Although I don't think the makers of "To Hell and Back" set out to glorify war, they did sanitise it. Audie Murphy thought so, apparently he told the guy who helped him write the book that the film, "Missed by miles". Still, no 1955 movie could recreate what flying metal can do to human flesh. However you don't have to read far into Audie's book to learn that he saw terrible things.
This isn't a routine war film of the 1950s; the fact that Audie was in it, recreating what he did, stopped it from ever being routine. The battle scenes are well staged, if not entirely accurate, although it seems the filmmakers toned down much of what he did because they thought it would be too unbelievable; too Hollywood.
His citations online reveal what an extraordinary soldier he was. The film is structured differently to the book, featuring more of his early life; it bogs down in the forced, artless studio scenes of the boys on leave and in la poursuite de l'amour.
Audie was reluctant to make the film, but when he did he made sure that he was seen to be in the company of brave, highly motivated soldiers.
Those men would attack the enemy on their own initiative; the sort of soldiers a general hopes he has at the sharp end when he sticks a pin in the map. Audie once said that his best friend Lattie Tipton, Brandon in both book and film, was the bravest man he ever knew.
I saw "To Hell and Back" with my Dad in 1955. Later we saw "The Red Badge of Courage" (actually made first), where Audie's character initially runs away from battle. Audie made an impression. Later I read "To Hell and Back" and also Don Graham's biography of Audie where his psyche was explored from every angle, analysing the effects his upbringing and the war had on the rest of his life.
Graham found other sources detailing Audie's lone scouting missions and stalking of snipers not featured in the film. He related events that show that even after the war, Audie was a dangerous man to cross. Although not one of his epic battlefield encounters, one story demonstrated how Audie never flinched when he felt something needed doing.
Audie was at a Hollywood party with his wife when actor and notorious brawler, Lawrence Tierney, was drunk and using bad language. Audie went up to the larger Tierney a couple of times and asked him to stop, but Tierney continued his behaviour. Finally Audie approached Tierney again saying that he had warned him twice and now told him to leave the party. Looking into Audie's eyes, Tierney, no doubt sensing imminent disaster, turned and left the party.
Audie was a complex man with a platoon's worth of contradictions. However seeing him in his movies you can't help wondering how this seemingly quiet, polite man did the things shown in "To Hell and Back". In fact, the film only scratched the surface.
This isn't a routine war film of the 1950s; the fact that Audie was in it, recreating what he did, stopped it from ever being routine. The battle scenes are well staged, if not entirely accurate, although it seems the filmmakers toned down much of what he did because they thought it would be too unbelievable; too Hollywood.
His citations online reveal what an extraordinary soldier he was. The film is structured differently to the book, featuring more of his early life; it bogs down in the forced, artless studio scenes of the boys on leave and in la poursuite de l'amour.
Audie was reluctant to make the film, but when he did he made sure that he was seen to be in the company of brave, highly motivated soldiers.
Those men would attack the enemy on their own initiative; the sort of soldiers a general hopes he has at the sharp end when he sticks a pin in the map. Audie once said that his best friend Lattie Tipton, Brandon in both book and film, was the bravest man he ever knew.
I saw "To Hell and Back" with my Dad in 1955. Later we saw "The Red Badge of Courage" (actually made first), where Audie's character initially runs away from battle. Audie made an impression. Later I read "To Hell and Back" and also Don Graham's biography of Audie where his psyche was explored from every angle, analysing the effects his upbringing and the war had on the rest of his life.
Graham found other sources detailing Audie's lone scouting missions and stalking of snipers not featured in the film. He related events that show that even after the war, Audie was a dangerous man to cross. Although not one of his epic battlefield encounters, one story demonstrated how Audie never flinched when he felt something needed doing.
Audie was at a Hollywood party with his wife when actor and notorious brawler, Lawrence Tierney, was drunk and using bad language. Audie went up to the larger Tierney a couple of times and asked him to stop, but Tierney continued his behaviour. Finally Audie approached Tierney again saying that he had warned him twice and now told him to leave the party. Looking into Audie's eyes, Tierney, no doubt sensing imminent disaster, turned and left the party.
Audie was a complex man with a platoon's worth of contradictions. However seeing him in his movies you can't help wondering how this seemingly quiet, polite man did the things shown in "To Hell and Back". In fact, the film only scratched the surface.