Hell's Horizon

Last updated
Hell's Horizon
HellsHorizon.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Tom Gries
Written byTom Gries
Produced byWray Davis
Starring John Ireland
Cinematography Floyd Crosby
Edited byAaron Stell
Music by Heinz Roemheld
Production
companies
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Gravis Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • January 1, 1955 (1955-01-01)
  • December 1955 (1955-12)
[Note 1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hell's Horizon is a 1955 American war film directed by Tom Gries. The film stars John Ireland and Marla English. Hell's Horizon recounts the story of a bomber crew in the Korean War.

Contents

Plot

During the Korean War, United States Air Force Captain John Merrill (John Ireland) is the pilot of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber. Merrill is based in Okinawa and is ordered to destroy a Yalu River bridge in Korea. The mission is continually delayed due to bad weather. His co-pilot (Bill Williams) has to step in when the bored and frustrated crew members begin to fight over Sammi (Marla English), a local woman who is employed as a laundress at their base.

When the weather finally clears over the target, Merrill is ordered to attack the strategic bridge, but with only cloud cover as his protection. The North Koreans are prepared, and anti-aircraft guns hit the bomber as it descends out of the clouds. The attack is a success, but some crew members are killed, including "Jockey" (Chet Baker), the popular trumpeter of the base. Others on board are wounded. Merrill has to contend not only with the damaged bomber, but also flying through a deadly storm.

The bomber returns to base with extensive damage and only one engine still working, so Merrill has to make a "pancake" landing. [Note 2] The survivors make it back in time to hear the announcement of Sammi's engagement to one of the crew, Sgt. "Buddy" Lewis (Larry Pennell).

Cast

Production

Hell's Horizon relied on a large amount of stock footage. [4]

Reception

Despite its release only a few years after the end of the Korean War, Hell's Horizon was no more than a typical B war film. Reviewer Alun Evans summed it up as a "standard action drama of a single bomber raid in the Korean conflict with no redeeming features." [5] In Leonard Maltin's review, he merely noted, "Interaction among men of bombing squad in the Korean War." [6]

See also

Notes

  1. Hell's Horizon has been variously listed as a 1955 release with two different release dates. [1]
  2. A pancake landing is an emergency landing with the landing gear retracted. [2]
  3. The opening film credits list him as "... and introducing Chet Baker and his trumpet." [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Executive Decision</i> 1996 US action film by Stuart Baird

Executive Decision is a 1996 American action film directed by Stuart Baird in his directorial debut. The film stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, David Suchet, and B.D. Wong. It depicts the rescue of an airliner hijacked by terrorists, by a small team placed on the plane in mid-flight. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 1996, and grossed $122 million against a $55 million budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chet Baker</span> American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer (1929-1988)

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".

<i>Hell Divers</i> 1932 film

Hell Divers is a 1932 American pre-Code black-and-white film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations aboard the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.

<i>The Fighting Seabees</i> 1944 film by Edward Ludwig

The Fighting Seabees is a 1944 war film, directed by Edward Ludwig and starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast includes Dennis O'Keefe, William Frawley, Leonid Kinsky, Addison Richards and Grant Withers. The Fighting Seabees portrays a heavily fictionalized account of the dilemma that led to the creation of the U.S. Navy's "Seabees" in World War II.At the 17th Academy Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for Walter Scharf and Roy Webb but the award went to Max Steiner for Since You Went Away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Evans</span> American actor (1922–1998)

Eugene Barton Evans was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989.

<i>Catch-22</i> (film) 1970 film

Catch-22 is a 1970 American satirical black comedy war film adapted from the 1961 novel of the same name by Joseph Heller. In creating a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel set at a fictional Mediterranean base during World War II, director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry worked on the film script for two years, converting Heller's complex novel to the medium of film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Reed (actor)</span> American actor (1916-2001)

Walter Reed was an American stage, film and television actor.

<i>Above and Beyond</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama

Above and Beyond is a 1952 American World War II film about Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.

<i>Desperate Journey</i> 1942 film by Raoul Walsh

Desperate Journey is a 1942 American World War II action and aviation film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale Sr., and Arthur Kennedy. The melodramatic film featured a group of downed Allied airmen making their way out of the Third Reich, often with their fists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marla English</span> American actress

Marleine Gaile English was an American film actress during the 1950s.

<i>Bombers B-52</i> 1957 American drama film directed by Gordon Douglas

Bombers B-52 is a 1957 Warner Bros. CinemaScope film in WarnerColor, produced by Richard Whorf and directed by Gordon Douglas. The film stars Natalie Wood and Karl Malden, and co-stars Marsha Hunt and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. It was adapted from a Sam Rolfe story by screenwriter Irving Wallace. Leonard Rosenman composed the score.

