To Hell and Back (1955) User Reviews

The true story of an outstanding soldier...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 3 December 2002]

Audie Murphy's screen autobiography is a much better film than it has any right to be... The Army provides a Depression-era kid from East Texas with a strong family structure that he has never really experienced...

In 1937, a young Audie Murphy (played by Gordon Gebert as a boy, by Murphy himself later) is forced to become the head of a family with an ailing mother and an absent father... He drops out of grade school and goes to work full time to provide for his younger siblings until, at roughly the same time, World War II starts and his mother dies...

By enlisting in, Murphy can provide more money for his brothers, but neither the Navy nor the Marines were interested in the small guy...

In the Army, Murphy is promoted to Corporal on the troop ship carrying him overseas where he joins the 3rd Infantry Division, B Company, 15th Regiment... It soon becomes apparent that the likable 'baby face kid,' hardly old enough to shave, has a genuine aptitude for soldiering...

After North Africa, his outfit takes part in the invasions of Sicily, Anzio and Southern France... In every engagement, Murphy steps up and excels as a soldier... At the same time, he becomes friends with Brandon (Charles Drake), Johnson (Marshall Thompson), and Kerrigan (Jack Kelly). He sees himself as part of a unit, and everything that he does is meant to advance the unit, not the individual... Murphy liked to work alone, putting only himself at risk...

The one long scene that moves away from the Military—an interlude in an Italian town where he meets Maria (Susan Kohner) and her family, is embarrassingly bad... As long as the focus stays on the platoon's activities on the battlefield, the film is in fine shape... Director Jesse Hibbs makes the cold mud and rain of the Italian campaign believably real, especially a series of scenes revolving around a farmhouse and a burning tank...

One might assume that Murphy's indomitable courage would be described as Rambo—like heroics, but in comparing the film with the official combat reports, it is clear that Murphy became an astounding soldier by skill, training, intelligence, and luck... He was an equal opportunity soldier, doing everything the front line combatant is required to do in order to take and hold ground through Sicily, Italy, France, and into Germany...

All of the events recounted in the film take place before Murphy was 19 years old... In that brief military career, Audie L. Murphy becomes one of the best fighting combat soldiers of the last century... He never really seemed to care about the medals or glory, just the men of his unit and friends who fall down in the European Theater of Operations...

Murphy died tragically on May 28, 1971, when the private plane in which he was a passenger crashed into a mountain near Roanoke, Virginia... He was 46.

His last film role was earlier that year, playing Jesse James in 'A Time for Dying.'

AUDIE MURPHY: the Man, the Legend, the Hollywood Star

[starracer007 · 8/10 · 25 November 2005]

Let's face it; in a world of computers and egotists so far absent of true human contact and chivalry, Audie Murphy will forever shine brightly and ever brighter as a true man. He is perhaps the last real genuine American hero, as we slip into a vortex world of lawyers, statistics, and scams.

1.) At the age of 12, he chose to be a man by taking over his absentee father's role in his family; he literally fed his dirt poor family by putting meat on the table with a keen eye and a broken down .22 rifle. Working two jobs at this age, he still wrote cursively w/ excellent spelling and diction when he had to quit his education. This is something half of the high schoolers of today can't do as they "rap" themselves in hedonistic pursuits of clothes, breeding without responsibility, drugs, cell phones, and a disregard for another person's respect and rights.

2.) After multiple attempts to join our country's armed forces, he became the most highly decorated soldier in our nation's history, with countless feats of heroism (please see WWW.AUDIEMURPHY.COM.).

3.) He achieved Hollywood star status with his tough yet tender persona.

In a current world of 50 cents, we can look back to a time when a man was truly a man, and that man was the United States Medal of Honor Winner: AUDIE MURPHY.

A solid 1950's style WW2 movie.

[Scurfield · 7/10 · 26 January 1999]

I watched this movie because I was interested in seeing the story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. The fact that this movie is based on Audie Murphy's autobiography, and that he stars as himself in the film, added to my interest. I didn't have high pre-expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised while watching this enjoyable film. To Hell and Back is a solid 1950's style WW2 movie, which focuses on the camaraderie of the foot soldier. It is neither pro nor anti-war, as it has a high body, but shows little of the bloodshed or true horror of war.

