Ein Fetzen Leben

This is a pure drama for me, not a war feature. War is only used as a kind of setting, nothing more. It is a character study, behavior analysis, psycholigical surgery, very interesting to watch. Lewis Foster gives here is only "war" film, him who is rather specialized in adventure movies. It is rare and emerged only ten years ago on the market; before that it slept in some vault.... Good performances though Wendell Corey seems to be too old for the role. But it is not new in war films; see for instance the Duke in war films. It is nearly laughable. This film can be seen as a topic about different things including bravery, the definition of bravery. For me, some one is brave when he is at first scared and finally wins over his scare, his fright. Some one suicidal, or some one who ignores fear, is not brave. No. But that's only my opinion. And it's surprising to see those two parts in the film, the first where Don taylor's character seem to be ankward, the dude whom his pals "help" him finding a gal, to summarize, the poor good guy. And in the second part of the film, the war part, forget this Don Taylor's good guy, focus instead on Wendell Corey's one, who in the first part, was shown as a bit coward yes, but also the not so sympathetic guy who laughed at his commanding officer who fell in love with the prostitute. It's very unusual in a film to see characters places changing so rapidly during the story; one takes the place of the other.

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.

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.

Set in a unit of the U.S. infantry during the Italian campaign of 1944, this focuses on three soldiers. Fairchild (Wendell Corey) whom in civilian life had got by doing very little after marrying a rich woman, further doubts himself after failing to kill an enemy sniper. He is saved by his sergeant, known as Preacher (Don Taylor) a puritanical bigot whose upbringing has left him with all sorts of hang-ups with the notable exception of "Thou shalt not kill". Extrovert Willie Dooley (Mickey Rooney) is a compulsive and successful gambler, obsessed with winning as much as he can to set himself and his family up in the restaurant business after the war.

This is a mostly gripping film which succeeds in portraying the heroism, courage and spirit of self-sacrifice demanded of soldiers in battle without glorifying war. The leading actors are all good with Rooney's fast-talking ebullient character particularly memorable; his marathon crap game provides the film's funniest moments. Nicole Maurey gives a sensitive performance as a beautiful Italian girl with whom Preacher falls in love, prior to callously dumping her on learning she's previously been with other men for money to survive. Perhaps best of all is Wendell Corey, one of those actors who could create believable characters with hidden depths, while apparently doing very little, who brings a quiet integrity to the part of Fairchild. It's all introduced with a rousing march, to which Mickey Rooney supplied the lyrics.

The names of three of the actors in this film are probably not very well known today, Wendell Corey, Don Taylor and Nicole Maurey. Mickey Rooney, who is I hope remembered rightly got an Oscar for his role, and the film is extremely good because of its balanced and well written screenplay. The director is unknown to me, and Mickey Rooney directed himself in a gambling scene, and that scene alone is worthy of the best of Howard Hawks. The film is set towards the end of WW2 in Italy, and the first half is a psychological journey for three soldiers and a woman who has turned to prostitution to survive. She falls in love with a preacher, at first against his religious beliefs and when he discovers her past his disgust overwhelms him, and there are consequences to this for the men who serve under him. No spoilers but the love scenes when he is temporarily transformed by love are beautifully acted and moving to watch. Don Talor plays the preacher and Nicole Maurey the woman who needs love, and not to be used. Wendell Corey is brilliant as a man who cannot kill, and his psychological development is accurate and again moving. The latter part of the film is grim in its war scenes, and the futility of war is admirably conveyed. I am not a fan of most War films, but this joins the handful that I do admire and respect. I would give it a ten if it was not for the final words onscreen, focussing too much on cowardice and bravery. These men are just there, doing their best in a theatre of war and suffering, and in this film, it is the analysis of their inner selves that is paramount. The same story could have been equally told from the other side. Well worth seeing.