Hell to Eternity


Hell to Eternity is a 1960 American World War II film starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic Damone and Patricia Owens, directed by Phil Karlson. This film biopic is about the true experiences of Marine Corps|Marine] hero Pfc. Guy Gabaldon, a Los Angeles Hispanic boy raised in the 1930s by a Japanese American foster family, and his heroic actions during the Battle of Saipan. Sessue Hayakawa played the role of Japanese commander at Saipan.

Plot

In Depression-era Los Angeles, Guy Gabaldon gets into a fight at school when another boy snitches about his breaking into a grocery store. After Japanese-American Kaz Une learns that Guy's mother is in the hospital and his father is dead, he invites Guy to stay with his family. As Kaz's parents speak little English, Guy begins to learn Japanese. Then, when Guy's mother dies, the Une family adopts him. He becomes especially close to Kaz's mother.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II, Gabaldon's foster family is sent to an internment camp: Camp Manzanar. Gabaldon is drafted, but fails his physical exam due to a perforated eardrum. When Gabaldon goes to visit the Une family, he learns that George and Kaz have been allowed to join the Army and are fighting in Italy with the 442nd [Infantry Regiment |442nd Regimental Combat Team]. After making sure that "mama-san" does not object, he manages to enlist in the Marines on the strength of his language skills.
Gabaldon does not make a good first impression on Platoon Sgt. Bill Hazen at Camp Pendleton, but wins him over. When they are shipped to Hawaii to join the Regimental Intelligence section of the 2nd [Marine Regiment |2nd Marines], 2nd Marine Division, he gets himself, Hazen and Cpl. Pete Lewis bottles of whiskey and dates with two Japanese-American women and standoffish reporter Sheila Lincoln. Sheila is disgusted by the behavior of the rowdy Marines, but eventually warms up to Gabaldon after a few drinks.
Going ashore on Saipan, he freezes at first when he comes under fire for the first time, but regains his composure. He uses his Japanese language skills to persuade Japanese soldiers to surrender. In fighting against a banzai charge, Lewis is killed, and later during the bloody campaign for the island, Sgt. Hazen is shot in the leg, becomes pinned down and subsequently killed by a Japanese swordsman. Gabaldon then becomes enraged, stops talking Japanese soldiers into surrendering and starts killing them ruthlessly. After he witnesses two civilians commit suicide rather than surrender, he remembers George and "mama-san" and reverts back to the way he was before. During the final battle, he convinces the Japanese general to order approximately 1000 Japanese soldiers, and 500 civilians to surrender.

Cast

Gramercy Pictures bought the screen rights of Gabaldon's story in June 1957. Previously, it had been featured on the TV show This Is Your Life.
The bulk of fiancing for the film - $650,000 - came from American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, a theatre chain. They noted the success of To [Hell and Back |To Hell and Back] with Audie Murphy, and sought out another true life World War Two story that might make a good film. They came across the story of Guy Gabaldon and decided to invest in it. Jeffrey Hunter had just been in the popular war film In Love and War.
Phil Karlson called it "one of the most important pictures that I may ever make because it was the true story of the Nisei, what happened in this country. But Allied Artists, even at that point, looked at it as a great war story that you could make for a price. They had no idea what I was doing."
The film was shot on location in Okinawa.

Reception

Variety said "it appears that certain concessions were made for the sake of commercialism, reducing its overall artistic stature, but the end product is one that is bound to please and excite the average filmgoer, particularly the average male."
Steve Broidy, head of Allied Artists, called it " a very, very successful picture."
The film's commercial performance was helped by a series of personal appearances by Guy Gabaldon who expressed happiness with Jeffrey Hunter's portrayal of him although suggested that the role might have been better played by the Marine Veteran himself.

Home media

The DVD of the film was released on June 5, 2007 in the United States.

Novelization

A novelization of the screenplay was written by American writer Edward S. Aarons, published in a mass market, tie-in paperback edition under the Gold Medal Books imprint, with 1960 copyright assigned to Fawcett Publications. The book's presentation falls under the category of "implied novelization," as there is no attribution anywhere to the screenplay, the screenstory or their respective authors, and the front cover action illustration of two soldiers only suggests star Jeffrey Hunter in the foreground; however the back cover contains, along with brief descriptive info, a romantic still from the movie and a blurb about the film, naming the studio, the production company and the stars. Even these indicia were removed, however, with the release of a second printing, probably a year or two later. Save for the uptick in price, the front cover illustration is identical, but the back cover is white, displaying only the brief descriptive info and the symbol of the U.S. Marine Corps. Implications of the film as source material were no doubt obliterated from the book to make the most out of the by-line, as Aarons was one of Gold Medal's most popular authors, and would remain so until the end of his career.