The Hell with Heroes (1968)

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Harold Livingston (screenplay)
Harold Livingston (story)

Release Date:

28 August 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

They all had something to sell...courage...sex...corruption!

Plot:

In 1946 North Africa, two former US Air Force pilots are forced to work for an international smuggler to get money needed for their return to civilian life after fighting in World War II. |

Plot Keywords:

Smuggler | Pilot | Ambition | United States Army | Narcotics

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Brynie MacKay
Claudia Cardinale	...	Elena
Harry Guardino	...	Lee Harris
Kevin McCarthy	...	Col. Wilson
Pete Duel	...	Mike Brewer
William Marshall	...	Al Poland
Don Knight	...	Pepper
Michael Shillo	...	Pol Guilbert
Robert Yuro	...	Willoughby
Lew Brown	...	Sgt. Shaeffer
Wilhelm von Homburg	...	Hans
Tanya Lemani	...	Jamila
Mae Mercer	...	Chanteuse
Émile Genest	...	Insp. Bouchard
Louis De Farra	...	Pierre

Runtime:

102 min | USA:95 min (censored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Cast stronger than vehicle in this visually rich but morally truncated adventure.

Had it been informed by the sensibilities prevailing but a few years after its release, The Hell With Heroes might have become a cult classic: two discarded war heroes, cynical pilot-of-fortune Taylor and his appealingly (and handsomely) ingenuous sidekick Deuel, adventuring in an Africa in its last throes of anti-colonialist turmoil, fall victims to a crook and his moll ... it reeks of existential angst while providing plenty of Cardinale's cleavage (with stuff blowing up in the background). But the film neatly sidesteps the paradoxes it presents -- whose land is this, and who are the real savages here? (Hint: they wear wrist watches and sunburn easily). Deuel's performance has satisfying depth, and his technique, considerable subtlety; despite the role's stereotypical attributes (friendly, uncomplicated kid, worships older, cynical Alpha Male), his is the only character whom we suspect of thoughts and feelings to which we are not explicitly privy. Worth watching if only to ponder how Deuel might further have developed his craft had he not succumbed to depression over the slick commercial path onto which his career was even then being steered. Taylor is reliably fun to watch, Cardinale is real eye-candy, and Guardino and McCarthy deliver as always ... the action and scenery aren't half bad, either. As a plus, it's a decent family film (not pre-schoolers, of course), with a moral spin about what evil does to those who tolerate it and the usual pre-ratings absence of frontal nudity, baroque sexuality, and self-medication with heroin. Good beat, you can dance to it -- I give it an 85.