Ein Fetzen Leben

After a fallow period during the early fifties Mickey Rooney established himself as a fine straight actor, a position consolidated in this otherwise very ordinary war film set in Italy in 1944 to which Rooney not only contributed the title song but collected an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The best performance is as usual provided by Wendall Corey with his regular quiet authority. Don Taylor - soon to give up acting in favour of directing - is strictly speaking the star as a Holy Joe who's heart is broken by a brunette Nichole Maurey pretending to be an Italian as a local girl with whom he shares a glass of buttermilk before it all ends in tears.

The main problem with The Bold and the Brave is that the main character isn't likable. Don Taylor, whom you probably know as Buckley in Father of the Bride, stars as a righteous, pious soldier stationed in Italy. The other featured soldiers are Wendell Corey and Mickey Rooney, but when they get together to play a prank on their pal, it gets out of hand. They pay an Italian prostitute, Nicole Maurey, to act innocent and seduce Don.

There are some steamy scenes between the two, but since there are other 1950s movies that also have steamy scenes, you don't have to rent this one. It's not that great of a war movie, and the characters aren't compelling. Mickey is obsessed with gambling, chasing women, and talking big to impress Wendell, whom he thinks is a top dog. Wendell isn't really a top dog, and inconsistently disrespects then defends Nicole. Don is the worst of all. He's rude, stubborn, and righteous, and when he finds out he's been betrayed, he's unforgivably unforgiving. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be a sympathetic character or not, but since he's the lead, it's not very much fun to watch him when he never redeems himself.

I recently viewed this movie after not seeing it in several decades. It had always stuck out in my memory as one of the best of the 1950s war movies.

The writing was excellent, a great story of men in war, the brave, the bold, the fallen, the fallen women, and the pious men. The crux of the plot concerns a religious zealot that disdains alcohol, women and gambling, yet feels no empathy at blowing away the enemy. God and Country I guess. As the story progresses, he feels betrayed by his comrades.

The problem I had, was that during the first half of the movie, the acting seemed stiff and all but Rooney seemed to be over-acting...to the point of parody. Then about half way thru, things pick up and so does the acting. I wonder, since Rooney is "un-credited" as one of the directors, perhaps he stepped in to pull this one out of the fire.

The crap game is legendary, and the final action is quite good. The ballad sung over the opening credits and at the conclusion are an added bonus.

While not quite as good as "Attack"(1956) or "The Steel Helmet"(1951) this is still fun 50s war stuff.

This low-budget, old-fashioned film, set in Italy during World War II, is probably best remembered for Mickey Rooney's Oscar-nominated performance in a supporting role. And he does steal the show as Dooley, the fast-talking soldier with a dream. But the primary plot revolves around Wendell Corey and Don Taylor's roles as soldiers with very different approaches to war, and life. Corey and Taylor also do fine work, if less flamboyant than Mickey's. The film is extremely well-plotted, in a way that's very rare in today's movies, and the screenplay also was Oscar-nominated. It's a thoughtful piece with something to say about human character. The film has basically disappeared from view. It never appears on TV, and is very hard to find anywhere. But if you come across it, it's well worth viewing.

Mickey Rooney received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in this movie which presents a small group of American soldiers in Italy in 1944.

Three types of soldiers are presented here, based on their reactions to their first encounter with the German enemy while in Italy.

Rooney is the energetic and a happy go-with-the-punches soldier.

Wendell Corey is a fairly well balanced soldier but is unable to kill the enemy when he is faced with the possibility.

Don Taylor is a superman in battle situations but has trouble when faced with normal human spiritual matters, no doubt stunted by his upbringing.

Nicole Maurey is a local Italian prostitute, forced to sell herself for survival.