ma-cortes This is the apparently true story of Colonel Dean Hess as the upright clergyman turned fighter pilot . After accidentally bombing , during WWII , an orphange as a fighter pilot a Col. , Rock Hudson, becomes a God minister . Problem is , he is plagued with guilt and wishes a real redemption . Later on , he leaves his pregnant wife , Martha Hyer, and returns to the Air Force in 1950 to train Korean pilots in Seoul ; there he meets a motley bunch , such as the army sergeant companion , Dan Duryea in a rare likeable character , the officers Don DeFore , Jock Mahoney , the sympathetic cook Alan Hale Jr and the African-American James Edwards , among others . Then , at the quarters show up a group of 37 orphaned children wanting shelter from Commie attacks and bombings .Along the way Hess winds up building a home for the local orphans . This is a true story in which the real Hess served as technical advisor . Pure sentimental slop , it is a stirring and sometimes moving tale , accompanying some spectacular aerial scenes and impressive dog-fighting . Main cast is pretty well . As Rock Hudson gives an acceptable acting as a chaplain whose wartime bravery earns him a string of honours ; however, he suffers strong remorses . This is Hudson's third modern-day adventure in the East , the others were : Spiral road and Thunder of God . Rock was Sirk's fetish including important titles as Taza , Magnificent obsession , Written in the wind , among others . His wife is well played by the attractive Martha Hyer and Anna Kashfi, Marlon Brando's spouse , plays the oriental girl who helps and falls for him . Magnificent support cast with plenty of notorious secondaries such as the usually veteran bad man Dan Duryea , Don DeFore , Jock Mahoney , Richard Loo , Carl Benton Reid , Alan Hale Jr , and Philip Ahn as the old man philosopher . It contains a colorful cinematography in Technicolor by Russell Metty, though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary . Sensitive musical score including oriental sounds and choral music by Frank Skinner. The motion picture was well directed by Douglas Sirk . He was a fundamental filmmaker who gave prestigious movies , usually collaborating with similar technicians as cameraman Russell Metty , Production Designer Alexander Golitzen , Producer Ross Hunter and writer George Zuckerman . Sirk directed a lot of classic melodramas such as : Never say goobye , Interlude , Summerstorm , The first legion , The lady pays off , Tarnished Angels , A time to love a time to die , Magnificent obsession , All that heaven allows , Written in the Wind . But he also directed other genres as WWII : Mystery submarine , Hitler's madmen ; Thrillers and Film Noir : Shockproof , Thunder on the hill , A scandal in Paris , Lured ; Historical : Attila with Jack Palance ; Adventures : Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Hudson and Barbara Rush ; and even a Western : Taza , again with Rock Hudson.

andrew muhling This film has some lovely sentiments and messages. It's all the more touching given it's based on a true story. Hess is certainly a man I would have liked to shake hands with.Hess, is a World War 2 veteran with emotional scars left after a bombing accident over Germany. After trying his hand as a preacher and feeling empty, he finds him self back in the US Air Force in the 1950s Korean conflict. A large group of child refugees move him to act, and hopefully, ease the pain of the previous war. Certainly a story worth telling.Sadly the direction and much of the acting are very very cheesy. Hudson is adequate and the children are wonderful (as you'd expect). But many of the other performances are contrived and stilled. With the exception of some real combat camera footage, the battle scenes are thin. Evidently only men bleed when they are shot? If you are making a War film about a serious subject, I believe Hess is such a subject, do it the honour of not wrapping war in a flouncy skirt. Just a mid afternoon filler.

Polaris_DiB This Douglas Sirk helmed Christian humanist war drama comes courtesy the biography of Col. Dean Hess (Rock Hudson), WWII fighter-pilot turned minister who rejoins during the Korean War to find some sense and faith in his grief over his accidental bombing of an orphanage. It turns out that South Korea becomes the perfect place for him to do it, as hundreds of newly parentless children are without home nor a place to go. First he collects them all in an orphanage run by En Soon Yang (Anna Kashfi), but as territory is lost, he finds himself in with the need to find a haven for 400 children. Luckily, Yang is from an island untouched by the war; unfortunately, transport to that island is rapidly disappearing as the United States forces have to cut and run, leaving little behind them to be used by the North Koreans.Meanwhile, Hess is also right back in the saddle of the war machine, and has to confront his own religion with the needs of war. This happens as these new men, untrained, experience the same sense of guilt and loss that accompanies killing of other people for their country. It is only when one of his own men dies that Hess begins to understand that he is put there more for the comfort and salvation of the dying than for the destruction of other people, and his focus on saving the children redeems him from the atrocities of war.Christianity is layered throughout, from the first scene (a helmet under a religious icon stained glass window) through most of the dialog, but all of it stays focused on the charitable, giving aspects of Christianity and the crisis of faith one can have when confronted with evil and desperation. The movie never strays far from that message and is surprisingly realistic for the times about the Korean War. Whereas we're not confronted with the dirty realism that became familiar in films of the Vietnam era and later, nevertheless Sirk doesn't shy away from showing destruction in violence, and quite purposefully lingers on the corpses of innocents. However, the movie is from an earlier era of classic Hollywood style film-making, and a rather sentimental score underlines the tone of the movie, trying to keep morality high even in the showing of violence.A stand-out scene involves two men taking off during a heavy rainstorm, the planes apt to slip in the mud at any moment. It is one of the finer moments of tension in the movie.Overall, this movie is very good at winning the audience over and keeping a positive, faithful message while confronting the difficulties of war. Modern audiences are used to things being darker, grittier, and bloodier, and such heartfelt and even religious messages can turn many a cynical person off, but nevertheless the movie is well-produced and the message is strong.--PolarisDiB

Nick Zegarac (movieman-200) "Battle Hymn" is the story of a minister (Rock Hudson) who returns to train Korean soldiers to fight after he feels he has lost his calling. Of course he finds redemption and his true faith when he becomes involved with a group of Korean orphans and a young Korean/Indian woman that cares for them. Despite several brilliantly staged action sequences this film is not so much a war saga as it is a tale of introspection and finding courage in religion to carry on. The blend of both adventure and drama is seamless. "Battle Hymn" is an intelligently-crafted and inspiring without being stoic or preachy.THE TRANSFER: Overall the picture quality is nicely rendered but the ravages of time have not been kind in a few spots. Age related artifacts are present throughout – sometimes glaringly so. Black levels are often weak and fine detail is lost in the darkest scenes. Digital anomalies are not an issue for a generally smooth visual presentation. The audio is nicely presented – if somewhat dated.EXTRAS: None.BOTTOM LINE: "Battle Hymn" is finely wrought melodrama tinged with the prerequisite of combat that all war films have in common. The DVD is admirably realized but is not reference quality. Still, it's definitely worth a look.