Battle Hymn (1957)

A remorseful bomber pilot-turned-minister rejoins for the Korean War.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Charles Grayson, Vincent B. Evans

Stars:

Rock Hudson, Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rock Hudson	...	Colonel Dean E. Hess
Anna Kashfi	...	En Soon Yang
Dan Duryea	...	Sergeant Herman
Don DeFore	...	Captain Dan Skidmore
Martha Hyer	...	Mary Hess
Jock Mahoney	...	Major Frank Moore
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Mess Sergeant (as Alan Hale)
James Edwards	...	Lieutenant Maples
Carl Benton Reid	...	Deacon Edwards
Richard Loo	...	General Kim (scenes deleted)
Philip Ahn	...	Lu Ahn - Old Man
Bartlett Robinson	...	General Timberidge
Simon Scott	...	Lieutenant Hollis
Teru Shimada	...	Korean Official
Carleton Young	...	Major Harrison

Storyline

Dean Hess, who entered the ministry to atone for bombing a German orphanage, decides he's a failure at preaching. Rejoined to train pilots early in the Korean War, he finds Korean orphans raiding the airbase garbage. With a pretty Korean teacher, he sets up an orphanage for them and others. But he finds that to protect his charges, he has to kill.

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Plot Keywords:

orphanage | korean war | bomber | orphan | year 1950 | 

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Taglines:

The true story of Col. Dean Hess, clergyman turned fighter pilot!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean

Release Date:

14 February 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

By Faith I Fly

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The gold flying helmet with the United Nations emblem that Rock Hudson wears was Dean Hess' actual helmet. It was a Navy-issue helmet that Hess scrounged from a Navy pilot who crash-landed at their airfield in Korea (since the Navy pilot was going to be issued a new helmet as a result of the crash-landing). The helmet is now on display at the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH.

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Goofs

When Skidmore is wounded and coming back to land, the exterior shots show the canopy open, but in the closeups of Don DeFore (Skidmore) the canopy is closed.

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Quotes

Capt. Dan Skidmore: I thought I knew how to live. I don't. Now I don't know how to die.

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Connections

Featured in Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger (2010)

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Soundtracks

Wait for the Wagon
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Jock Mahoney and soldiers during Thanksgiving celebration.

User Reviews

MisInformation

I am sick and tired of the misinformation that is constantly related about Colonel Hess. He was NOT a fighter pilot turned minister, it was the other way around. He was an ordained minister before joining the U S Army Air Force, as it was called in World War Two. Although he could have been a Chaplain, he did not feel that he could bless others for doing something he wasn't willing to do. If he had conflicts on the set of the movie, it was because of the way the Director wanted to portray him, not because he wanted to appear "Holier Than Thou". Anyone who wants the facts should read the book "Battle Hymn". It is out of print, but should be available through Amazon or Alibris. The orphanage bombing incident did take place. It happened because a bomb hung up on his P-47 (NOT a P-51 as shown in the movie) it was not a deliberate act. The incident did haunt him the rest of his life, But he saved many more orphans than were killed. "Operation Kiddy Car" was a real happening. As a final note, the money Hess received for the Screen Rights to his book, were given to the Korean Orphanage to repair its roof