters on wooden posts and beating them both with a sack of grapefruits. Even when he's promoted to Major, he is unable to reassure and take control of his men while they are scared shitless of a possible mob of whites about to attack them.
• Oppressed Minority Veteran: First Sergeant Hayes, a disillusioned veteran of the American-Spanish War who claims to have fought by Theodore Roosevelt's side, only to watch him rise up to presidency, taking all the credit while forgetting all the sacrifices made by black soldiers.
• Perp Walk: The entire 24th Infantry is paraded while clapped in irons through downtown Houston after they are captured by the National Guard. Onlookers either observe in mortified silence or in the case for the local African Americans, bow their heads/remove their hats in mournful respect.
• Police Brutality: Jim Crow-era police aren't exactly shining beacons of law enforcement back then, especially down South. They constantly harass and beat colored folk for the flimsiest of reasons and at one point are seen chasing down a group of random blacks on horseback while wildly firing at them, nearly hitting innocent bystanders.
• Poor Communication Kills: The 24th soldiers gets hit pretty hard with this trope which factors into their involvement in the riot:
  • A colored civilian rolls up into the camp having witnessed the sheriffs attacking Boston and Davids and assumes them both dead, also relaying rumors about a white mob coming to attack them. Without confirming this, the 24th prepare to arm themselves and roll into town. Even Major Abner, as much of an uncaring asshole as he's been, immediately puts a stop this and at the very least goes into town himself to find out the truth of the matter.
  • In a elevated state of paranoia fueled by the earlier incidents, the 24th Infantry sentries immediately open fire on the first moving thing on their perimeter during the night, kickstarting the mutiny without checking if they were really under attack from a rogue white mob. Turns out it's just a poor cow in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Minus the rape, the men of the 24th take on the town of Houston by destroying all symbols of racial segregation or property and kill any police officers they find.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Everyone in Col. Norton's family, including his own wife views his appointment as the CO of an all-black unit as this.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Colonel Norton is the only tolerant and overall nice officer the 24th Infantry have ever known and is particularly enlightened for the time period. He dresses Abner down severely for his slavery-esque methods of punishments upon the soldiers of the 24th and does his best to accommodate for their well being even when being transferred out. That being said, he still uses common yet racist terms for black people of the time.
• The Scapegoat: William Boston as well as twelve other soldiers willingly takes the heat for starting the riot during the trials, if only to spare some of the younger soldiers from prosecution.
• Sergeant Rock: Deconstructed. First Sergeant Hayes is a combat veteran and is the closest thing to a commander of their color. He is also extremely jaded and cynical of ever "appeasing the white masters" despite his loyalty to the service and is seen drinking on duty multiple times. Later when his unit members are threatened, he does swiftly takes command of the men with professional efficiency and leads them on their march to Houston. However, this awesome moment is permanently marred by his conduct, in which he allows his men to shoot at anyone and anything that has slighted them during their stay in the town and this allows for several innocent people to get killed in the crossfire.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Sergeant Hayes' horrifying experiences in the wars against Spain and in the Philippines have turned him in a cynical mess of a man. When threatened by the apparent death of two of his men and rumors of an armed mob coming to wipe the black soldiers out, he takes no chances and prepares to arm his men to launch a pre-emptive strike, influenced by an incident back in the Philippines where he and his fellow American soldiers rounded up over a hundred suspected rebels/civilian collaborators and then massacred them to prevent any chance of taking casualties.
• Shoot Everything That Moves: When the 24th marches into Houston, they adopt this policy believing that every local cop or any white person with them to be guilty of attempting to mob the black soldiers. Several completely innocent civilians also get shot and killed due to this.
• Shoot Out the Lock: Sergeant Hayes, earlier having his armory key confiscated by Major Abner uses his revolver to shoot the lock of the armory to arm his men and march on the town.
• Shown Their Work: While the film is a dramatization of events surrounding the riot of 1917, the filmmakers have gotten some specific details of the mutiny right:
  • Not including the deputized civilians, a total of five policemen are seen killed in the film, the same number killed in real life.
  • A squad car with two dead policeman and a civilian passenger is seen during the riot. In real life, a squad car was pulled over by the 24th soldiers, its occupants disarmed then executed.
• Soldiers at the Rear: The 24th Infantry are just guard duty/manual labor for an upcoming training camp to be built for American soldiers going overseas. They hope to change that by impressing their white superiors enough to be able to participate in the fighting in France.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: While practically all of the characters and specific events have their names changed or dramatized for the sake of a story, the timeline of events as well as the final body count is pretty close to reality.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Major Abner Lockhart is last seen commanding 24th Infantry sentries to fire on the unseen "white mob" at the camp's perimeter. He is not seen again for the rest of the movie, making it unclear if he somehow ordered the 24th to march into Houston or simply lost control of them during the chaos, nor do we get to see if he faced any inquiry or punishment for his negligence.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Col. Norton genuinely believes that an educated colored man like Boston could make better strides in attending an officer school for his fellow colored soldiers. While coming off a somewhat racist in today's context, the statement is shared with good intentions.

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We're there...
Ooooo, we're there....
Sent away. Send away.
Over there...
Death's the answer...
Death's the answer...
The drums rum, tumming, everywhere...
Say a prayer, and prepare...
Sent the word of the world to beware...
We won't come back...
Til' it's over...
Over there...\\