In Love and War (1958)

Three Marines take shore leave in San Francisco during World War II. Frankie O'Neill visits his lower-class dysfunctional family; Nico Kantaylis visits his pregnant fiancée; and the ... See full summary »

Director:

Philip Dunne

Writers:

Anton Myrer (novel), Edward Anhalt

Stars:

Robert Wagner, Dana Wynter, Jeffrey Hunter

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Wagner	...	Frank "Frankie" O'Neill
Dana Wynter	...	Sue Trumbell
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Sgt. Nico Kantaylis
Hope Lange	...	Andrea Lenaine Kantaylis
Bradford Dillman	...	Alan Newcombe
Sheree North	...	Lorraine
France Nuyen	...	Kalai Ducanne
Mort Sahl	...	Danny Krieger
Steven Gant	...	Babe Ricarno
Harvey Stephens	...	Amory Newcombe
Paul Comi	...	Father Wallensack
Joe Di Reda	...	Capistron
Buck Class	...	Derek
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sebastian Cabot	...	Professor D. Everett Styles (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Three Marines take shore leave in San Francisco during World War II. Frankie O'Neill visits his lower-class dysfunctional family; Nico Kantaylis visits his pregnant fiancée; and the upper-class Alan Newcombe visits his high-living playgirl girlfriend. Each must decide whether to make the best of his situation or break out of it. O'Neill drowns his troubles in alcohol, losing the respect of a potential lover; Kantaylis marries his fiancée, but realizes he may not survive the war to see his child; while Newcombe sheds his decadent girlfriend for a pure-hearted Hawaiian nurse. Later, in battle, a heroic act costs one of the Marines his life.

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Plot Keywords:

stepfather | room service | face slap | w.a.c. | hotel | 

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Taglines:

THE ONE TRULY GREAT STORY OF THE U.S. MARINES! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amor y guerra

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Wald Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hugo Friedhofer's title theme from The Revolt of Mamie Stover, another Fox film set in WWII, is used in the scenes between Bradford Dillman and Dana Wynter.

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Goofs

Although the film is set during the final days of World War II, which ended in 1945, outside the San Francisco hotel where Jeffrey Hunter and Hope Lange spend their honeymoon are parked, among other vehicles, a 1954 Ford and a 1952 Plymouth.

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Quotes

Lorraine: I'm sick and tired of wasting my time on a guy whose idea of life is two beers and a bowling alley.

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Connections

Referenced in What's My Line?: Episode dated 2 November 1958 (1958)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Moon"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Played when Frankie is calling on the pay phone

User Reviews

A "B" movie with an "A" gloss

Anton Myrer's novel, "The Big War," was published in 1957 with some degree of success and, not surprisingly, 20th Century-Fox bought the film rights. After all, World War II movies were a staple of this time and Myrer's novel provided a number of parts for those rising young performers then being groomed by 20th. The novel's three central Marine characters remained in Edward Anhalt's screenplay but their backgrounds were simplified, various supporting characters were eliminated, and the background for the domestic scenes shifted from the East Coast to California. Robert Wagner's back-story remains truest to the book. He has a doting mother and adoring younger siblings but fights with his hateful step-father. Bradford Dillman plays the rich, college-educated Marine and the movie sketches in his background but now gives him a drunken socialite of a fiancée, Dana Wynter, who's largely a screenwriter's invention. (His new girlfriend, France Nuyen, seems to have been inspired by another, unrelated character in the book.) Dillman's fate has also been re-written from Myrer's version. Jeffrey Hunter plays the conscientious Marine with the pregnant wife but his strained relationship with his mother-in-law goes unmentioned in the movie. (He does, however, get a bare-chest scene.) The second half of the movie shifts from homefront scenes in California to battle scenes in the Pacific. These scenes are done in a perfunctory style -- laced with occasional footage from actual World War II photographers -- and the actors' identities sometimes blur in those similar uniforms and under those metallic helmets. The result of all this is a glossy, mildly entertaining, but unmemorable movie which never rises above the "B" level of its "B" level performers. (Acting honors, such as they are, go to Sheree North as a practical-minded WAC.)