''In Love and War'' is a 1958 CinemaScope and

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sel ...

film set in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, directed by Philip Dunne. It is based on the 1957 novel '' The Big War'' by Anton Myrer. Myrer was a former Marine wounded during the Second Battle of Guam in 1944.

Plot summary

The film traces the progress of three

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

on shore leave in San Francisco during World War II. One of the men, Nico ( Jeffrey Hunter), is a seasoned, decorated

platoon sergeant In many militaries, a platoon sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a platoon, who advises and supports the platoon's commanding officer in leading the unit. Singapore In the Singapore Armed Forces, a platoon sergeant serves as the bridge ...

; the second, Frankie (

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979� ...

), is a perennial goof-off, who drinks too much; and the third, Alan (

Bradford Dillman Bradford Dillman (April 14, 1930 – January 16, 2018) was an American actor and author. Early life Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and Josephine (née Moore). Bradford's pa ...

), is an intellectual from a wealthy family. He has joined the Marines, despite his father's protests. Nico proposes and marries his pregnant girlfriend Andrea ( Hope Lange). A drunken Frankie fights with Charlie Stanton (

Murvyn Vye Marvin Wesley Vye Jr. (July 15, 1913 – August 17, 1976) was an American character actor. He is best known for portraying Prince Ken Arok in the comedy film '' Road to Bali''. Early years Vye was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and educa ...

), his hateful stepfather, who thinks him a coward. The wealthy Alan catches his fiancée, Sue (

Dana Wynter Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...

), with another man. Lorraine (

Sheree North Sheree North (born Dawn Shirley Crang; January 17, 1932 – November 5, 2005) was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe. Early life North was born Dawn Shirley ...

), who is in love with Frankie, has joined the military as a

WAVE In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (re ...

. She introduces his friend Alan to her roommate Kalai ( France Nuyen), a nurse of Hawaiian-French heritage. They all go to Lorraine's apartment, where Frankie first passes out, then wakes up screaming at the thought of returning to the war. Lorraine decides to leave him. Kalai professes her love for Alan. The three men return to the Pacific front. Frankie initially shows cowardice and Nico slaps some sense into him. Later, Frankie saves Alan and is honored for his heroism. Alan becomes ill with dengue fever and when a wounded Japanese soldier calls out to him for help, he tries to give the Japanese soldier some water but Nico shoots the wounded soldier and reveals to Alan and the other marines that a grenade was hidden under the wounded soldier as a trap. Alan then begins to question the futility of the war. When an advancing enemy tank threatens the platoon, Nico singlehandedly blows up the tank, but dies from his wounds. Back home, Kalai visits Sue in the hospital after she tries to commit suicide. Suffering from alcohol withdrawal, Sue dies during the visit. The war ends and Alan returns to Kalai and becomes a professor at the local university. Frankie, now promoted to sergeant, brings Nico's last love letter home to Andrea, who has given birth to their child. Andrea tells Frankie, who has decided to stay in the Marines that she would like to see him again.

Cast

as Pvt. Frank "Frankie" O'Neill *

as Sue Trumbell * Jeffrey Hunter as Plt Sgt. Nico Kantaylis * Hope Lange as Andrea Lenaine *

as PFC Alan Newcombe *

as Lorraine * France Nuyen as Kalai Ducanne *

Mort Sahl Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...

as Danny Krieger * Steven Gant as Babe Ricardo *

Harvey Stephens Harvey Stephens (August 21, 1901 – December 22, 1986) was an American actor, known initially for his performances in Broadway productions, and thereafter for his work in film and on television. He was most active in film beginning in the 193 ...

as Amory Newcombe *

Paul Comi Paul Domingo Comi (February 11, 1932 – August 26, 2016) was an American film and television actor. Biography Paul Comi was born 1932 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Comi grew up in North Quincy, Massachusetts and joined the United States Army a ...

as Father Wallensack * Joe Di Reda as Capistron * Buck Class as Derek *

as Charlie Scanlon * Mary Patton as Grace Scanlon *

Veronica Cartwright Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As a child actress, ...

as Allie O'Neill * Brian Corcoran as Bobby O'Neill * Nelson Leigh as Lt. Col. Herron * Ray Montgomery as Lieutenant *

James Philbrook James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in several major films, including ''I Want to Live!'' (1958), ''Woman Obsessed'' and as Colonel Tall in the 1964 war picture '' The Thin Red Line''. He had supporting roles on television, includi ...

as Sue's Boyfriend

Production

Jerry Wald, who had a deal with Fox, bought the screen rights to ''The Big War'' in March 1957. It was one of a number of war novels bought by Fox at the time, including ''

The Young Lions ''The Young Lions'' (1948) is a novel by Irwin Shaw about three soldiers in World War II. Plot Christian Diestl is at first a sympathetic Austrian drawn to Nazism by despair for his future but willing to sacrifice Jews if necessary. Noah Acke ...

'', '' The Hunters'' and '' The Enemy Below''. At one stage the film was known as ''Hell Raisers'' before being titled ''In Love and War''. Wald wanted Lee Remick,

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

and

Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...

to play the leads. Bradford Dillman and Robert Wagner were cast in April 1958. Jeff Hunter and France Nuyen were cast in June. Filming started in June 1958. Dunne says filming started with "half a script" and he had to do writing on location in the Pacific. On his comedy album ''1960 or Look Forward In Anger'', Sahl said he wrote 16 pages of dialogue for his character and the other Marines but most of the material was edited from the final print. Director Phillip Dunne asked the producer Jerry Wald why Sahl's name was not on the posters or advertisements. Wald responded that he was told that there was nothing in Sahl's contract that required him to receive any billing. Wald signed Sahl on to a personal contract with the intention of casting him as a beatnik in '' The Best of Everything'' (1959)Curtis, James ''Last Man Standing: Mort Sahl and the Birth of Modern Comedy'' University Press of Mississippi 2017

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:In Love And War (1958 Film) 1958 films American war drama films American World War II films 20th Century Fox films 1950s war drama films Films about the United States Marine Corps Films based on American novels Films based on military novels Films directed by Philip Dunne Films scored by Hugo Friedhofer Pacific War films Films with screenplays by Edward Anhalt 1958 drama films CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films

Plot summary

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links