Liked it should know Audie's History first

[bozon · 28 July 2004]

I liked this movie not so much because it is a great movie ( it is an average war movie of this era) but because it made me reflect about reality versus perception and how you can be very wrong about something by taking it at face value. Let me explain. My perception, If I had to pick a platoon for battle I would never pick Audie Murphy. At 5'5", maybe 110 lbs, a high tinny voice, and hyper-kinetic motion, he seems more like someone that would get killed early and easily, or worse get you killed. The reality, he was the man you wanted in your platoon when the battle started. He was made of heroic stuff. He wasn't a tough talking braggart. He was just a soldier that would do anything to save his brothers and get home alive. He of course isn't the only example of this. He just got his own movie. It was a good thing that he was an actor because John Wayne would have played his part if he hadn't been, which would have been a real shame because you would have lost the true meaning behind the story. Hollywood prefers style over substance. It would have been a true

disservice to all of the short, underweight chirpy men in the world.

Think about Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, who would you want in your platoon. John Wayne is your probable choice. Now compare Jimmy Stewart's military career with John Wayne's. John Wayne avoided WWII instead using it to advance his career when many of his contemporaries went to war. Jimmy Stewart on the other hand joined the Air Force 9 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had to force the Air Force to let him in because he was under weight. He was a bomber pilot that flew 20 missions. "His wartime decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, four Air Medals, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm." Now who do you want on your side. I'll take the battle hardened, frail looking, stuttering veteran over the tough talking, strapping, strutting Hollywood pretender any day.

So when I watch the movie I think about the reality of Audie Murphy. Which leaves me with the feeling that if you put your heart into it you can do anything. So when you watch the movie think about the reality. You have a 5'5" war hero that actually became a Hollywood action hero which is improbable in itself.

Handsomely mounted WW2 biopic

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 19 October 2017]

TO HELL AND BACK is a WW2 movie of the 1950s with a unique hook: it tells the true story of the army career of western actor Audie Murphy, with Murphy playing himself, no less. I can't think of another film quite like it, and if the execution is purely standard, then that doesn't matter too much. This all-colour production is handsomely mounted and features a big supporting cast studded with familiar faces including Marshall Thompson and David Janssen. There's a little of the old propaganda about it, but the battle sequences are well staged and the best thing is just how much ground this covers, never slowing down for an instant.

A classic and unique movie

[valf · 10/10 · 14 May 2006]

To Hell And Back rates as one of the truly classic and unique movies of our time. To have Audie Murphy himself have to remember and "relive" his war experiences, having been removed from them for only ten years, is unprecedented.The movie is the forerunner of such movies as We Were Soldiers Once...and Black Hawk Down. Although Col. Tom Moore was only an on scene adviser he also relived some of the scenes(his own admission) that were depicted in "..Soldiers..." Black Hawk Down depicted actual footage of the battle. The historical and personal accuracy of these movies is tremendous. Audie, however paid a bitter price. His war experiences tormented him the rest of his life with constant insomnia, depression and anxiety. I was lucky enough to meet him at Suffolk Downs Race Track in 1959 or 1960. I always wondered what became of his siblings and sister. Audie Murphy is a true hero of the twentieth century. Everyone should take note of what true character, integrity and loyalty Audie gave us. Thank you Audie.

Little Texas

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 13 July 2007]

During the first World War the American hero out of that conflict, Alvin C. York of Tennessee, had to wait until the outbreak of the second World War for his biographical film to be made. World War II's equivalent from East Texas only waited ten years and had the singular honor of starring in the film of his own life.

Good thing Audie Murphy became a Hollywood star because he got to both write his own story and have Universal Studios produce the film as to his specifications. To Hell and Back is his story, but it's also the story of the men who served with him, those who came back from hell and those who remained.

What I liked best about To Hell and Back was the camaraderie and spirit and the relationships between Murphy and the men of his outfit. The story starts in North Africa where his company arrives too late for the fighting there, but just in time to be part of the offensive to take Sicily. Then it's Salerno, up the western Italian coast and into France with the landings in Southern France until Germany. At each stop Murphy grows in admiration and respect from those over and around him. Such players as Jack Kelly, Paul Picerni, Marshall Thompson and Charles Drake support Murphy very well.

To Hell and Back also shows what a roll of the dice combat is. It could just as easily been Murphy as any of the cast that is killed and doesn't make it to the end of the film. Staying alive is a singular accomplishment. All of these guys are heroes. A lot of the fame and glory Murphy won was due to luck and opportunity and he would have been the first to admit it.

When do you get a film with 100% perfect casting for the lead? you get it in To Hell and Back with Audie Murphy playing the man his comrades called Little Texas. A nice film about the greatest soldier of the greatest generation.

