In Love and War (1958)

In 1944, the family lives of three San Francisco Marines are affected by their personal experiences on the front lines in the Pacific and vice-versa.

Director:

Philip Dunne

Writers:

Edward Anhalt (screenplay by), Anton Myrer (based on a novel by)

Stars:

Robert Wagner, Dana Wynter, Jeffrey Hunter

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview:
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

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:

marines | hawaiian | nurse | socialite | greek american | 

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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:

The Big War

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,590,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Wald Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (DeLuxe) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Wagner, Jeffery Hunter and Hope Lange also co-stared in The True Story of Jesse James.

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Goofs

In this story set in WW2 the women all wear hairstyles of the 1950s, and all their clothes are strictly 1958 styles.

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Quotes

Sue Trumbell: I'm a tramp. I'm a rich tramp like my mother.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Give Me the Simple Life
(uncredited)
Music by Rube Bloom
Played in the hotel lobby

User Reviews

A Turgid Platform for Younger Actors

The story follows three marines, and their girls, from home leave to combat in the Pacific.

The movie's very much a mixed package. With a couple exceptions, war films of the 1950's shied away from combat realism, whose trauma might easily overwhelm audiences. The second half of this war film does a pretty good job portraying the so-called fog of war, along with perfectly natural emotional and physical reactions to combat death. These scenes are done on exterior sets and are uglified to maximal extent. Such grim scenes are then intercut with sunny scenes in San Francisco, done in glowing candy box colors. The resulting contrast is appropriately jolting, to say the least, and leaves no doubt that between "love" and "war", which is to be preferred.

The trouble lies with a swollen narrative that is too conventional in the "Love" part. It also shows what happens when a big studio, TCF, decides to promote a younger cast into possible stardom. Everybody—about the top seven in the cast list—gets cameo screen time, in the film's first half, especially. This draws out the runtime, and coupled with a conventional script, tends to drag out the first part, long after we've gotten the idea. The actors perform well enough, though O'Neill's (Wagner) drunken binge is over the top, maybe the only time in the actor's generally restrained career. Note, in passing, the post-war symbolism of pairing Newcombe (Dillman) with Kalai (Nuyen).

All in all, the movie's a good look at how Hollywood shaped WWII to commercial needs of the big screen. But is otherwise forgettable.