Battle Hymn (1957)

I love this movie so much

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This war story opens with an introduction by Earle Partridge, an Air Force general, who starts telling the (true) story of Colonel Dean Hess in the Korean War. Hess had started out as a minister, but felt the need to contribute to the war effort, assigned to train the Korean fighter pilots. This assignment turned into a much bigger ordeal than anyone had planned on. This film is another project with Douglas Sirk directing Rock Hudson. Don DeFore is Major Skidmore. Viewers will know him from his roles on "Hazel" and Ozzie & Harriet. Pretty good entertainment... some religious discussions and lessons thrown in, as Hess had been a minister back home. This is based on Hess' autobiography, after all. Of course, either Alan Hale Senior or Alan Hale Junior has to be in every war movie made... in this one, it's Junior (Skipperrrrrr!) playing the Mess Sergeant. Also James Hong is in here somewhere as Major Chong. He was the maitre D in the Seinfeld Chinese restaurant episode... he would have been just 28 in "Hymn". Philip Ahn plays the old man "Lun"... he played the old, respected father or grandfather figure in MASH, Hawaii Five-O, and many many more films and TV series. For more details, see the entry on Dean Hess in Wikipedia.org. This is one of the four films on the Universal War Collection DVD set.

Its heart is in its right intentions. However, this melodramatic fifties movie paces slower than most war movies. Besides Hudson, there's Don DeFore and that great noir actor Dan Duryea, playing the nice guy here teaching Korean kids how to chew gun.But there is some race baiting but never on Hudson's part. He is the man in charge and also the Deacon and as such, bears the consciousness of this movie.If you like and admire Douglas Sirk's other work, you won't be disappointed here.Interesting look of the Korean War done just four years after the fact.

This is hardly one of its director's more notable efforts which is perhaps why it took me this long to catch up with it in the first place; a miscast Rock Hudson is defeated by his impossible role of a real-life U.S.A.F. pilot whose accidental bombing of a Japanese orphanage during WWII drove him to take up priesthood; ironically, just as the protagonist struggles with his conflicting vocations (he considers it his duty to re-apply for service when the Korean War comes along), the film can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a biopic, a war epic or a particularly sticky Hollywood blending of religiosity and child interest! In itself, a harmless and typically glossy product of its era with the aerial sequences themselves certainly well done; sleek noir villain Dan Duryea is wasted, however, as a soldier who is particularly beloved by the Korean orphans Hudson and his men stumble upon. Ultimately, the film is perhaps most notable as being one of only four films featuring Anna Kashfi – Welsh despite her exotic name and looks – and best-known for her brief marriage (1957-59) to Marlon Brando.

"Battle Hymn" is the story of a minister (Rock Hudson) who returns to train Korean soldiers to fight after he feels he has lost his calling. Of course he finds redemption and his true faith when he becomes involved with a group of Korean orphans and a young Korean/Indian woman that cares for them. Despite several brilliantly staged action sequences this film is not so much a war saga as it is a tale of introspection and finding courage in religion to carry on. The blend of both adventure and drama is seamless. "Battle Hymn" is an intelligently-crafted and inspiring without being stoic or preachy.THE TRANSFER: Overall the picture quality is nicely rendered but the ravages of time have not been kind in a few spots. Age related artifacts are present throughout – sometimes glaringly so. Black levels are often weak and fine detail is lost in the darkest scenes. Digital anomalies are not an issue for a generally smooth visual presentation. The audio is nicely presented – if somewhat dated.EXTRAS: None.BOTTOM LINE: "Battle Hymn" is finely wrought melodrama tinged with the prerequisite of combat that all war films have in common. The DVD is admirably realized but is not reference quality. Still, it's definitely worth a look.