<i>Appointment in London</i> 1953 film by Philip Leacock

Appointment in London is a 1953 British war film set during the Second World War and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film was directed by Philip Leacock and based on a story by John Wooldridge, who as an RAF bomber pilot flew 108 operational sorties over Europe. Wooldridge, who after the war established himself as a successful film composer before his untimely death in a car accident, also wrote the film score and participated in writing the screenplay for 'Appointment in London'.

<i>One Minute to Zero</i> 1952 film by Tay Garnett

One Minute to Zero is a 1952 American romantic war film starring Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth, set during the opening phases of the Korean War, and produced by Howard Hughes as his last film as producer. Victor Young's score for the film includes the first appearance of "When I Fall In Love." The film showcases the contributions of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, the South Korean Army, the United Nations, the British Army and the Royal Australian Air Force during the early days of the Korean War. The effects of air power in the Korean War were also vividly depicted through the use of combat footage.

<i>Command Decision</i> (film) 1948 film by Sam Wood

Command Decision is a 1949 war film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, and Brian Donlevy, and directed by Sam Wood, based on the 1948 stage play of the same name written by William Wister Haines, which he based on his best-selling 1947 novel. The screenplay for the film was written by George Froeschel and William R. Laidlaw. Haines' play ran on Broadway for almost a year beginning in October 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Pennell</span> American actor

Lawrence Kenneth "Larry" Pennell was an American television and film actor, often remembered for his role as "Dash Riprock" in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. His career spanned half a century, including starring in the first-run syndicated adventure series Ripcord in the leading role of Skydiver Theodore "Ted" McKeever, as well as playing Keith Holden in Lassie. He was also a baseball player, playing on scholarship for the University of Southern California (USC) and later professionally for the Boston Braves organization.

<i>Men of the Fighting Lady</i> 1954 film by Andrew Marton

Men of the Fighting Lady is a 1954 American war drama film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Louis Calhern and Keenan Wynn. The screenplay was written by U.S. Navy Commander Harry A. Burns, who had written a Saturday Evening Post article, "The Case of the Blinded Pilot", an account of a U.S. Navy pilot in the Korean War, who saves a blinded Navy pilot by talking him down to a successful landing. Men of the Fighting Lady was also inspired by another Saturday Evening Post article, "The Forgotten Heroes of Korea" by James A. Michener. The original music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa. It is also known as Panther Squadron. It is not to be confused with the 1944 documentary The Fighting Lady, which was mainly filmed aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10).

<i>Suicide Battalion</i> 1958 film by Edward L. Cahn

Suicide Battalion is a 1958 World War II film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Mike Connors and John Ashley, who made the film while on leave from the United States Army. In 1968, it was remade for television by Larry Buchanan as Hell Raiders, which was the film's original working title.

<i>Jump into Hell</i> 1955 film by David Butler

Jump into Hell is a 1955 war film directed by David Butler. The film stars Jacques Sernas and Kurt Kasznar. As the first Hollywood film based on the war in French Indochina, the story is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

<i>The Wild Blue Yonder</i> (1951 film) 1951 war film directed by Allan Dwan

The Wild Blue Yonder is a 1951 war film directed by Allan Dwan. The film stars Wendell Corey, Vera Ralston, Forrest Tucker and Phil Harris. Wild Blue Yonder deals with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress air raids on Japan during World War II.

<i>Flight Nurse</i> (film) 1953 film by Allan Dwan

Flight Nurse is a 1953 American drama war film directed by Allan Dwan and stars Joan Leslie and Forrest Tucker. The film is largely based on the life of Lillian Kinkella Keil, one of the most decorated women in American military history. Flight Nurse begins with the dedication: "This picture is respectfully dedicated to that brave legion of military nurses who are serving with the armed forces of free nations all over the world. These angels of mercy – shoulder to shoulder, share the danger and hardships of free fighting men everywhere, with devotion above and beyond the call of duty."

References

  1. "Hell's Horizon (1955)." moviefone.com. Retrieved: September 14, 2014.
  2. "Pancake landing." Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved: September 14, 2014.
  3. "'Hell's Horizon'." YouTube. Retrieved: September 14, 2014.
  4. "Hell's Horizon." Allmovie. Retrieved: September 14, 2014.
  5. Evans 2000, p. 94.
  6. Maltin, Leonard. "Overview: Hell's Horizon". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: September 14, 2014.

Bibliography