L'Enfer des humains

Devoted film fans might note a more than passing resemblance of Charles Bronson's character in Well Hell Broke Loose to that of Alan Ladd in his first star billed role of Lucky Jordan. But the difference in the films is the difference between Paramount building up their newest box office sensation and Paramount rather indifferently releasing this low budget independent film that gives Charles Bronson one of his first starring roles.

The only real interest When Hell Breaks Loose has is Bronson's rather unique character. Come Pearl Harbor he's forced to join the army to get out of a jackpot with the law, he's a bookmaker by profession. As a soldier he's no model and serves rather indifferently and most of the time in trouble from Pearl Harbor to the last days of the war in Europe as his unit is in Germany mid April of 1945.

Where through his German girlfriend Violet Renning he learns of a secret group of fanatical Nazi true believers called 'werewolves' who are determined to still inflict as much damage as possible on the allies even though they know the war is lost. One of these 'werewolves' is Richard Jaeckel, Renning's brother.

Well we know they didn't succeed because when this film was released Ike was our president.

Only Bronson who was looking for his big break to stardom seems to do any acting. Everyone else kind of goes through the motions. This one is for Charles Bronson's devoted fans. Others take caution.

"When Hell Broke Loose" is one of Charles Bronson's earliest starring roles. Up until that time, he mostly played minor supporting characters but here he is THE star of this low-budget production. Bronson plays a rather amoral guy who is always looking out for himself--which is tough, as he's in the Army during WWII--a place where everyone must work as a team. Not surprisingly, he's often in trouble and has a horrible record as a serviceman. However, when he falls for a German woman, for once he thinks about another person. It becomes VERY complicated, however, when they both learn that her brother is a so-called 'werewolf'--a member of a team who dress like American G.I.s and who are dedicated to killing Eisenhower and disrupting the peace. What's next? See the film if you'd like...or not.

While Bronson does a good job in this early role, the film is pretty cheap--with only fair actors in support and lots of poor, grainy stock footage. It is interesting but just seemed cheap. Worth seeing if you love Bronson, otherwise easy to skip.

I thought of another American war film, where it is question of Nazis in GI's uniforms: LAST BLITZKRIEG, which I found a bit better than this one. That said, most viewers will see it for Charles Bronson in his early career. But besides this, it remains an interesting war adventure drama. And Charles Bronson offers a performance that will announce his further career. Richard Jaeckel also excellent in a " werewolf" role; he had the physique, the face of a werewolf. The main flaw, weakness, of this film is that it seems so cheap, so cheap and it interferes with the directing, production design. I am sure Roger Corman would have done far better.

When Hell Breaks Loose (1958)

** (out of 4)

Routine, low-budget WWII drama start off the day Pearl Harbor is bombed and we see con man Steve Boland (Charles Bronson) pretty much turn the other way not caring about his country. He eventually gets busted for a crime and is forced to join the service where he finds himself getting into more trouble for not caring about what he's doing. All of that changes when he falls for a woman (Violet Rensing) whose brother is working for the Germans in an attempt to kill General Eisenhower. WHEN HELL BREAKS LOOSE is about as standard a "B" movie can be when it comes to WWII. Instead of any real action scenes we're basically given a few small items where soldiers shoot guns while the "big" stuff is replaced by a bunch of stock footage from earlier movies and/or newsreels. This here obviously gives the film an extremely fake look and it's nearly impossible to ever feel like you're really in the middle of a war. Another problem is that the story itself is just so silly and predictable where you never can connect with any of the characters. The lead guy is made to be such a jerk that you really can't help but laugh in disbelief and especially during the opening where he pretty much doesn't blink an eye to Pearl Harbor getting attacked. Another problem is that there's really no sort of character development so when Bronson's character goes from a jerk to a hero overnight, it's simply not believable. Don't even get me started on the so-called love story. With all of that said, the film remains slightly entertaining if you're a fan of "B" movies and especially if you're a fan of Bronson. The star actually gives a pretty good performance considering what he had to work with. I didn't totally buy him as the con man but when it came time for him to fight and push people around, it's easy to see why studio people put him in movies. Bronson's appeal is going to be the main reason to check this film out. Getting to see him in such an early role will keep people entertained.

This rating is strictly for Charles Bronson and his big debut, which catapulted to roles in films like The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and the Dirty Dozen. He is better in this film than all those other films because he is the star in this one and he gets most of the lines; which, by the way are fairly stereotypical, but interesting when he delivers them. The rest of the cast is forgettable, except for Jonesie, who stands up for his friend on several occasions, even though he is a hard five (sergeant) and Bronson is a yardbird who is always in the cooler. The romance is believable despite several hackneyed lines for it as well. The major weakness in the film is the editing, which is actually a comical attempt to get the audience to believe this film was not shot in a Hollywood studio from start to finish. The set designers, however, did a very good job.