An incredible story

[elrich-2 · 10/10 · 30 August 2000]

It's a shame that more people haven't seen this movie in recent years. As much as Saving Private Ryan introduced a new generation to horrors and heroism of World War II, "To Hell and Back" introduces you to one of the men who lived through it. It doesn't attempt to glorify the War, it simply relates what happened to America's most decorated soldier based on his own story and actually staring him. While it's amazing that the baby faced Murphy still looks young enough in 1955 for the story to work 15 years after the fact, the truly amazing thing is that from most accounts, Murphy understates his own role in many of the events described in the movie. The final war scene for instance shows him holding off an entire German regiment using artilery and the machine gun of a burning tank. The fact is that he held that ground alone for well over an hour before the germans finally gave up. All the while the tank was burning and could have exploded at any time. Like many great soldiers, however, he had trouble adjusting to life after the war even with a semi-successful acting career aided by James Cagney after the war. Still, it's men like this, who risked and often gave their lives on the fields of Europe and Africa and in the waters and islands of the pacific, that we have to thank for the Freedoms we enjoy in the United States today. Too often we forget this.

Decent and interesting biography about Audie Murphy who enlists Army where makes a brilliant career

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 31 January 2017]

This is the thrilling and exciting true-life story of America's most decorated . The authentic WWII story of Audie Murphy , the most decorated soldier in U.S . history . Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film from his up-bringing as the son of Texas sharecroppers , as his mother dies and he remains orphan and caring his kiddies brothers . He , then , applied for service with the Navy , the Marines and the Army he was turned down by all three branches . However , when he joined his combat unit, one of his superiors considered transferring him out of the company for being unfit for combat . As Audie wages war in Casablanca , Tunez ; he and his detachment (formed by Marshall Thompson , Charles Drake , Jack Kelly , among others) go to Sicily , Palermo until Messina . Later on , they land at Salerno , Naples , Anzio and MountCassino . After that , Murphy and his III Infantry Division formed by valiant ¨Dogfaces¨ (it was a term used during World War II to describe US Army combat infantrymen) disembark in France where take place other bloody battles . As Audie takes on hundreds of enemy soldiers with a machine gun mounted on a tank and he fought in seven major campaigns during World War II .

Acceptable picture based on actual events about about Audie Murphy who plays himself following his Army career in WWII . Murphy won more tan 20 medals , being the most decorated American soldier , including the Congressional Medal of Honor and he was also awarded five decorations by France and Belgium . Features impressive as well as realistic battle scenes punctuated with great heroics sequences . This rendition of Murphy autobiography was professionally directed by Jesse Hibbs and it was a box-office hit for Universal Pictures and its record was apparently not broken until Jaws (1975). Hibbs was an American director of second features , primarily westerns , at Universal in the 1950's . Being especially known for TV series as ¨Perry Mason¨ (1957) , ¨Gunsmoke¨ , ¨Laramie¨ and ¨F.B.I.¨ (1965) as well as Westerns and Thrillers . He directed various Audie Murphy vehicles such as : this ¨To hell and Back¨ (1955) , ¨World in My Corner¨ (1956) , ¨Ride a Crooked Trail¨ (1958) and ¨Medal of Honor¨ .

Based on facts , these are the following ones : The film describes especially the Italian campaign , when Eisenhower and the Allied command is convinced by Winston Chuchill and his General Brook to carry out the Italian invasion . Then , there takes place the ¨Husky Operation¨ (July , 1943) , but it didn't coordinate Montgomery's 8ª Army and Clark's 5ª Army against German General FeldMarschall, Albert Kesselring , and it resulted in a disaster . Kesselring designs the impregnable ¨Gustav line¨ in South Rome and the main bastion : Montecassino . Then , there happens the famous disaster of Anzio and Nettuno under command of General John Lucas . The Allied army formed by 28 Divisions have a hard and complex mission to their destination .

"To Hell and Back" one of the best war movies ever made !

[jcwave · 10/10 · 11 July 2004]

In my opinion 'To Hell and Back' is one of the best war movie ever made, (right next to 'Saving Private Ryan') because it was about a true story of a kid from Texas with a run-a-way Father and a dead Mother, wanted to do something for the war effort but was turned down by every other service except the Army, and the Army had second thoughts. What makes this movie very special is the fact that the most ever to date decorated US soldier (two dozen of the highest medals) and a Congressional Medal of Honor receiver, not only lived through the war, but in fact played himself ! after being talked into it, seems he didn't want to play himself, he thought it would degrade the Medal of Honor.

I watched a run of this movie on the History Channel, it was a show called, is it 'History or Hollywood' where by at the end of the show 3 Historians discuss a movie for Historic correctness, every one said if anything this movie was under stated of what Audie Murphy truly did in Europe during WWII, one said it was down played because of Audie Murphy himself, because his Army recorded as witness by others has him doing lots more, but that was the personality of Audie Murphy, imagine watching a movie were the battle's and the deeds are true, they called out a seen where Audie's best friend gets shot, he really did go ballistic charging at the German machine gun nest that killed him, picks up a German Machine gun then proceeds to take out 2 or 3 more gun sites, by using the German gun it didn't give a warning to the Germans, he saved countless American lives coming up that mountain, a brilliant movie.

