Dos caminos al infierno

"Up From the Front" is a most unusual war film. Most war movies are almost nonstop action...with lots of death and sacrifice. This one, in contrast, is a bit absurd...showing how incredibly mundane things can be in the midst of all sorts of chaos!

The stoy is set on the day after D-Day, the invasion of Normandy by the Allies. A small group of soldiers capture a German General and free up a group of a couple dozen French non-combatants. Two men (Cliff Robertson and Red Buttons) are ordered to escort the people back to the beach so they can be taken to safety. But when they finally make the long trek, they are told NOT to leave the prisoner nor the townsfolk there! And, when they return them to the village, they are once again ordered back to the beach! It's all crazy, but realistic because things must have been very chaotic following this huge invasion. So what's next for the two Americans and their charges? Watch the film and find out for yourself...but the problem WON'T be solved easily or quickly.

"Up from the Beach" is different...and that's by far the best thing about the movie. After all, thousands of war films have been made but I cannot recall a single one like it! On the negative side, and there aren't too many negatives, the film makes the same mistake most 1960s war movies about WWII make...the women's hair styles are from the 60s. Also, many of the tanks are post-WWII vintage...though considering how few were left after the war, I can forgive this. I know these are tiny mistakes...but as an ex-history teacher I notice these details. Overall, well worth seeing and unique.

This is quite a curiously pointless wartime adventure for Cliff Robertson. He is "Sgt. Baxter" who liberates the residents of a French village after the D-Day landings and then, with "Pte. Devine" (Red Buttons) spends the rest of the film ferrying these 21 civilians from pillar to post getting different instructions from a superior officer at every junction. Along the way, he does manage to find time for a little romance with "Lili" (Irina Demick) but must always be on his guard as the Nazis - including his sophisticated captive Commandant (Marius Goring) are still very much in the game. Their escapades are not without their tragedy and there is a general sense of the horror of war as buildings are bombed out, their column is strafed by fighter aircraft and they must sleep where they can foraging as they go. It's filmed on location, which adds a degree of authenticity to the proceedings and the writing is not without some pith now and again. Perhaps it's sarcastically looking at the futility of war? Interestingly novel take on this genre.