Review of Hell Is for Heroes (1962) by Van R — 13 Dec 2009

Actor Steve McQueen plays the least charismatic character of his entire career in the concisely-made, Don Siegel directed, 90-minute World War II movie HELL IS FOR HEROES, a first-rate, uncompromising anti-war movie about sacrifice and redemption set on the dangerous Siegfried Line in the winter of 1944.

A woebegone squad of six rugged G.I.s find themselves stretched perilously thin to defend a front for 48 hours against a numerically superior German enemy until reinforcements arrives. Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, Harry Guardino, L.

Q. Jones, Nick Adams, and first-time actor Bob Newhart co-star in this grim, realistic, virtually all-male combat thriller. Indeed, there is one woman at the outset who operates a bar. Apart from her, no other females appear in this serious, no-nonsense, but heavily ironic yarn.

Our heroes must convince the enemy that they are 600 rather than a mere six.The production designers deserve applause for their fabulous job of recreating the Type 10 bunkers of the Limes Programme that cover the enemy front as well as the tank teeth that constituted part of the line.

War films by 1962 were steadily growing more and more cynical, and HELL IS FOR HEROES contains cynical characters. The wise-cracking G.I.s of World War II era movies were overshadowed here by cantankerous, paranoid soldiers not about looting a church or espousing atheism.

Although color films were the standard, Siegel shot HELL IS FOR HEROES in black and white and the choice is appropriate for the unglamorous subject matter. Like many World War II movies, the focus is on the grubby guys on the battlefront and Steve McQueenâ??s Reese is a perfect example.

The unshaven, less-than-fortunate protagonist has wrecked a jeep, basically cracked up, been demoted, but he remains a brave, willing soldier who has a difficult time recognizing, much less accommodating authority whether the authority figure is an enlisted man or an officer.

McQueen clashed with BATTLEGROUND cenarist Robert Pirosh, a World War II veteran and later creater of the ABC-TV classic COMBAT!, who had been initially hired to direct. Don Siegel replaced him, but Siegel and McQueen had their share of spats.

Reportedly, McQueen sought to enhance the lonely character of his anti-social hero by refusing to fraternize with the cast. Neither McQueen nor Darin were on friendly terms during the production.