My only wish is for this movie to come out on DVD, please release 'To Hell and Back' on DVD !

A story that really deserved a better movie

[Euromutt · 6/10 · 19 May 2006]

"To Hell And Back" is based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of the second world war, with Murphy playing himself. The film begins by establishing Murphy's humble beginnings as the eldest of several children abandoned by their father in rural north-eastern Texas. After their mother dies, Audie's siblings are put into an orphanage, and he joins the armed forces. After being turned down by the Marine Corps and the Navy, he joins the Army and soon arrives up in North Africa as a replacement with B (Baker) Company, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. (Given how susceptible Murphy is to sea-sickness, it was probably for the best that the more nautical services rejected him.) He is too late to see action in Africa, but he gets plenty as the division proceeds to fight its way through Sicily, the Salerno and Anzio bridgeheads in Sicily, lands in southern France and fights its way up to the German border. Along the way, Murphy rises through the ranks from private to lieutenant and is leading B Company before his military career is cut short by a piece of shrapnel just a few months before VE-Day. A number of episodes also touch on his background, such as when discovers that one of his squadmates abandoned his wife and child, much like Murphy's dad, and when he meets an Italian family where the father similarly disappeared.

It's a spectacular story (I should note I read the book before seeing the movie), and the film's main failing is that it really doesn't do the story justice. The combat scenes are too few and too sparse, given all Murphy went through, but the real problem is that Universal was too stingy with funds for extras and locations. The action takes place in the Mediterranean and France, in a variety of terrain and seasons, but none of the locations look like Europe; there's not a paved road, village or church steeple in sight, and the vegetation screams western United States. I would guess that the combat sequences were all filmed on the training grounds of the Fort Lewis Military Reservation (just up the road from where I live in Washington state) in the space of a couple of weeks in late spring/early summer. All the sequences of naval vessels, amphibious landings and aircraft are all plainly stock footage. Naples looks suspiciously like a "generic southern European town" set on a Hollywood backlot, and there are too few people on the street for such a major city. Similarly, the battle scenes seem to have way too few people in them, causing the front line to look about 30 meters long. ("The Big Red One" had similar problems, being mostly shot in Israel, though that location at least looks Mediterranean.) Furthermore, the film suffers from being too sanitized, and I don't just mean the language. Murphy and his fellow "dogfaces" look freshly shaved and showered at all times, with the creases still visible in their pants. Any mud on their clothing looks like the costume department painted it on. Rather than a harrowing ordeal, "To Hell And Back" feels like a day trip to the nearest National Park, with the enemy presenting only a minor and brief annoyance. Bill Mauldin's "Willie and Joe" cartoons did an infinitely better job of conveying the miserable conditions under which the infantryman did his job.

"To Hell And Back" is a perfectly adequate 1950s war movie, but it falls far short of the lofty goal it sets itself.

The hell with Hollywood, back to Murphy!

[gkhege · 10/10 · 28 June 2019]

I served in Vietnam with a kid from Harrah Oklahoma. Come to find out, his Dad was Harry Knapp,a film editor and close friend of Murphy. Many years later I would meet Harry Knapp and discuss Murphy. He told me that the movie failed to project the real humble kid from Texas. He also stated that Murphy had told him on many occasions the demons of war never left him. Audie Murphy died in a plane crash jus a couple of hours from my home. Very few people visit the site and most don't even know it exist. My Dad served in the same division as Murphy and though they never met... My late father held him in the highest regard. Every American should watch this film.

The Life, The Times, & The Heroism Of Audie Murphy

[strong-122-478885 · 6/10 · 19 July 2014]

If you can accept a 30 year-old Audie Murphy playing himself at 18 in this 1955, WW2, Bio-film, then I'm sure you won't be at all disappointed by To Hell & Back.

As far as war pictures go, To Hell & Back's story is a fairly interesting one. This film's a pretty accurate tale covering Murphy's 3-year military career where, through the merits of bravery, he eventually became one of the most highly decorated American soldiers to ever serve in the 2nd World War.

In 1945 Murphy was ceremoniously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

To Hell & Back is basically a wartime "buddy" picture of loyalty and heroism. It proudly boasts of the glory of American patriotism (right to its very core).

*Notes of interest about Audie Murphy* -

(1) Following his service in the war, Murphy successfully pursued an acting career which lasted for 20 years (from 1948-1969). In that period of time Murphy appeared in 40 pictures, all of which were either Westerns or War pictures.

