Hell Is for Heroes (1962)

"I drink to you, and to the American Army.", 25 June 2006

Hell is for Heroes is the story of a squad of six men who have been asked to hold a line usually occupied by an entire company. It's as gritty and realistic as you'll find in an older black and white WWII movie. It's not filled with sentimentality or overly patriotic speeches or soldiers on leave and in love. It's about combat and action. It's claustrophobic, dirty, and frightening. The men in this movie are only concerned with one thing – getting out alive.

Steve McQueen is terrific as the flawed but hard-nosed solider more at home on the front line killing Nazis than he is any place else. He doesn't speak much, but McQueen expresses more with those eyes than most actors could with a page of dialogue. But Hell is for Heroes is much more than a vehicle for McQueen. He is surrounded by a very able cast. James Coburn (one of my favorites), Bobby Darin, Mike Kellin, and the rest of the cast turn in some outstanding performances. And Bob Newhart shines as the film's comic relief. His shtick is hilarious. Newhart literally steals every scene in which he appears. As good as the action in Hell is for Heroes is, it's these "men" that make the film memorable and outstanding for me.

My lone complaint comes near the end of Hell is for Heroes. As McQueen makes the second effort to blow-up the German bunker, why don't the Germans fire at him? I mean they've mowed down everything else in front of them. So why do the Nazis allow this shot-up, dying G.I. the chance to stagger up to their position, pick up the unexploded charge, and fall into their bunker? It just doesn't make much sense to me.

8/10