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| name = War is Hell
| name = War is Hell
| image = War Is Hell (movie poster).jpg
| image = War Is Hell (movie poster).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption = Film poster
| director = [[Burt Topper]]
| director = [[Burt Topper]]
| producer = Burt Topper
| producer = Burt Topper
| writer = Burt Topper
| writer = Burt Topper
| narrator = [[Audie Murphy]]
| narrator = [[Audie Murphy]]
| starring = Baynes Barron<br />Michael Bell
| starring = [[Baynes Barron]]<br />Michael Bell
| music = [[Ronald Stein]]
| music = [[Ronald Stein]]
| cinematography = Jacques Marquette
| cinematography = Jacques Marquette
| editing = [[Ace Herman]]
| editing = [[Ace Herman]]
| distributor = [[Monogram Pictures|Allied Artists]]
| distributor = [[Monogram Pictures|Allied Artists]]
| released = September 6, 1961 (international release) {{Film date|1963|10|23}} (US release)
| released = September 6, 1961 (International release) {{Film date|1963|10|23}} (US release)
| runtime = 81 minutes
| runtime = 81 minutes
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
| budget =
| budget =
}}
}}
'''''War is Hell''''' is a 1961 American [[war film]] written, produced and directed by [[Burt Topper]]. The film stars Baynes Barron and Michael Bell and is narrated by [[Audie Murphy]]. A featured cast member is [[Judy Dan]].
'''''War is Hell''''' is a 1961 American [[war film]] written, produced and directed by [[Burt Topper]]. The film stars [[Baynes Barron]] and Michael Bell and is narrated by [[Audie Murphy]]. A featured cast member is [[Judy Dan]].


== Plot summary ==
== Plot ==


Set during the [[Korean War]], the film depicts the atrocities of battle. Sgt. Garth (Barron), a bloodthirsty egomaniac, neglects to tell his soldiers that there has been a cease fire. The sergeant sends his unit into an enemy bunker, where they are fiercely attacked by the enemy. The few who survive secure the bunker, and Garth attempts to take credit for their actions. Further chaos ensues, resulting in the deaths of many in the platoon, as well as a mortal wound to the sergeant.
Set during the [[Korean War]], the film depicts the atrocities of battle. Sgt. Garth (Barron), a bloodthirsty egomaniac, neglects to tell his soldiers that there has been a cease fire. The sergeant sends his unit into an enemy bunker, where they are fiercely attacked by the enemy. The few who survive secure the bunker, and Garth attempts to take credit for their actions. Further chaos ensues, resulting in the deaths of many in the platoon, as well as a mortal wound to the sergeant.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
{{castlist|
* Baynes Barron as Sgt. Garth
* [[Baynes Barron]] as Sgt. Garth
* Michael Bell as Seldon
* Michael Bell as Seldon
* Bobby Byles as Gresler
* Bobby Byles as Gresler
Line 41: Line 42:
* Paul Sheriff as Thurston
* Paul Sheriff as Thurston
* Burt Topper as Lt. Hallen
* Burt Topper as Lt. Hallen
}}


== Release ==
The film ran in Japan and West Germany in late 1961, sometimes titled ''War Hero''. Its release in the US was delayed, with some of the cast and crew suspecting that distributors were put off by the depiction of an American war criminal.<ref name="herzberg">{{cite book|last=Herzberg|first=Bob|title=Hollywood and the Military Bureaucracy|year=2021|page=132}}</ref> It was finally released in 1963, with Audie Murphy's narration added to soften the film's message,<ref name="herzberg"/> and distributed by [[United Artists]] the next year on a double bill below the James Bond film ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=Alan |title=Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: The Unofficial James Bond 007 Film Companion |last2=Hearn |first2=Marcus |date=1997 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=0-7134-8182-X |page=27}}</ref>


==Legacy==
==In popular culture==
''War Is Hell'' has been noted as the last Hollywood Korean War film, coming just as the United States was building its presence in Vietnam. However, its artistic aspects have been overshadowed by the coincidence that it was playing (along with ''[[Cry of Battle]]'') at the [[Texas Theatre]] in [[Dallas]] the afternoon of November 22, 1963, when [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] hid there after allegedly [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|shooting President John F. Kennedy]] and police officer [[J. D. Tippit]]. (Coincidentally, star Baynes Barron was born on the same day as President Kennedy.)
''War Is Hell'' was the second of two features (along with ''[[Cry of Battle]]'') playing at the [[Texas Theatre]] in [[Dallas|Dallas, Texas]] on [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|November 22, 1963]]. After fatally shooting [[John F. Kennedy|US President John F. Kennedy]] and [[J. D. Tippit|Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit]] earlier that afternoon, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] sneaked into the theater without paying. After box office cashier Julia Postal was informed by shoe store employee John Brewer that a man had entered the theater, she called Dallas police. Despite attempting to shoot the arresting officer, Oswald was arrested.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Donald|date=February 21, 1964|title=Lee was the leader of our playground|journal=Life|publisher=Time, Inc.|volume=56|issue=8|page=80|issn=0024-3019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SVQEAAAAMBAJ&q=war+is+hell+cry+of+battle+lee+harvey+oswald&pg=PA80}}</ref> Oswald was fatally shot two days later by club owner [[Jack Ruby]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Flowers|first1=R. Barri|last2=Flowers|first2=H. Loraine|title=Murders in the United States: Crimes, Killers and Victims of the Twentieth Century|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-7864-2075-8|page=84}}</ref> while being transferred to another jail. Coincidentally, lead actor Baynes Barron was born on May 29, 1917—the same day as the fallen president.

