Between Heaven and Hell (film)
| Between Heaven and Hell | |
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Theatrical release lobby card
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| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | David Weisbart |
| Screenplay by | Harry Brown |
| Based on |
The Day the Century Ended 1955 novel by Francis Gwaltney |
| Starring |
Robert Wagner Buddy Ebsen Broderick Crawford |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Edited by | James B. Clark |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Budget | $1,520,000 |
| Box office | $2 million (US rentals) |
Between Heaven and Hell is a 1956 20th Century Fox Cinemascope color war film based on the novel The Day the Century Ended by Francis Gwaltney that the film follows closely. The story is told in flashback format detailing the life of Sam Gifford (Robert Wagner) from his life as a Southern landowner to his war service in the Philippines during World War II.
The film stars Robert Wagner, Buddy Ebsen, Terry Moore, and Broderick Crawford, was directed by Richard Fleischer and was partly filmed on Kaua'i.
The film's score by Hugo Friedhofer that included elements of the Dies Irae was nominated for an Academy Award.
In 1945, on a Pacific island, Sam Gifford (Wagner) is busted from platoon sergeant to private and reprimanded by his battalion commander for striking an officer. Because he had earned a Silver Star, he is given a choice of being sentenced to the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth or transferred to George Company, a de facto punishment company assigned to a dangerous area of the front lines. Gifford chooses the punishment company, which is commanded by Captain Grimes, a former First Sergeant (Broderick Crawford). Captain Grimes insists everyone call him "Waco", wears no rank insignia and forbids military salutes lest he become a target for snipers. Everyone in George Company hates Waco except for some pre-war regular army comrades-in-arms Millard (Frank Gorshin) and Swanson (Skip Homeier), who act as Waco's personal bodyguards. Impressed by Gifford's combat record, Waco offers him a membership in his private circle as a radio operator. This ends when Gifford beats up Swanson for making suggestive remarks about his wife's photograph. Waco burns the photograph. The incident triggers flashbacks in which Sam relives the path that brought him to this purgatory.
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Wikipedia