BY DOUG OSWALD
Rock
Hudson is a former World War II fighter pilot struggling with a crisis of
conscious and faith in “Battle Hymn,†released on Blu-ray for the first time by
Kino Lorber. Hudson is Lieutenant Colonel Dean Hess, a minister in a small town
in Ohio haunted by his accidental bombing of an orphanage in Germany before the
end of the war which killed dozens of children. He resigns as the church minister
and returns to active duty at the start of the Korean War in 1950 as commander
of a squadron training Korean pilots. There he believes he’ll find meaning in
what he knows best, flying military aircraft, and perhaps make amends for the death
of innocent children which has haunted him for the past five years. Deacon
Edwards (Carl Benton Reid) tries to convince him he’s needed at the church. His
wife, Mary (Martha Hyer) is not happy, but he assures her he’s only training
Korean pilots, not fighting in the war.
Colonel
Hess meets the members of his squadron and we get to meet familiar faces from
movies and television starting with his cigar chomping First Sergeant, Master Sergeant
Herman (Dan Duryea), who’s able to scrounge up anything they need to provide
them with all the amenities starting with a road grater to prepare the old
runway for the ten P-51 fighter planes about to arrive. Other members of the
squadron include his WWII wing man, Captain Dan Skidmore (Dan DeFore), Major
Frank Moore (Jock Mahoney who is probably best remembered as Tarzan in two
films in the 1960s), Lieutenant Maples (James Edwards who may be most familiar to
readers as General Patton’s military aid, Sergeant William George Meeks, in
“Pattonâ€) in the first portrayal in a movie of an African-American fighter
pilot, Major Chong (James Hong as the leader of the Republic of Korea pilots
and uncredited in the movie) and the Mess Sergeant played by Alan Hale Jr. (The
Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island†in the 1960s).
While
getting the squadron ready, Hess comes across a group of orphans being cared
for by En Soon Yang (Anna Kashfi) in a bombed out building. Hess convinces Soon
to continue to care for the orphans with the promise he and his men will help
fix up the place and provide the with food and supplies. Hess also enlists the
help of Lu Ahn (Philip Ahn), an old man on his way to the shop where he sells statues
he creates. En Soon learns Hess is married and it’s clear she has feelings for
him. The large number of orphans swell as the squadron moves from training to
being drawn into the fight as the North Koreans advance on both the runway and
the orphanage. This movie is about redemption and fighting personal demons.
Hess deals with loss and is able to comfort the dying as well as relate to a
pilot who accidently kills innocent people on the ground during a fire fight
with the North Koreans. The redemption for everyone involved is the evacuation
of over 400 orphans and refugees to a safe location. This real life event is
known as Operation Kiddy Car when the United States Air Force provided airlift
for the orphans to an island of the South Korean coast. In real life there is
some controversy regarding just how much involvement Dean Hess had in this
airlift, but it makes for a great story.
The
movie was filmed with the cooperation of the United States Air Force with the
use of the Texas Air National Guard’s P-51s for the flying sequences. It was
shot on an Arizona Air National Guard base and in Hollywood with terrific
aerial footage and close ups of the actors in sound stage cockpits. Today all
of this would be recreated using CGI and be blended more realistically. Shot in
CinemaScope, the movie makes great use of the wide screen. The orphans in the
movie are the actual orphans from Operation Kiddy Car brought to the United
States to play the orphans in the movie.
Based
on the bestseller by Dean Hess, the movie was directed by Douglas Sirk with a
screenplay by Charles Grayson and Vincent Evans. Sirk was a director who
retired from Hollywood features in 1959 at the top of his game, having directed
many movies now considered classics. Born in Germany, he became a popular director
in the 1930s until he was forced to leave Germany in 1937 because his wife was
Jewish. They came to America in 1941 and Sirk’s first movie for Hollywood was
the anti-Nazi propaganda thriller, “Hitler’s Madman,†in 1943. However, he
really came into his own in the 1950s with his high melodrama look at American
life which he made for Universal, often collaborating with Rock Hudson and
others behind the scenes. Some critics refer to his work high gloss soap
operas, but I think they are much more than that. My favorite Sirk film is “The
Tarnished Angels†from 1957, filmed in black & white and CinemaScope (and
also available from Kino Lorber). All Sirk’s movies are entertaining and range
from westerns to high drama, thrillers and comedy. He even dipped his toes into
musical territory and swashbucklers. He and his wife moved to Switzerland in
1959 where he remained until his death in 1987.
Hudson
is believable in his portrayal of a man torn in his attempts to make amends for
a terrible accident of war. He was good in generally every movie he appeared in
whether it be romantic comedy, heavy drama or military adventure. Hudson served
in the Navy during WWII as an aircraft mechanic and he carries the role of
military leader very well indeed. Dan Duryea nearly steals every scene he’s in
as the cigar chomping sergeant and scrounger in a departure from his many tough
guy roles. Dan DeFore rounds out the three main military members of the
squadron as Skidmore, Hess’ former WWII wingman. The most interesting member of
the cast is Anna Kashfi as the female lead, En Soon Yang. She had parts in this
and three other movies between 1956 and 1959, but is probably best known as
Marlon Brando’s first wife and the mother of their son Christian. She’s good in
what would have ordinarily been the romantic lead, but Hess was a married man
and this was the 1950s. Interestingly, the great James Hong is uncredited in a
substantial supporting role as the commander of the Korean pilots. Oddly, character
actor Philip Ahn has a substantial supporting role as Lu Ahn, Soon’s assistant
at the orphanage, but gets credited as Old Man.
Released
in February 1957, “Battle Hymn†is a rare example of a Korean War era movie. The
movie clocks in at 108 minutes and is very entertaining. I first discovered
“Battle Hymn†while visiting the United States Air Force Museum at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio where there was an exhibit on Colonel Dean
Hess and Operation Kiddy Car. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is an improvement over
the previous DVD releases in both picture quality and sound. Extras include an informative
audio commentary by Nick Pinkerton which is filled with interesting anecdotes
about the real life Dean Hess and trailers for this and other Kino Lorber
releases. Highly recommended for fans of Rock Hudson, Douglas Sirk and military
movies.
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