In Love and War

"In Love and War" was one of that group of Hollywood films of the 1950's based on best selling novels about WW2. They were written by men who had experienced the war first hand: "The Young Lions", "Between Heaven and Hell" and "Battle Cry" among others.

Being around 10 years of age at the time, they were the kind of movies I couldn't wait to see. However they usually had as much time devoted to the bedroom as to the battlefield - lots of mushy stuff. "In Love and War" wasn't kidding when it put 'Love' first in the title. At the time though, I thought Dana Wynter was about the most beautiful woman in the world - I'm not sure that I still don't.

These days I can handle the mushy stuff better and actually appreciate it more than the rather bloodless, unrealistic action scenes that were the norm for those films.

"In Love and War" had an overload of beautiful people. Along with Dana Wynter there was Robert Wagner, Jeffery Hunter, Hope Lange, Bradford Dillman, Sheree North and France Nuyen - stunning in her second movie.

The story is about three marines from different backgrounds. Their lives reflect different levels of society, but there are problems all around: the spoilt rich girl bored with life (Dana), a bit of interracial tension (France Nuyen) and an evil stepfather for Robert Wagner's character. By 1958, anti-war sentiment was de rigueur - Brad Dillman's character rages against the senselessness of war. Unfortunately the various strands of the story seemed plucked from a file of alphabetically listed stock plots.

The island the marines storm is unnamed. The author, Anton Myrer, was wounded serving with the marines on Guam, but the battle here seems to be representative, not specific.

Many war films at the time combined documentary footage with the re-creations, and it was never seamless. That was the case in this film despite a few gritty scenes. However they pale when compared to the 2010 mini series, "The Pacific".

"In Love and War" has one element that pulls the whole thing together, a magnificent score by Hugo Friedhofer. It captures the heroism and tragedy of war, the epic along with the intimate. The score for this film is one of its stars.

I can still enjoy this movie even if nostalgia plays a part. As for modern audiences, this is what a big glossy movie of the time looked like with stars who seemed better than life.

I'm easily bothered by films that are set during a certain decade (and now century) with costuming, design, styling, etc., that don't match the period portrayed. If you pay close enough attention, there's very little that's 1940s about this film in its depiction. That being said, it actually was more satisfying than I anticipated.

The first act of this two-act film is clunky in nature. I agree with the reviewer who wrote that Wagner's portrayal of intoxication is well over the top and therefore, at least to me, unconvincing, but there's moments in the second act in which he shows his acting chops. Dillman unsurprisingly does not disappoint, and Hunter delivers a pleasing surprise.

This movie tends to vacillate between hokey, soap-opera elements and cerebral, emotionally intense components. Once you get past the obvious on-set shooting typical of the '50s and the forcing of "topical" issues, such as unwed pregnancy, interracial relationships, and philosophical objection to war, there's a final product that's actually touching.

I'm truly surprised I liked it.

I grew up during the years of WWII and always enjoy movies made about that time. This movie is exceptionally great. TCM (Turner Classic Movies) shows it now and then. I like the choice of actors/actresses for the parts. Robert Wagner, Bradford Dillman, Jeffrey Hunter and Hope Lang are especially great. I like the scenes of early San Francisco shown in the film. I also think it's a great character study, most of the men in the U.S. felt it was their duty to enlist in the military to avenge our country. The struggle is show in the character of Alan Newcome (Bradford Dillman). And also the expectations put on Alan by his father. Then there is the internal struggle of "Frankie" (Robert Wagner) to measure up to the character of the men he is serving with. Then comes the noble gesture by Jeffrey Hunter's character to "do the right thing," and marry his pregnant girlfriend. I can't seem to find the right words to talk about this great movie, it's so exceptional. See it yourself, I think you'll like the life lessons it has.

About half of the film is all about relationships between three marines and their sweethearts, three very different characters of very different backgrounds, and so are their sweethearts. The second half is dominated by the war in the Pacific, greatly depicting the arduous hardships of the marines and their unimaginable heroic efforts and deeds. You get a very extensive and clear picture of what the war in the Pacific really was like. The three girls encounter the ordinary fates of female civil victims of the war, one is widowed with a child, another sinks down in alcohol and tragedy, and no one gets out of it unscathed, although there is always a continuity. It is beautifully photographed and filmed, and Hugo Friedhofer's music adds to its high quality. This is a film you would like to see again sometime.

The story follows three marines, and their girls, from home leave to combat in the Pacific.

The movie's very much a mixed package. With a couple exceptions, war films of the 1950's shied away from combat realism, whose trauma might easily overwhelm audiences. The second half of this war film does a pretty good job portraying the so-called fog of war, along with perfectly natural emotional and physical reactions to combat death. These scenes are done on exterior sets and are uglified to maximal extent. Such grim scenes are then intercut with sunny scenes in San Francisco, done in glowing candy box colors. The resulting contrast is appropriately jolting, to say the least, and leaves no doubt that between "love" and "war", which is to be preferred.

The trouble lies with a swollen narrative that is too conventional in the "Love" part. It also shows what happens when a big studio, TCF, decides to promote a younger cast into possible stardom. Everybody—about the top seven in the cast list—gets cameo screen time, in the film's first half, especially. This draws out the runtime, and coupled with a conventional script, tends to drag out the first part, long after we've gotten the idea. The actors perform well enough, though O'Neill's (Wagner) drunken binge is over the top, maybe the only time in the actor's generally restrained career. Note, in passing, the post-war symbolism of pairing Newcombe (Dillman) with Kalai (Nuyen).

All in all, the movie's a good look at how Hollywood shaped WWII to commercial needs of the big screen. But is otherwise forgettable.