Baptism of Fire (1956)

Movie
German title	Baptism of fire
Original title	Between Heaven and Hell
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1956
length	94 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Richard Fleischer
script	Harry Brown
production	David Weisbart for 20th Century Fox
music	Hugo Friedhofer
camera	Leo Tover
cut	James B. Clark
occupation
Robert Wagner : Soldier Sam Francis Gifford Terry Moore : Jenny Gifford Broderick Crawford : Captain Grimes Buddy Ebsen : Soldier Willie Crawford Robert Keith : Colonel Cousins Brad Dexter : Lieutenant Joe Johnson Mark Damon : Soldier Terry Ken Clark : Morgan Harvey Lembeck : Soldier Bernard Meleski Skip Homeier : Soldier Swanson LQ Jones : Soldier Kenny Death Andrews : Lieutenant Ray Mosby Biff Elliot : Tom Thumb Bart Burns : Soldier Raker

Baptism of Fire is a war film by director Richard Fleischer from 1956. The literary film adaptation is based on the novel The Day the Century Ended by the American writer Francis Gwaltney . In the main role , Robert Wagner embodies the plantation owner Sam Gifford, who was drafted into military service during World War II .

action

Sam Francis Gifford, who owns a plantation in the southern states and is financially independent, is committed to military service in World War II. As a wealthy plantation owner, it was unknown to him until then to approach strangers or to accept their characteristics and opinions. Since he is racist , he was not particularly keen to even communicate with people who have dark skin.

However, when he had to do his military service on Pearl Harbor during the war , he met the black soldier Willie Crawford. Through this acquaintance, he realizes how wrong his own worldview was. As a result, he learns to be more tolerant of other people.

Production notes

The film was shot in Malibu Creek State Park in California , on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i and in the film studios of 20th Century Fox .

Oscar nomination

In 1957, composer Friedhofer was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best film music for his music .

Release dates and different film titles

In the United States, the film was released under its original title Between Heaven and Hell on October 11, 1956. In Japan it started on December 5th of the same year. In West Germany the cinema release was on January 4, 1957, in Sweden on January 28, 1957 (there under the title Djävulsön ), in Finland on February 1, 1957 (there under the title Kirottujen kukkula ), in Argentina on April 30, 1957 ( there under the title Entre el cielo y el infierno ), in France on June 5, 1957 (there under the title Le temps de la colère ), in Portugal on June 27, 1957 (there under the title Entre o Céu eo Inferno ), in Denmark on August 11, 1958 (there under the title I Stillehavets helvede ) and in Spain on February 6, 1961 (there under the title Los diablos del Pacífico ).

Reviews

The lexicon of international film is of the opinion that the film "[is] nrealistic, simplistic and psychologically weakly motivated" and "[... the film] is unable to convey its moral message."

The conclusion of the cinema magazine Cinema is: "Correct message presented in a simple way".

Web links

• Baptism of fire in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Baptism of fire in the lexicon of international film
• Baptism of fire for cinema .com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Baptism of Fire (1956) - Release Info - IMDb. In: imdb.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Baptism of Fire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .  
3. ↑ Baptism of Fire - Film - Cinema.de. In: cinema.de. Retrieved October 2, 2015 .