KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

bkoganbing It's not the exact true story of Marine Private Guy Gabaldon that you see in Hell To Eternity, but you've got enough of the story to appreciate what a remarkable thing he did at the Battle of Saipan. Something was left out and something was added in for box office.What was left out was Gabaldon's Mexican background, presumably you were supposed to guess that from the name. An Anglo kid, Richard Eyer plays him as a juvenile and later Jeffrey Hunter as an adult. I think the impact might have been so much greater had an actor like Perry Lopez taken the part. If the story were done today, you can be sure a Latino actor would be in the role.What is true is that as a kid Gabaldon is taken as a foster child and raised by a Japanese American family, learning the customs and language in the best of schools. Even though initially rejected by his draft board, his language skills got him into the Marines.I'm betting that the good folks at Allied Artists decided just the story of what Gabaldon did on Saipan was not good enough to insure box office, so a sex angle was thrown in. Before the battle we see Hunter and buddies David Janssen and Vic Damone on leave in Hawaii where they meet up with sexpot Patricia Owens. Owens is first an uptight war correspondent, later with a few drinks she steams up the screen with her seductive ways. I well remember as a lad, the ads for Hell To Eternity were all about her character to make sure folks plunked down their money to see this film.As if Gabaldon's Sergeant York like heroics weren't enough. His upbringing enabled Gabaldon to communicate with the Japanese and save a few hundred lives, a lot of them women and children. The Japanese had been fed a steady diet of what to expect from American capture, a lot of that inspired no doubt by what they did with their prisoners.When Gabaldon brought in his charges, his commanding officer immediately dubbed him the Pied Piper of Saipan and the nickname stuck the rest of his life.Despite having the wrong background Jeffrey Hunter delivers a fine performance. Also take note of the part Sessue Hayakawa plays as the Japanese general. They even had the same last name as his character in The Bridge On The River Kwai. Imagine Colonel Saito the commandant in combat in Saipan and you have some idea of his role.The film also deals with the fact that Gabaldon's foster family was interred as many Japanese Americans were, Hell To Eternity was one of the first films dealing with that issue. One of his foster brothers is played by a young George Takei and he fought with the Nisei division in Italy.Despite the steamy sex angle, Hell To Eternity is a good enough war film without it and a real tribute to a genuine American hero. And a hero who saved lives rather than took them.

degatesjr I submitted a comment about Seven Against the House, suggesting Phil Karlson was a director worth retrieving from the forgotten, but I should clarify that Gunman's Walk and Rampage are pretty bad, whereas The Brothers Rico and Hell to Eternity are pretty good; in fact, Hell to Eternity is a real eye-opener, for those of us who remain ignorant of the internment of the Japanese in the early days of World War Two. Guy Gabaldon was a real guy, and Jeff Hunter is actually convincing in the part. He was of course in the original Star Trek pilot and played second fiddle to Wayne in The Searchers, but has he ever really been your favorite male ingenue? (Okay, Temple Houston, but as far as I'm concerned, that was Jack Elam's show.)

texohio I remember seeing this movie many times in the 60's and 70's at the theater, on television, and on VHS. I grew up watching WWII movies and remember this as one that had a special appeal to me. I guess because I lived in Japan in the 1950's and visited some of the locales from the movie. The acting was well done and the story was well told and realistic. It is interesting to view the cast when they were relatively new to movies. David Janssen and Vic Damone stand out in my memory and Jeffrey Hunter was always a class act in films. I highly recommend seeing it if possible. I do find it hard to believe that it is called a "lost classic" and runs so high for a copy. Anyone know where I could get a cheaper copy, I would like to hear from you.

junobuggo I have had the privilege of viewing this movie on numerous occasions. Back when I was growing up, war movies, such as this, were shown on TV quite often. This movie was one of the many small bits and pieces of how I view certain events and human behaviors that make up my personality (in a positive way). Fortunately, even thought the movie takes some liberties with the truth about the life of Guy and his life, the more important moral messages about war, human emotions, race relations and the Japanese Internment controversies more than make up for these inaccuracies. For whatever reasons, this movie, I believe, has allowed me to become a more accepting/open human being of other cultures and races. It taught me family values and the frailty of the human condition (not to mention the horrors of war). Given this was a "war movie", it is a credit to the director, actors and writers that I was affected in other more important areas of my makeup than that of just history and/or war. I salute this endeavor. I highly rate it. Particularly for those who have problems with the issues I mentioned above. May Guy rest in peace (1926 - 2006)