Between Heaven and Hell

Rating:
Summary: Sam Gifford & Willy
Review: Because of the fact I been involved with WW-2 an have relation involed an self, an Family an friends Killed in Action I think it would be safe to say, I^am pretty Familiar with Rigors of War. Sam an Willy remind me of Friends I knew a long time ago, an situations just like the ones in this Movie. I think Robert Wagner an Buddy Ebsen do a magnificent job in there Roles that they Portray.

Thank You Dave _k

Rating:
Summary: Slipped right by us before we realized what we had
Review: Bobby, we hardly knew ye....

If Hollywood cannot suppress a great concept and turn it into drivel before a film gets made, they often will find a way to do it after it has been released. Orson Welles learned this the hard way making Citizen Kane to his great pain, and could never get quite enough funding for any big film after that.

This is no Citizen Kane, nor will Robert Wagner ever, ever, be confused with Orson Welles. On the other hand, to call him un-charismatic?!? Not to a whole generation of girls in the 50's and 60's, including my sweetie. Not to mention to a whole generation of guys who wanted to be like him.

As a war film, it is way above the cut and cannot be written off too easily after viewing. I esteem it as much as Hell Is For Heroes with Steve McQueen or Attack! with Jack Palance. Films that stood out from the fodder, and were rarely duplicated if ever. Why this one never got respect, I am too young to have heard, and at this point, there is a whole new generation who will get to see, and perhaps appreciate it.

I saw this film many years ago on TV and I never quite forgot it, for many reasons, and I have been dying to see it released on DVD.

The other reviews on this site give a decent summation of the plot, but the truth of the film goes deeper. Buddy Ebson as a sharecropper gives a slyly informed humanity to people we all have driven by when we saw them (barely) working in the fields, or else cleaning our offices, or in our kitchens.

Broderick Crawford so typifies the insanity of war, where we can find ourselve in situations without a rulebook, yet not knowing the rules means death.

Before the war, seen in flashback, Wagner is deeply unhappy at the top of the heap, and takes it out on those at the bottom of the pyramid as if he had no feelings. Yet, he loves his wife with the passion of youth, and something deeper, as she him.

He is a landed aristocrat in a South about to experience drastic change, but has not yet figured out how to deal with the peasants who are people too.

If he were a lesser man, as is his best friend (Tod Andrews, who would later play the Gray Ghost on TV), the difficulty of being a chivalrous and decent man whose culture demands he forget decency when dealing with his social inferiors, he would not be so driven and unhappy.

War experiences bring out the best and worst in men, and we see his best friend (from before the war) fail the test and, in the process, killing Wagner's new friends, common men, made during the war, and we experience the pain when his surrogate father dies. If you wondered where Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan got the shakes, watch Rober Wagner progress in this film. He is more than adequate. He has things to teach others who followed.

A film does not have to be perfect to be great, and this is a great film, and flawed, make no mistake. Being ignored for so long means only that we should take a closer look now, and judge carefully before writing it off.

Get the DVD in widescreen. On Turner TNT, only the credits are in widescreen, the rest is pan and scan, which is a shame. In contrast, the original wide frame is composed to advantage throughout, when you see it for the first time in almost 50 years as it was meant to be seen.

Rating:
Summary: AHH THE GUNS!
Review: Robert Wagner is so cool as Prinve Valiant! In this movie he fights for his country and does all he can for his wife too.I would like to see it someday.

Rating:
Summary: Turgid drama, Inept acting, Wrenched plot!
Review: There is not much to recommend this trivial world war II drama. Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen, and Robert Wagner all confirm their tertiary status in the Hollywood pantheon. The plot is inept and incredible, staggering through bunches of flashbacks. The minor miracle (Rich and arrogant southern playboy/landowner comes of age and learns to love the common man) is insufficiently believable. The battle action is sporadic.

HOWEVER, the DVD presentation is fine. Super-saturated colors come through perfectly, and the definition is great! The DVD quality is the sole reason I give the film 2 stars rather than 1.