(2) Murphy, who suffered from post-traumatic stress following his military service, always slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow.

(3) In 1971, Murphy (45 at the time) was tragically killed when the private plane he was travelling in crashed (due to poor visibility) into Brush Mountain in Virginia.

Hollywoodized Version of an Incredible Story.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 8 November 2008]

In the early 50s, Audie Murphy and his ghost writer published a book of Murphy's unbelievable exploits in Italy, France, and Germany during World War II. Murphy, still in his teens, won about every decoration for valor that the human mind can dream up -- and he earned them too. The experience wrecked him. He made movies later in his life, always boyish looking and modest sounding. But he suffered from PTSD. He was tormented by nightmares of firing an M-1 at attacking Germans and having his rifle fall apart, piece by piece. He slept with a Colt pistol under his pillow and attacked another man with a baseball bat. His many medals were stashed in disarray in a drawer. He died in a plane crash.

Hollywood has taken this man's remarkable story, lifting pieces of it from his memoirs, left out the most poignant passages and twisted Murphy's remaining heroics into pablum. An example of what I mean. In the book, written in the present tense, Murphy describes his first encounter with the enemy and sees one of his targets fall. "Now I have killed," he writes, and goes on to explain his emotions.

No room for any such ruminations in the movie. We see Murphy rejected by the other services for being too young or too short. In the Third Infantry Division he is ridiculed in a good-natured way by the usual stereotypes from other war movies -- the guy who brags about his sexual exploits, the stoic Indian, the ambitious Pole, the reckless good friend. The musical score suits the film: a high school marching band plays "On Wisconsin" or something.

Murphy's achievements provide a peg to hang a formulaic war movie on. No cliché is avoided. On leave at last with his fellow troopers in Rome, they all head off to get drunk and get laid, leaving the bashful hero behind. The shy Murphy winds up spending the night with an accommodating young woman while the others are either satisfied with finding someone to talk to or find themselves in some other sort of dead end. The next morning all the men brag about their conquests while the reticent Murphy says nothing about his night of romance.

The battle scenes are pretty good, though again they fit the Hollywood mold. The writers even are forced -- get this -- they are forced to downplay or skip over Murphy's boldest actions -- because they are UNBELIEVABLE. The guy's military achievements are so extravagant that the writers must have figured no one would believe them, although to be sure, what's left in is heroic enough.

It isn't a bad movie, or rather it wouldn't be if it were fictional from beginning to end. It would just be a standard genre effort from the 1950s, inferior to, say, "Battleground" or "The Story of G. I. Joe." But it pretends to be a true story and it is simply not.

What a tragic waste -- of the rest of what life remained to Murphy, and of an historically accurate narrative that was never told.

A good soldier's story, played by "THE REAL McCOY"

[Pepito-5 · 4 June 1999]

I've always Liked watching Audie Murphy's movies since I was a child. I guess it also had to do with the fact that he had that baby face. Being a combat wounded Viet Nam vet, I can relate to his ordeal during and after the war. This man was a caring man who thought of others. Like many other "Medal of Honor" winners; he like the others are not the movie RAMBO hero. They Are "THE REAL McCOYS" It's ironic, though. His last movie in 1971 was called "A time for dying"[A Jesse James movie.] In that same year he died in a small plane crash. A friend of his had once said," all those Germans could not kill him,yet a plane crash near home took his life." My last words are, "May he be with the Lord."

"Private Murphy Reporting for Duty!!"

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 4 December 2023]

When Audie Murphy emerged from the Second World World as the most decorated soldier in American military history (having personally killed about 240 enemy soldiers) it was a logical step that such a good-looking kid was promptly snapped up by Hollywood.

After so many roles in a setson it comes as something of a surprise to finally see him in combat gear in this glossy screen version in Technicolor and CinemaScope of his ghostwritten memoirs which probably boasts a higher death rate than all his westerns put together.

Director Jess Hibbs later recalled that the camera would occasionally a catch strange look in his eyes and that take would have to be scrapped. The damage Murphy suffered (which followed him long into civilian life) is never really apparent in the film however and he seems to take it all in his stride.

A Great Film about a Great Man!!!

