Very well executed

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Brad Dexter was the only one of "The Magnificent Seven" not to become a major star. When you see his performance in "Between Heaven and Hell," you will wonder why.He is given a very sympathetic character to play, and gives in return one of his best performances. Buddy Ebsen started show biz life as a minor, but pleasant, song and dance man, but, as shown here, he became one of the finest dramatic actors of the century (despite such obstacles as "The Beverly Hillbillies")."Between Heaven and Hell" is a very generic title, and seems to have very little to do with this movie. It has been used dozens of times, and maybe once or twice, somewhere, it was appropriate. Maybe.Richard Fleischer's directing and Leo Tover's photography, though, overcome the trite title and well complement the excellent acting in presenting a dramatic war story.From the opening shot, there is fluidity in the camera work that awed me, that left me admiring Mr. Fleischer more than I ever had before. If you don't like war movies -- and I don't -- you will want to watch this one for the photography, including the scenery.One complaint: The protagonist, played well by Robert Wagner, goes through the mandatory (made so by "the rules of drama") change, but there is no good explanation of his motives, of why he changes.Perhaps it is plain, right before our eyes, in a manner of speaking only because it is never explicated. But there really should have been some motivational explanations.Still, it was plausible and reasonable, and, again, the acting and camera work are so good -- no, excellent -- "Between Heaven and Hell" is definitely worth watching.By the way, do not miss a chance to see this just because the On Demand description is so disgustingly PC. There is no "racism" even though that PC description implies there is.I found it via the Time Warner Cable system's On Demand. And free!

So what do we have, well it is in colour and widescreen and it is a world war 2 film set, we are told in the early title "on a island in pacific in 1945". So from the start we are in some imagined battle zone that never did exist. That soon becomes very clear as the war presented is a static one, in which the American's sit around a lot and talk while the Japanese swarm all over. The only battle that could fit any of the facts so far was Guadalcanal but that was 1942 not 1945 and by that time the Americans were advancing everywhere and the Japanese fighting defensively.Well no matter, its only a movie! Then there is how the film looks, clearly it is in the Californian hills with a few lonely rather comic looking palm trees some with the earth newly dug quite visible, and then there is the jungle which appears then disappears again While everywhere is bone dry as dust, no tropical conditions in this pacific war. No matter, the battle scenes fragmented and episodic flicker now and again but look as fake as our hero's wounds observed via red paint on a shoulder. Then for drama we have a battle fatigued captain given a battle fatigued sergeant busted down to private as a replacement who is sent to defend an exposed hilltop position, against great numbers, how Korean war is all of that? The viewers endurance is now tested by a series of dull to very dull flash backs, and worse we are shown his domestic love life.In full 1950's hair and make up our love interest looks from another era as she in fact is.Next up is the films pacing, slow and plodding while none of the characterisation's ring in in any way true at any time. In Fact Broderick Crawford is so bad and so ill fitting he had to be posted to MASH the 1970's comedy show about the Korean War. As for our star and hero of the movie who takes very unconvincingly to shaking, well hes a good looking kid pretending to be a actor but both Robert Wagner and as for this film it is poor spam pretending to be ham.Though out the film is clumsy muddled and flat and the colour and widescreen only add to all the film obvious short comings.Yet i am judging from the prospective of 60 years on but even by the standards of the day, Between Heaven and Hell must of insulted the intelligence of any ww2 vet who paid to see this fabrication at the movies in 1956 with the war still very fresh in the memory.All of the above said i have seen worse, but when a movie takes itself as seriously as this one it just better be good, and this was a film, that was far from really good.Enough Said.Enjoy at your peril.

I saw this film more than 40 years ago for the first time, and now I saw it again recently. This war film is not another one in my personal opinion, it shows many of the tragedies that usually are brought about by any war, innocent soldiers killed accidentally by their colleagues, soldiers afraid during and after the battle, reconsideration of past way of life during the war making statements for changing life after the war, and cruel officers like the one played by Broderick Crawford. The film indirectly touched the problems of exploitation of cotton growers, the way they worked and how they were mistreated by the owners of this business. Piece by piece, the film is positive in its messages, but colored by the usual Hollywood Happy End.

Before he started making huge, bloated, disastrously money-losing films in the '60s (Dr. Doolittle, Che, et al.), director Richard Fleischer was responsible for some good, tight well-made little B pictures. "The Narrow Margin" and "Armored Car Robbery" in the early '50s were outstanding film-noir classics, made for very little money. Fleischer made this in the period between his low-budget black-and-white thrillers and his '60s monstrosities, and it's a good one. Robert Wagner is the callow, spoiled rich son of a Southern landowner whose National Guard unit is suddenly activated during World War II and sent to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. Wagner finds himself in the same company with the sharecroppers and tradespeople he scorned back home, and is sent to a base run by a power-mad, vengeful officer who treats his troops the same way Wagner treated his " 'croppers" back home.This is one of Wagner's better performances. Unlike many of his earlier films, Wagner doesn't try to get by on his good looks and youthful charm; he turns in a first-rate performance here, as do most of the cast. Broderick Crawford as Wagner's crazed commander doesn't quite fit the part, and Skip Homeier--usually a solid, reliable character actor--goes a bit overboard as one of Crawford's goons, but Buddy Ebsen, as one of Wagner's sharecroppers who turns out to be his best friend, L.Q. Jones and Tod Andrews are fine in pivotal parts, and Fleischer stages some exciting battle scenes. Altogether, a well-made, exciting little B picture from 20th Century Fox--a bit garish in Technicolor (black and white would have been more effective)--but well worth your time to see it. Highly recommended.