Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
tonyirwin-58946
It would be easy to pass off Force of Arms as just another post-WWII action/romance movie until you're a few frames into viewing it. Surprisingly realistic with actual combat footage interspersed with filming. Strong yet sensitively-understated performances by Holden, Olson, and, in a supporting role, Frank Lovejoy. An inspired and superior script helps convey the chaos of combat, its effects on those who are scarred by it, and the powerful force of love that can somehow emerge in the midst of the sheer will to survive. A classic that feels as real in 2017 as when it was filmed.
swanningaround
As a combat veteran, I can tell you that this movie is one hundred percent authentic. The action is certainly more realistic than modern day movies like Saving Private Ryan, which was full of gimmicks. In Force of Arms, nothing much is happening most of the time, then all hell breaks loose and your pals mostly die. You do not see the enemy most of the time and when you do, they appear for a split second as a target. It seems that the closer a film is to the actual events, the more realistic it is. This film was made only 7 years after the event. Saving Private Ryan was made some 60 years after WW2, which is too big a gap. The acting by Nancy Olsen and William Holden is superb. The film also depicts Clark's triumphal entry into Rome. Clark was probably the best general of WW2. He brilliantly bypassed the places where the Germans were anticipating an attack and bravely went straight through to save Rome. He was given the title of American Caesar.
moonspinner55
A ludicrous war picture from Warner Bros., an uncredited rewrite of Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" set in Italy during WWII. Stationed near Napoli, American army sergeant William Holden takes a midnight walk through the cemetery and bumps into female lieutenant Nancy Olson; he tries picking her up but she, a wholesome farmer's daughter and former teacher, sternly rebuffs him. The next day, after the sergeant has been promoted to lieutenant himself, the two go out for drinks and she talks seriously how war has made 'love' into a dirty word, but Holden is too busy smelling her hair and noticing how her eyes light up to give a response (due to the gummy cinematography, Olson never lights up). She's been hurt by true love before--hence her appearance in the cemetery--so we wait while Holden thaws her out...slowly. Tersely-written screenplay by Orin Jannings leaves no foxhole cliché unturned! This was the third teaming of Holden with Olson--they should have quit while they were ahead. *1/2 from ****
zardoz-13
Battle-torn Italy in World War II provides the rugged life and death setting for "Casablanca" director Michael Curtiz's "Force of Arms," a compelling action romance yarn with William Holden and Nancy Olsen lovers. This above-average 1951 World War II movie about the U.S. Army tangling with the entrenched Wehrmacht during the explosive Italian campaign might alienate hardened armchair warriors who prefer their olive-drab heroes in action against the enemy instead of kicking back to cuddle with a babe lieutenant. Indeed, you'll get your fill of combat scenes. Artillery punches holes in the terrain and our guys scramble for cover. Farmhouse concern machine gun nests and our guys scramble for cover. The romance takes the back seat in the preliminary part, but the lovey-dovey stuff dominates the middle part, and two share in the finale. The good news is that the ever-reliable Curtiz knows how to stage close-quarters combat scenes and lenser Ted McCord is as much an expert at shooting these battlefield episodes. McCord's black & white photography captures the gritty realism that stands out of "Mr. Soft Touch" scenarist Orin Janning's screenplay that features some first-rate dialogue. Frank Lovejoy co-stars as Major Blackford, a tough-as-nails major while Gene Evans is equally tough as an NCO, Sergeant Smiley 'Mac' McFee, who isn't getting mail from his wife back home. Let's not forget Dick Wesson as Kleiner. The supporting cast isn't too shabby.This is a traditional World War II combat actioneer where officers are treated like royalty and our NCO hero wins a promotion from sergeant to lieutenant because his company commander got bitten by a Kraut bullet. The German enemy is portrayed from afar. In other words, you don't see any Nazis tearing about the landscape. Basically, you see the enemy in long shots, but never up close and personal. There are no portraits of Adolf Hitler and you never see any high ranking Nazi field marshals. William Holden delivers another fine anti-heroic performance as an NCO Sergeant Joe 'Pete' Peterson who receives a battlefield commission and meets a WAC. Nancy Olsen is appropriately doe-eyed as the sweet WAC, Lieutenant Eleanor MacKay. Indeed, Olsen looks cute in her brown uniform with all those buttons. The romance probably is as misty-eyed as the soap opera crowd prefers, but the film doesn't waste any of its 99 minutes. Of course, it is obvious when genuine battlefield footage is integrated into the conventional material.The first-act shows Pete being baptized in combat and covered with valor. He and his unit are behind the 8-ball, but they survive a savage attack to save the day. During the action, Pete's company commander dies and he takes over. Pete's unit is pulled off the line and he recuperates only to discover that he has been promoted to lieutenant. The night before in a graveyard, he stumbled into a WAC lieutenant. Later, when they meet again, the attraction begins obvious. In the middle, the attraction is the attraction and they fall in love and wed. During the next part, Pete turns gunshy because he is thinking about staying alive and he gets Major Blackford killed during an artillery attack on a tank column. Frank Lovejoy makes the most of this role. Our hero winds up in a hospital and awakens 15 days later. Initially,he doesn't want to see her. Afterward, they get tight, get married on a three day leave and Pete gets to see Eleanor out of uniform. Pete maanges to swing a desk job behind the lines, but the Major's death haunts him so he decides to go back onto the frontlines. He is cut out from his unit during a tank attack (the tanks are all off-screen)and is taken prisoner. Predictably, everybody but Eleanor presumes that he is dead. The girl has got pluck and she goes in search of him. She finally catches up with him in Rome.Altogther, the bullets outnumber the kisses.