[azcowboysingr · 10/10 · 5 January 2009]

Of course this movie "sanitizes" WWII, look at the year it was made, the Hollywood censors would NEVER have allowed a "Saving Private Ryan" film to be released. That said, this is a true story, starring the man who actually lived through everything it shows and much, much more besides. I knew Audie personally and I can tell you that he was, and could really do, anything you saw him do on the screen. He actually did kill 283 German soldiers, not as a unit action, but he, himself, with his own guns! If anything, this movie down plays his real life heroics to a large extent. Audie's book tells a lot more detail about what happened during the War. When I knew him, Audie suffered from severe PTSD, but the VA had not recognized that as a real medical problem, so he never got treatment for it. He did sleep with a pistol under his pillow every night of his life, and he carried a loaded gun on his person everywhere he went, every day of his life (I do the same thing btw...and the VA treated me for PTSD after 'Nam). Finally, this is a wonderful movie about all the brave heroes who fought in those campaigns, dying, maimed, or just lucky enough to come home at the end. Audie was a much better actor than he was ever allowed to be by Universal Studios. His Westerns made money, and that was the studio's bottom line. BTW...To Hell and Back was the BIGGEST money maker for Universal until Jaws was released...that's not a bad record for Hollywood...20 yrs. worth of Dollars in the bank.

The ordinary about the extraordinary

[FilmFlaneur · 7/10 · 21 July 2010]

A largely ordinary film about an extraordinary man, To Hell And Back was made a decade after combat soldier Murphy left the service, a natural enough choice of subject matter. Based upon Murphy's book of reminiscences of the same name, the film was viewed as a useful tonic for recruitment after the Korean War by the Army and they co-operated enthusiastically with the studio's production.

After a briefly covering the actor's childhood, the rest of the movie focuses on Murphy's striking military career. With little effort to probe the psychology of its central character, it ends before his discharge. Director Jesse Hibbs does a competent piece of work but Murphy's uniqueness deserved better - someone like Aldrich, Siegel or Samuel Fuller, who around the same time was producing such work as The Steel Helmet and Fixed Bayonet! The cigar-chomping ex-infantryman brought to war projects an essential grit - as well as directorial flair - that's too often missing from To Hell And Back.

Hibbs' version of World War II, made conservatively and with the army looking over his shoulder, lacks the cynicism and bitter truths one can find elsewhere. Indeed a good deal of To Hell And Back, especially during the early parts, is relatively light-hearted. Turned down by the Marines and paratroopers for being underweight in real life, there's a suggestion at the start that Murphy was a little sickly - a poor start for a hero. Hence we see him suffering from sea-sickness on his way to his first combat zone, and then suffering a reaction from his inoculations which, we are told, has laid him up in bed for a week. So much so that his superiors consider sending away from the front line (a fact ruefully recalled later).

What's striking today about To Hell And Back is how ironic it is. Just as 'Murphy' the soldier initially seems an unlikely superhero, so Murphy the actor might be the last person you'd cast as himself (perhaps anticipating this, the star allegedly suggested Tony Curtis for the lead). Unlike the brawling, macho hero figures familiar to cinema audiences, Murphy is boyish and slight looking - young enough, even in 1955, to play himself as a youth. An unassuming if determined character, 'Murphy' is somewhat ill at ease with women (a trait, incidentally, not reflecting real life), one reason why perhaps the 'Italian interlude' of To Hell And Back, when the soldiers are on leave, is the least convincing of the narrative. He's an introspective, diffident character hardly marked out as a leader of men. And yet this is the man who, amongst other acts of extreme valour, stood up on a burning tank with a machine gun to keep the German advance at bay and destroyed several machine gun nests on his own. The man of whom the 3rd Infantry Commander in World War II called "the greatest combat soldier I have ever known" and another Major-General dubbed "beyond a doubt the finest soldier I have ever seen." There's interesting power occasionally in the film too, exactly because the actor's mild, everyman quality disavows those extreme qualities laying hidden below the baby-faced surface, even while the star's real life history affirms them. When Murphy weeps at the death of a newly fallen comrade, although it's just a short scene, the grief seems true and universal; in its modest way a testament to the courage and loss of all fighting men, and not just typical Hollywood emotional artifice. John Ford's work, to take one example, includes moving graveside scenes, but with the likes of poetically manufactured heroes Fonda and Wayne. None have such a unique impact as this.

Such a moment of introspection is unusual in To Hell And Back. Ending as it does with Murphy's war drawing to a close and a parade, understandably the film offers no portrait of the star's later years, decades when he faced stress-related nightmares, health issues, an amount of painkiller dependency and other personal issues. Interestingly at one point the star did consider a sequel to the film, tentatively entitled 'The Way Back', even going so far as reportedly writing a script in 1956, but this idea fell by the wayside.

Murphy, who never considered himself more than a competent actor, wears the mantle of great courage very lightly in his film, just as he did in real life (attempting to give his medals away to relatives for instance). One reason for this is perhaps the star's feelings towards the material. Although To Hell And Back was, unsurprisingly, his most successful film career-wise he admitted to a slackening of interest in events. After all, he'd already done them first hand and then revisited them during the writing of his book, so much so that he "got tired of reliving all these experiences." Murphy saw the purpose of the film as utilitarian as much as entertaining, showing newer infantry what it was really like just as much as pleasing the public. Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that the American military has apparently always preferred Wayne's much more dynamic Sands Of Iwo Jima over this film as classic entertainment for serving ranks.