May I recommend films such as Patton, Tora Tora Tora, or the Longest Day for fine World War II action!

Rating:
Summary: A WWII Coming of Age
Review: This film is about a man whose worldview is limited by his prejudiced, high-class upbringing. The horrors of war will show him the error of his ways and become a better human. The path is indeed a hard one.

The story begins "in medias res" with a demoted sergeant being transferred to a distant post in the Pacific Theatre in WWII. Robert Wagner plays this soldier from the South named Sam Gifford who must now rejoin the rank and file. Under the command of a sadistic captain, Gifford recalls his past as a wealthy landowner and his treatment of his sharecroppers. He then recalls the events of his heroism and demotion. Through all of this, he learns that the people he mistreated back home are just as capable of heroism and that he has been wrong.

Buddy Ebsen, from "The Beverly Hillbillies," plays a part in this film, and I believe he made the movie enjoyable. He wasn't comic relief, but played the stout-hearted sharecropper that truly showed Gifford the error of his ways.

The part of the sadistic captain doesn't seem to fit at first, but watch the whole movie, and his place and his story will make sense.

A fairly good movie, but the flashbacks seem a bit excessive. They are necessary, but still seem a bit much where they are.

Rating:
Summary: A WWII Coming of Age
Review: This film is about a man whose worldview is limited by his prejudiced, high-class upbringing. The horrors of war will show him the error of his ways and become a better human. The path is indeed a hard one.

The story begins "in medias res" with a demoted sergeant being transferred to a distant post in the Pacific Theatre in WWII. Robert Wagner plays this soldier from the South named Sam Gifford who must now rejoin the rank and file. Under the command of a sadistic captain, Gifford recalls his past as a wealthy landowner and his treatment of his sharecroppers. He then recalls the events of his heroism and demotion. Through all of this, he learns that the people he mistreated back home are just as capable of heroism and that he has been wrong.

Buddy Ebsen, from "The Beverly Hillbillies," plays a part in this film, and I believe he made the movie enjoyable. He wasn't comic relief, but played the stout-hearted sharecropper that truly showed Gifford the error of his ways.

The part of the sadistic captain doesn't seem to fit at first, but watch the whole movie, and his place and his story will make sense.

A fairly good movie, but the flashbacks seem a bit excessive. They are necessary, but still seem a bit much where they are.

Rating:
Summary: Between Heaven and Hell
Review: This is a very effective psychological war film with a great performance by Broderick Crawford as the demented commander of a group of loose canons located in an isolated jungle outpost during W.W.II. Robert Wagner is ordered to the post for his transgressions and comes to terms with his own lack of humanity. This film contains one of Hugo Friedhofer's best scores. The stereo score on this VHS recording sounds excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Between Heaven and Hell
Review: This is a very effective psychological war film with a great performance by Broderick Crawford as the demented commander of a group of loose canons located in an isolated jungle outpost during W.W.II. Robert Wagner is ordered to the post for his transgressions and comes to terms with his own lack of humanity. This film contains one of Hugo Friedhofer's best scores. The stereo score on this VHS recording sounds excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Between Heaven and Hell
Review: This war drama tells how a southern soldier changes from a class conscious snob and becomes a human being with the help of Buddy Ebsen. It shows in flashbacks how he used to be a ruthless plantation owner and how he treated his sharecroppers. Along comes WWII and realizes that in war, everybody is the same. His buddies all get killed due to the cowardice of an officer and Wagner almost kills him. He is courtmartial and sent to another unit and meets a psycho company commander played with gusto by Broderick Crawford. The platoon he is ordered to be with are sent up to relieve another platoon on this hill. They are attacked by a Japanese company and everyone is killed except Wagner and Ebsen, but Ebsen is wounded and Wagner must run back for help. Will he make it in time to rescue Ebsen? The movie was nominated for Original Score and if you look real hard, you will recognize Frank Gorshin, who later played the Joker on the TV version of Batman. Not the best war drama ever made, but is good nonetheless.