[[United Artists]] released the second James Bond film, ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]'', with ''War Is Hell'' as the second feature of a double bill in the United States on May 27, 1964.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Alan|last2=Hearn|first2=Marcus|title=Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: The Unofficial James Bond 007 Film Companion|date=1997|publisher=Batsford|isbn=0-7134-8182-X|page=27}}</ref>
It is believed that ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]'' was the last film that Kennedy watched.


==Notes==
==Notes==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0058735|title= War is Hell}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0058735|title= War is Hell}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=95075|title=War is Hell}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=95075|title=War is Hell}}


{{Burt Topper}}
{{Burt Topper}}


[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:1960s war films]]
[[Category:1961 war films]]
[[Category:Allied Artists films]]
[[Category:Allied Artists films]]
⚫
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American war films]]
[[Category:American war films]]
⚫
[[Category:Audie Murphy]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1950s]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
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[[Category:Films produced by Burt Topper]]
[[Category:Films produced by Burt Topper]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ronald Stein]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ronald Stein]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:1960s American films]]
⚫
[[Category:Films set in bunkers]]
⚫
[[Category:English-language war films]]



{{Korea-War-film-stub}}
{{Korea-War-film-stub}}

Latest revision as of 13:34, 24 October 2024

War is Hell
Film poster
Directed byBurt Topper
Written byBurt Topper
Produced byBurt Topper
StarringBaynes Barron
Michael Bell
Narrated byAudie Murphy
CinematographyJacques Marquette
Edited byAce Herman
Music byRonald Stein
Distributed byAllied Artists
Release date
September 6, 1961 (International release)
  • October 23, 1963 (1963-10-23)
(US release)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

War is Hell is a 1961 American war film written, produced and directed by Burt Topper. The film stars Baynes Barron and Michael Bell and is narrated by Audie Murphy. A featured cast member is Judy Dan.

Plot

[edit]

Set during the Korean War, the film depicts the atrocities of battle. Sgt. Garth (Barron), a bloodthirsty egomaniac, neglects to tell his soldiers that there has been a cease fire. The sergeant sends his unit into an enemy bunker, where they are fiercely attacked by the enemy. The few who survive secure the bunker, and Garth attempts to take credit for their actions. Further chaos ensues, resulting in the deaths of many in the platoon, as well as a mortal wound to the sergeant.

Cast

[edit]
  • Baynes Barron as Sgt. Garth
  • Michael Bell as Seldon
  • Bobby Byles as Gresler
  • Wally Campo as Laney
  • Kei Thin Chung as Korean Lieutenant (as Kei Chung)
  • J.J. Dahner as Koller
  • Judy Dan as Yung Chi Thomas
  • Robert Howard as Connors
  • Audie Murphy as Narrator
  • Russ Prescott as Bender
  • Tony Rich as Miller
  • Tony Russel as Sgt. Keefer
  • Paul Sheriff as Thurston
  • Burt Topper as Lt. Hallen

Release

[edit]

The film ran in Japan and West Germany in late 1961, sometimes titled War Hero. Its release in the US was delayed, with some of the cast and crew suspecting that distributors were put off by the depiction of an American war criminal.[1] It was finally released in 1963, with Audie Murphy's narration added to soften the film's message,[1] and distributed by United Artists the next year on a double bill below the James Bond film From Russia with Love.[2]

Legacy

[edit]

War Is Hell has been noted as the last Hollywood Korean War film, coming just as the United States was building its presence in Vietnam. However, its artistic aspects have been overshadowed by the coincidence that it was playing (along with Cry of Battle) at the Texas Theatre in Dallas the afternoon of November 22, 1963, when Lee Harvey Oswald hid there after allegedly shooting President John F. Kennedy and police officer J. D. Tippit. (Coincidentally, star Baynes Barron was born on the same day as President Kennedy.)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Herzberg, Bob (2021). Hollywood and the Military Bureaucracy. p. 132.
  2. ^ Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (1997). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: The Unofficial James Bond 007 Film Companion. Batsford. p. 27. ISBN 0-7134-8182-X.
[edit]


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