Murphy won 33 military awards, including every medal of valour America gives, as well as the Legion de Honour and Belgian Croix de Guerre. By contrast his film, although financially successful, received far fewer accolades. Recently reissued in all its widescreen, colour glory and in a good print (if lacking any documentary support) it's still worth a look. For a less compromising view of war on foot, then the aforementioned Fuller is one place to start; for war's doomed romance you'd want to see Sirk's A Time To Live And A Time To Die. But To Hell And Back, with all flaws, is a sobering reminder of what a mighty real hero looks like.

Worth Watching: America's most decorated War Hero plays himself

[Brantford_Mark · 9/10 · 1 November 2020]

Audie Murphy playing himself as the most decorated Army soldier in US history. Based on Murphy's book of the same name, this 1955 film was a box office hit. Some wooden performances and predictable dialog, but the thrill of seeing the hero himself re-enact his combat bravery was worth it.

Two each Silver & Bronze Stars, Congressional Medal of Honor (his actions in France atop the pictured tank earned him the latter), Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. Murphy got his older sister to attest that he was 16, but Marines, Navy and Paratroopers all passed on this slightly built Texan. He left the regular Army after 3 years in Africa, Italy and France at just 19!

Sadly, he was tormented by PTSD for the rest of his life, but was one of the first advocates for similarly affected vets. Starred in many movies and was even a popular country western singer. He died in a private plane crash in 1971. Buried at Arlington National Cemetery where my parents lie, his grave remains the second most visited after John F. Kennedy's.

The Noisy American

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 6 September 2014]

One of the few bio-pics in which the subject is actually played by himself To Hell And Back is a passable war film in which it is no exaggeration when it claims to be based on real events. Audie Leon Murphy was at once remarkable and unremarkable. Product of a poor, dirt farming family in North East Texas, he assumed responsibility for his mother and siblings at a young age after his father abandoned the family in the late thirties. With the death of his mother and the placing of his siblings into care Murphy was free, albeit under age, to enlist in the US Army where he proved to possess natural leadership qualities despite a lack of formal education. Involved in several major campaigns he wound up, as is well documented, the most decorated US serviceman with the Congressional Medal of Honor being his top award. The film chronicles his military career in a largely unspectacular fashion and remains watchable today.

Great War Film

[hjochade · 10/10 · 7 May 2003]

Anyone who knows anything about Audie Murphy and his heroics, knows that the film does not do him justice. He did so much more than the film depicts. However, with the limited time allowed for a movie, the movie is quite good. The story is very accurate of how the US troops moved through Italy. Every time I see that the movie is on, I try to watch it and remember that my father was there!! Enjoy!! And hope we don't have to do it again!!

Truly a Great Hero!

[JANA-7 · 6/10 · 11 November 2006]

It is difficult to imagine how a grade school teenager performed so brilliantly and courageously in World War 2 given the circumstances that he was part of all the major theaters of operation in Europe. He was and will always be remembered as a hero.

Perhaps my viewpoint is tinted because of all the superior docudramas that have unfolded in Hollywood over the past 15 years. This was a 50s war movie and Hollywood didn't really capture realism even with Audie in the lead role.

Knowing it is a true account of Murphy's unbelievable heroics, the director wandered through the film with with a typical script of the time that didn't give Mr Murphy the proper credit he so rightly deserved. The so-called Italian girl scene didn't help the movie.

Realism was absent during critical scenes and the uniforms (so clean) did not help its' believability. God love Audie and God bless him and it is too bad, considering the subject, that that Hollywood didn't spend enough time making the story much greater than it was depicted.

A rare autobiographical movie portrayal

[kenstallings-65346 · 9/10 · 15 March 2020]

A one-of-a-kind movie where the star plays himself doing what he actually did.

Ironically, because of that, the movie actually understates the level of risks and heroism that Audie Murphy truly enacted. It was the star, himself, who constantly worked with the director to tone down the risks he would portray on the screen.

Such is entirely in keeping with the values of the man, Audie Murphy. But, sadly, as much as the movie conclusively portrays the man heroically, it leaves out quite a bit of emotion and rawness.

Just one example of many is the culminating scene which earned Murphy his Medal of Honor. That battle saw the real Murphy singlehandedly hold off the German advance for over an hour. The movie condensed it down to a few minutes.

And unlike the 1950's era romantic interest scene, nothing like that actually happened.

