In Love and War

There are many familiar faces in this one, from their younger days: Robert Wagner, Bradford Dillman, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange, Dana Wynter and Sheree North. They're all affected by the war, as well as their own personal lives, which aren't always a pretty picture. There are some realistic battle scenes, as well as family conflict, alcoholism, love vs. Duty, as three servicemen, their families, and the women in their lives all interconnect.

Some scenes stay with you, like the enemy tank relentlessly forging ahead that needed to be destroyed, the enemy soldier begging for a drink of water, the self-destructive socialite whose wild ways caught up with her, and an adorable little boy who'll never see his father. There's drama without the melodrama.

Worth checking out!

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.

Although made in 1958, this is one of those patriotic WWII movies that are a hit with Americans who appreciate the sacrifices made for our freedom. Yet, there was plenty of home front footage as well with very good acting. Dana Wynter, whom I had just seen in Sink The Bismarck, did a wonderful job in a difficult part. The writing for the part was superficial and the reasoning behind it not believable. And yet, Ms. Wynter took it and made it believable. What an actress! And darn good looking too! The male leads were all well done, Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Wagner and Bradford Dillman. One finds oneself rooting for all three Marines to make it through the battle scenes. Hope Lange, a great actress as always and a real beauty. Remember her in the TV version of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? France Nuyen, a sweet face and good acting, what more could we want? One face popped up that I recognized right away - a Corcoran boy! This one is Brian who played Israel Boone on the old Daniel Boone TV show. But it was his brother Kevin Corcoran whom I thought about - the great child actor who did Old Yeller, Pollyanna and others. His sister in the movie is Veronica Cartwright, the real life sister of Angela Cartwright of the Danny Thomas show, Lost in Space and Brigitta in the Sound of Music movie. Of course Veronica made news herself as Jimima Boone on the same TV show as Brian, Lumpy's sister on Leave It To Beaver, Spencer's Mountain and other good parts. All in all, excellent acting in this movie, good drama and exciting WWII action by the Marines. Well worth seeing.

Enjoyable , agreeable movie depicting lives of three Marines in San Francisco during World War II. Frankie O'Neill (Robert Wagner) visits his poor and troublesome family ; Nico Kantaylis (Jeffrey Hunter) learns his lovely , pure-hearted girlfriend (Hope Lange) is pregnant ; and the upper-class Alan Newcombe visits his father and high-living , socialite girlfriend (Dana Wynter) . Soon after , O'Neill drowns his troubles in alcohol and along with a friend Lorraine (Sheree North) , losing the respect of his potential lover ; Kantaylis marries his fiancée ; while Alan leaves his socialite and drunk girlfriend for a Hawaiian nurse , Kalai (France Nuyen) . The coming battle results to be a dangerous and nearly impossible assignment in a strongly armed Japanese position at an isolated island . Love-Hungry Youth amid the fires of war. THE ONE TRULY GREAT STORY OF THE U. S. MARINES!

This dramatic film in Soap Opera style dealing with unresolved love stories , concerning the family lives of three San Francisco Marines affected by their personal experiences on the front lines in the Pacific and vice-versa, along the way , each must decide whether to make the best of his situation or break out of it . Marines life is narrated aboard a ship , en route through Pacific , by means of flashbacks , in with they reminisce about their love stories , including a dramatisation of the landings and battles in which heroic acts cost some of the Marines their lives . The movie utilizes an often-used plot of the war movie genre which has soldiers in love with the women , whose romances are broken due to WWII, while remembering their lives in flashbacks . Impressive and breathtaking final scenes when there takes place Japanese island invasion , including landing crafts , tanks , explosions and and fierce battles . The ending images and survival of some protagonists will determine the surprising denouement in which one comes together to her . Quartet protagonists are pretty good , Robert Wagner gives a restrained interpretation as a Marine who hides his lower-class dysfunctional family , Bradford Dillman as the enamored upper-class soldier who falls deeply with the beauteous France Nuyen and Jeffrey Hunter is nice as the upright and brave Sergeant . Support cast is frankly well , such as Sheree North , Mort Sahl, Harvey Stephens , James Best , Barry Brown and the little girl Veronica Cartwright , future passenger of Alien film.

It contains sensitive and evocative musical score by Hugo Friedhofer. Colorful cinematography in Technicolor by the splendid director of photography Leo Tover . Shot on location in California , the naval scenes were filmed at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island California, Monterey, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, Oakland, California, and at the Fox Studio back-lot . The motion picture was professional but slowly directed by Philip Dunne . He was an expert writer , getting some successes , such as Anne of the Indians , Sinuhé, the Egyptian , The Robe , Martin the Gaucho , Pinky , David and Betsabe , The Ghost and Mrs Muir , Demetrius and the Gladiators , Lydia Bailey . And he directed some movies as Blindfold , El inspector , Wild in the Country , 10, calle Frederick , Three Brave Men , Hilda Crane , The view from Pompey's Head.

Anton Myrer's novel, "The Big War," was published in 1957 with some degree of success and, not surprisingly, 20th Century-Fox bought the film rights. After all, World War II movies were a staple of this time and Myrer's novel provided a number of parts for those rising young performers then being groomed by 20th. The novel's three central Marine characters remained in Edward Anhalt's screenplay but their backgrounds were simplified, various supporting characters were eliminated, and the background for the domestic scenes shifted from the East Coast to California. Robert Wagner's back-story remains truest to the book. He has a doting mother and adoring younger siblings but fights with his hateful step-father. Bradford Dillman plays the rich, college-educated Marine and the movie sketches in his background but now gives him a drunken socialite of a fiancée, Dana Wynter, who's largely a screenwriter's invention. (His new girlfriend, France Nuyen, seems to have been inspired by another, unrelated character in the book.) Dillman's fate has also been re-written from Myrer's version. Jeffrey Hunter plays the conscientious Marine with the pregnant wife but his strained relationship with his mother-in-law goes unmentioned in the movie. (He does, however, get a bare-chest scene.) The second half of the movie shifts from homefront scenes in California to battle scenes in the Pacific. These scenes are done in a perfunctory style -- laced with occasional footage from actual World War II photographers -- and the actors' identities sometimes blur in those similar uniforms and under those metallic helmets. The result of all this is a glossy, mildly entertaining, but unmemorable movie which never rises above the "B" level of its "B" level performers. (Acting honors, such as they are, go to Sheree North as a practical-minded WAC.)