You won't be disappointed!

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Philadelphia-born Broderick Crawford makes an unlikely Texan and--wisely--does not try to sound like someone from Waco. But "Waco" is the nickname by which the soldiers in 'G' company are ordered to address him, never "Sir" or "Captain". You see, he doesn't want enemy snipers targeting him--a prudent precaution. However, this officer also is afraid, paranoid in fact, that one of his own men might decide to kill him. Accordingly, any soldier entering Company HQ must leave his weapon outside, and the Company commander is escorted at all times by two enlisted bodyguards armed with Thompson submachine guns.These two blond pretty boys apparently lead a privileged life and they may be more than just bodyguards. They sit languidly about in the grass shack, fondling their weapons and dressed in skimpy and tight-fitting undershirts--every other character in the wartime part of film wears full combat dress. In an early scene, after a typically harsh interview with a replacement soldier, the C.O. is seen retiring to his private quarters in the company of one of these bodyguards. And when that man is later killed in a surprise mortar attack, the gruff, veteran officer is said to have wept! A point is also made of the captain being unmarried. The script of this film is run of the mill. Crawford gets all the memorable lines.The state park in Calabassas, California looks nothing like a South Pacific island. Scenes lurch abruptly from the prewar American South to the battlefront. However, there are some really memorable performances--by a young, almost adolescent, Robert Wagner, by Buddy Ebsen and in particular by Crawford as the psychotic--and possibly perverted--company commander. Among other supporting players, Brad Dexter as a battle-hardened lieutenant disgusted by what he sees at Company HQ and not bashful about showing it, and the portrayal of an arrogant, overbearing bodyguard by the always interesting Skip Homeier merit special mention.

Another reviewer said it best when he called this film 'unpretentious'. Today, of course, most films are pretentious and overblown. Maybe it's because we now live in a pretentious and overblown country, one where people would never listen to the message of a movie like this.This is one of those rare occurrences where a movie is so well done it seems to exist outside its era. This film was made in 1956, which is amazing, considering the outstanding photography and the striking characterizations. Nobody talks or acts like '50s characters. Things seem a little more dangerous, more savage, so that it would seem you were watching a film from the '80s instead. Of course, in the '80s they didn't make movies like this, they made pretentious ones. But they should have.The big war films of the '50s were usually full of stock characters and unlikely situations, crammed with out of place stock footage. An example of that kind of mediocre war movie is 'To Hell And Back'. This movie is everything that 'To Hell And Back' was not. 'Between Heaven And Hell' has more interesting and unique characters, more authentic weaponry, and the photography is of a much higher standard.The reasons why some rather dull movies become well known, while others, like this, remain obscure, has always been a mystery to me.

Considering that Cinemascope had been introduced only three years earlier, this is one of the outstanding examples from the 50s of a director and cinematographer composing shots for widescreen. I've been teaching film for almost 40 years and would unhesitatingly show excerpts from this in any basic course on movies. Just to sample some, check out Minutes 40-50, especially the quartets of lounging soldiers in medium shot. Sometimes the compositions seem a little self-conscious, but overall this is a remarkable film stylistically. It's wonderful to be able to see it again in widescreen format, as well as other movies that go back to my teenage years. That's why DVD is so great.

Composer Hugo Friedhofer, Oscar winner for The Best Years Of Our Lives(1946) turns in one of his finest scores in this unpretentious war film with a surprisingly focused performance by Robert Wagner. This, along with A Kiss Before Dying (also 1956) represents the best work Wagner did while a contract player at Fox. The music score uses the old "Dies Irae" motif to excellent effect, and Friedhofer's ingeneous way of rephrasing and reharmonizing this simple chant earned him a well deserved Oscar nomination. This story also addresses some issues like friendly fire, in the war scenes and issues of class and privilege on the home front.The dramatic tension created by the contrast between the battlefield and flashbacks to the Wagner character's home life is stunningly reflected by the music. They just don't write scores like this anymore, and they don't make unpretentious war movies anymore. Nowdays, everything has to be an $200 million spectacle.This film, with it's great supporting cast that includes Buddy Ebsen, Harvey Lembeck, LQ Jones and Brad Dexter, reflects what was good about the old studio system.Fox made these kind of movies better than any other studio- also check out The Desert Rats (1953). In Love And War( 1957) and The Young Lions (1958) are both great Friedhofer scores; then there'sZanuck's masterpiece, The Longest Day (1962) also starring Robert Wagner.This score represents Hugo Friedhofer at the height of his creative powers at a time when his work at Fox was very prolific. His last major score was One-Eyed Jacks (1961) and he is largely a forgotten figure today.