As much as the production value of the film falters for its relatively low budget virtues, Murphy himself makes up for it with the story itself, which is beyond words in terms of what he really did. It would be hard to accept a fictional film trying to show someone performing the deeds that Murphy does. Knowing that -- if anything -- what you are seeing was toned down on Murphy's own inputs, renders the actions truly mesmerizing.

How the real Audie Murphy even survived what he did is breathtaking. How he maintained his humility despite doing it goes beyond rational comprehension. In the end, what you are left with is the truth that Murphy would have traded every medal, every promotion, and every Hollywood perk he earned in his life, if in return all of his buddies would have survived the war with him.

The fact that they didn't all survive is what psychologically harmed him for the rest of his life.

That's the measure of the actual man -- it explains what he did, why he did it, and was the reason why he toned it down in his movie. He really wanted the audience to walk out of the theater appreciating his buddies, who sacrificed their own lives, more than appreciating Murphy for everything he did to try to get them through the war alive.

Perhaps he could settle for knowing we choose to appreciate them all!

Decent account of a soldier who did his job, above and beyond the call of duty.

[grendelkhan · 7/10 · 4 February 2014]

Audie Murphy was just a kid from Texas, who had been turned away by the Marines, the Navy and the Army Airborne. However, he finally finagled his way into the Army and proceeded to make history. What often gets glossed over in the recounting of Murphy's brave deeds was his leadership. This was a 19 year-old leading a platoon in combat. The film captures this quite well.

Since the film was produced in the 50s, it has the look and feel of a recruiting commercial. The film had to co-operation of the Army and that usually means we are going to stress heroics over realism. However, the film never fully descends into propaganda, thanks in large part to Murphy's honest portrayal of the fear of combat, the loss of friends, and other aspects of life at war.

Murphy plays himself, though he was in his 30s. He had a babyface, which eases you into accepting this. Besides, he knew how he felt at those moments and he portrays it on screen.

Audie Murphy was a sharecroppers son, one of 12 children. His father ran out on the family, leaving them struggle. We see young Audie take responsibility for the family, sacrificing his education to earn a living. This theme will be carried forward, as Murphy finds himself given greater and greater responsibility, often against his wishes.

Murphy was never destined for an Oscar, but he knows this role inside and out. He lived it. He has a quiet honesty that is refreshing, especially in an era of "heroic" war films. Murphy was a real hero, but it wasn't about glory; it was a job that needed doing. He never overplays things and the script wisely sticks to moments of comradery and action.

The rest of the cast is filled out with fine character actors who, like their characters, do their bit. We get some memorable figures for Audie to bond with and see his reaction to their loss. They are given real meaning so we get a small understanding of the loss that Murphy felt and the reason he performed such daring acts of bravery: they were trying to kill his friends.

The film never reaches the level of greatness, but it does its job of telling the story of Audie Murphy, without pomp or flash, much like the real man. If it has a real weakness, it's that it doesn't follow Murphy into civilian life, after his fame. Murphy was not only noted for his bravery on the battlefield, but also for his courage in discussing the emotional and psychological scars he carried with him for the rest of his life. In an era when soldiers didn't discuss the effect that combat had upon them, Murphy did so, letting others know that they weren't alone. Again, he was a leader.

A Wasted Opportunity

[ewarn-1 · 4/10 · 26 October 2006]

Audie Murphy, the greatest hero of World War II, was always a seriously underrated actor, and he had a great screen presence. This movie was a chance to make film history by featuring Murphy in his own exciting story, something that's never been done before or since. Well, Universal blew it! Not by their standards, of course, they made a lot of money. But as time goes on, this movie hasn't been well regarded, and it falls flat on contemporary viewers. Future generations will generally dismiss it.

The battle scenes play like a Disney version of the war, so sanitized the main role might have been played by Hayley Mills. Murphy adopts this curiously detached and semi- bored manner throughout the story, looking uneasy in his own uniform. You might have thought this film would have plenty of technical advisors, including Murphy himself, but everything---the gear, the scenery---looks and feels wrong. The Italian campaign, it seems, was fought in a sunny backlot, against fake Germans wearing fake uniforms with fake weapons.

Most of the other actors fit blandly into their goofy patterned innocent/naive American farmboy roles, and it wears thin after a while. Halfway through, I got the feeling that this could have been a great war classic if it had been aimed a little higher than the junior ROTC crowd. A more bitter and savage tone, tempered with American optimism, the kind of attitude that I understand Mr. Murphy actually had later in life, would have worked.

Even though I was disappointed, I still recommend watching this film because of my admiration for Audie Murphy, and to observe a particular attitude about war that was common in 1950s America. In some ways, after the crusade in Europe, that attitude was justified.