Battle Hymn

Without any opening credits, I would have recognized here a movie directed by Douglas Sirk, a movie that of course evokes FAREWELL TO ARMS, maybe because of the plot and also the presence of Rock Hudson. That's not my cup of tea, both features, but that's the recipe of a war melodrama, the kind of scheme for which you can also expect a William Holden, a Rock Hudson or a Jimmy Stewart's presence, and certainly not Dan Duryea, who is totally in midcast here. It is a routine job from the duo Douglas Sirk - Rock Hudson, and I forgot the producer Ross Hunter. I prefer a true melodrama without any war lines.

With all the controversy surrounding End of the Spear where openly gay actor Chad Allen plays a Christian missionary, I was reminded of Battle Hymn where Rock Hudson plays a minister who goes to war. If Rock Hudson were alive today and open about his sexuality, the same kind of controversy would be surrounding this film.

Battle Hymn is based on a book by the Reverend Dean Hess who after service in World War II as an Army Air Corps flier enters the ministry. It seems as though he accidentally bombed an orphanage in Germany, killing several children.

In an effort to redeem himself he enters the ministry, but he feels himself going through the motions of his faith at the church he's assigned to in Ohio. When the Korean War starts, the newly formed Air Force needed not only pilots for combat, but pilots to train the newly forming South Korean Air Force. Hudson takes leave of his church assignment and goes to Korea.

Once there and quite by accident he gets involved with the littlest victims of war, the orphan kids of Korea who know no politics, only that their world is being destroyed. And when the North Koreans start to push the South Koreans and their allies into the Pusan perimeter Hudson organizes a march and then an airlift of over 400 children south to an orphanage.

Rock Hudson had really come into his own as an actor having received an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor for Giant. He brings to Dean Hess an infectious sincerity. As Hess both as minister and Colonel USAF he feels the responsibility of command and faith more clearly than he could ever have been just pastoring a church. In his scenes with Anna Kashfi and Philip Ahn on the march and airlift with the Korean orphan kids, he's just great. And his acting high point comes when he comforts the dying Don DeFore who was his friend in both wars. Hudson really reaches some sublime levels there.

Dan Duryea normally playing some of the nastiest villains ever on the screen shows the good side in his role as the tough Air Force sergeant who helps Hudson in his mission. And James Edwards who for some better breaks could have been the first black actor in leading roles instead of Sidney Poitier, is just great as the pilot who himself machine guns some children while on a mission. Hudson's scene in revealing himself to Edwards and urging to seek divine forgiveness is also touching and compelling.

Were we ever a silly people at times back in the day. If Rock Hudson had been open about his sexuality in 1956 he would have had no movie career. If Battle Hymn were made today it would probably be the subject of as much controversy as End of the Spear. As if love and compassion and care for orphans can only be the products of the straight people in this world.

One other note. Originally offered the role was Robert Mitchum who was turned down by the real Dean Hess because of his marijuana bust in 1948 as not having the proper image to play a minister. How ironic indeed.

Battle Hymn is a fine film, probably belongs on Rock Hudson's top ten list. Catch it if it is ever shown on TCM or AMC.

I am sick and tired of the misinformation that is constantly related about Colonel Hess. He was NOT a fighter pilot turned minister, it was the other way around. He was an ordained minister before joining the U S Army Air Force, as it was called in World War Two. Although he could have been a Chaplain, he did not feel that he could bless others for doing something he wasn't willing to do. If he had conflicts on the set of the movie, it was because of the way the Director wanted to portray him, not because he wanted to appear "Holier Than Thou". Anyone who wants the facts should read the book "Battle Hymn". It is out of print, but should be available through Amazon or Alibris. The orphanage bombing incident did take place. It happened because a bomb hung up on his P-47 (NOT a P-51 as shown in the movie) it was not a deliberate act. The incident did haunt him the rest of his life, But he saved many more orphans than were killed. "Operation Kiddy Car" was a real happening. As a final note, the money Hess received for the Screen Rights to his book, were given to the Korean Orphanage to repair its roof

When the film begins, you see a flashback of Dean Hess (Rock Hudson) as a pilot during WWII. By mistake, a bomb falls off his P-51 and hits an orphanage. He's haunted by this and this might explain why he became a minister after the war. However, he's still haunted by this mistake and when the Korean War breaks out, he volunteers to serve. His job is setting up an airbase for the South Korean Air Force, although much of his energy ends up being spent helping the many orphans displaced by the war.

In some ways, the film reminded me of the story "Lord Jim"--a guy makes a mistake and spends his life trying his best to do good and somehow atone for his past. It makes for an interesting film and Rock Hudson is just fine in the lead. Worth seeing and very well made.

Solid Rock Hudson vehicle dealing with a preacher's accidental bombing of an orphanage in a small German city during World War 11. The preacher, Dean Hess, played beautifully by Rock Hudson, comes back to the states following the war but is unable to fulfill his duties and reenlists for action in Korea 5 years later.

It is through his work in Korea that Hudson is able to reaffirm his faith.

Carl Benton Reid plays the town deacon. I remember Reid for playing Hudson's father-in-law in "One Desire" with the mean Julie Adams as his wife and the kindly Anne Baxter, the woman he should have married.

The film does go a little over-the-top with the death scene by Hess's buddy, played to the hilt by Don DeFore. When Hudson tells a dying DeFore that death is where one door opens after another closes is a little too much to take; although, it's effectively done.

Married to Martha Hyer in the film, Hudson soon learns that she is with child when he goes off to Korea. There, he meets Anna Kashfi, a young woman who has fled the ravages of war in her town. Due to his religious upbringing, romance does not evolve around the characters. In fact, she dies tragically near the end of the film.

The remaining part of the film deals with the attempts of Yang (Kashfi) and Hess to get the children out of a warring province to safe haven somewhere else. I thought we were going to see another "Inn of the 6th Happiness" here but we did not.

This is definitely a film of the triumph of the human spirit. It's another solid film for veteran director Douglas Sirk. He made so many of those women's pictures in the 1950 that starred Rock Hudson.