This Douglas Sirk helmed Christian humanist war drama comes courtesy the biography of Col. Dean Hess (Rock Hudson), WWII fighter-pilot turned minister who rejoins during the Korean War to find some sense and faith in his grief over his accidental bombing of an orphanage. It turns out that South Korea becomes the perfect place for him to do it, as hundreds of newly parentless children are without home nor a place to go. First he collects them all in an orphanage run by En Soon Yang (Anna Kashfi), but as territory is lost, he finds himself in with the need to find a haven for 400 children. Luckily, Yang is from an island untouched by the war; unfortunately, transport to that island is rapidly disappearing as the United States forces have to cut and run, leaving little behind them to be used by the North Koreans.
Meanwhile, Hess is also right back in the saddle of the war machine, and has to confront his own religion with the needs of war. This happens as these new men, untrained, experience the same sense of guilt and loss that accompanies killing of other people for their country. It is only when one of his own men dies that Hess begins to understand that he is put there more for the comfort and salvation of the dying than for the destruction of other people, and his focus on saving the children redeems him from the atrocities of war.
Christianity is layered throughout, from the first scene (a helmet under a religious icon stained glass window) through most of the dialog, but all of it stays focused on the charitable, giving aspects of Christianity and the crisis of faith one can have when confronted with evil and desperation. The movie never strays far from that message and is surprisingly realistic for the times about the Korean War. Whereas we're not confronted with the dirty realism that became familiar in films of the Vietnam era and later, nevertheless Sirk doesn't shy away from showing destruction in violence, and quite purposefully lingers on the corpses of innocents. However, the movie is from an earlier era of classic Hollywood style film-making, and a rather sentimental score underlines the tone of the movie, trying to keep morality high even in the showing of violence.
A stand-out scene involves two men taking off during a heavy rainstorm, the planes apt to slip in the mud at any moment. It is one of the finer moments of tension in the movie.
Overall, this movie is very good at winning the audience over and keeping a positive, faithful message while confronting the difficulties of war. Modern audiences are used to things being darker, grittier, and bloodier, and such heartfelt and even religious messages can turn many a cynical person off, but nevertheless the movie is well-produced and the message is strong.
--PolarisDiB
Meanwhile, Hess is also right back in the saddle of the war machine, and has to confront his own religion with the needs of war. This happens as these new men, untrained, experience the same sense of guilt and loss that accompanies killing of other people for their country. It is only when one of his own men dies that Hess begins to understand that he is put there more for the comfort and salvation of the dying than for the destruction of other people, and his focus on saving the children redeems him from the atrocities of war.
Christianity is layered throughout, from the first scene (a helmet under a religious icon stained glass window) through most of the dialog, but all of it stays focused on the charitable, giving aspects of Christianity and the crisis of faith one can have when confronted with evil and desperation. The movie never strays far from that message and is surprisingly realistic for the times about the Korean War. Whereas we're not confronted with the dirty realism that became familiar in films of the Vietnam era and later, nevertheless Sirk doesn't shy away from showing destruction in violence, and quite purposefully lingers on the corpses of innocents. However, the movie is from an earlier era of classic Hollywood style film-making, and a rather sentimental score underlines the tone of the movie, trying to keep morality high even in the showing of violence.
A stand-out scene involves two men taking off during a heavy rainstorm, the planes apt to slip in the mud at any moment. It is one of the finer moments of tension in the movie.
Overall, this movie is very good at winning the audience over and keeping a positive, faithful message while confronting the difficulties of war. Modern audiences are used to things being darker, grittier, and bloodier, and such heartfelt and even religious messages can turn many a cynical person off, but nevertheless the movie is well-produced and the message is strong.
--PolarisDiB