Battle Hymn is a 1957 war drama directed by Douglas Sirk, it stars Rock Hudson and Anna Kashfi. The film is based on the autobiography of the same name by Colonel Dean Hess, a Korean War veteran who famously evacuated hundreds of orphans to safety during a North Korean attack.
Director: Douglas Sirk
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Cast: Rock Hudson, Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea, Don DeFore, Martha Hyer
US Box Office: $9,750,000 ($186,600,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Eastmancolor (shot in CinemaScope)
Genre: War, Drama
Release Date: February 14, 1957
Plot Summary: Dean Hess (Rock Hudson) is a small town minister who feels guilty for accidental deaths caused by his bombing as a pilot during World War II, so he re-enlists with the US Airforce during the Korean War to atone for his previous mistakes. While in Korea, Hess befriends Korean woman En Soon Yang (Anna Kashfi) and decides create a shelter for Korean orphans.
Production: In 1956, Colonel Dean Hess, a United States Air Force colonel, published his autobiography Battle Hymn. Producers at Universal liked Hess’s story and thought that it would make a good movie, so the studio purchased the rights to the book. Universal producer Ross Hunter chose Douglas Sirk, who was under contract with Universal at the time, to direct the film. Vincent B. Evans and Charles Grayson were hired to write the film’s script. The original title for the film was By Faith I Fly, but it was later changed to the book’s title, Battle Hymn. Universal also hired Dean Hess himself to be a consultant and technical advisor on the film. Hess donated the money he made from working on the film to his charity Hope Inc. that supported Korean orphans.
Universal originally planned to cast Robert Mitchum as Hess. Hess himself vetoed this decision. Mitchum was notorious at the time for his highly publicized 1948 arrest for drug use, so Hess did not want to be associated with the actor. Montgomery Clift was also considered for the part, but Universal later settled on casting Rock Hudson, who the real Hess approved of (at the time). British-Indian actress Anna Kashfi was cast as the leading lady, En Soon Yang. Twenty five real-life Korean War orphans rescued by Hess play themselves in the film.
Battle Hymn was primarily filmed on location in Nogales, Arizona. Universal was unable to film in South Korea, so producer Ross Hunter decided to shoot in Nogales, which had a somewhat similar landscape to Korea. The United States Air Force worked with Universal on the film shoot, they arranged for the Texas Air National Guard to loan out a dozen of their F-51D Mustangs to the production. Dean Hess supervised the use of the Texas Air National Guard’s aircraft in the film and he was one of the pilots in combat scenes. In March of 1956 director Douglas Sirk broke his ankle while filming a scene. Sirk was temporarily replaced by the assistant directors while he recovered, but by May he returned to the set and directed the rest of the film in a wheelchair. Battle Hymn was shot in color in the extra wide CinemaScope format.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Actor James Hong, who has had a very long career as a character actor, makes an early appearance in Battle Hymn playing South Korean Major Chong. A poster for Battle Hymn is seen at the movie theater in “Where is Everybody” (1959), the first episode of The Twilight Zone television series. The gold pilot helmet that Rock Hudson wears in the film was Dean Hess’ actual helmet. It was a navy helmet that Hess was allowed to keep from a Navy pilot who crash landed at the airfield. The helmet is currently displayed in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Actress Anna Kashfi wanted to adopt Kwan Yung, one of the real-life Korean orphans who played himself in the film. The two had become close during the filming, but the adoption was unfortunately denied because American laws at the time did not allow for the adoption of Korean orphans.
Reception: Battle Hymn premiered at Dean Hess’ hometown of Marietta, Ohio on February 14, 1957. Battle Hymn received primarily negative reviews when it was first released. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times thought that the film was incredibly generic and conventional for a military film, but that it would become a box office hit because of its CinemaScope format and the fact that it was in color. In modern times Battle Hymn has largely been forgotten, and the few modern critics who have reviewed it have largely been negative as well.
Fortunately, Battle Hymn was more successful at the box office. The film’s inspirational military and pro-faith content appealed to regular people, and it was one of the top twenty highest grossing films of the year. While it was not nominated for any Oscars, Battle Hymn did win the Golden Globe award for “Best Film Promoting International Understanding” in 1957. The film was also popular in South Korea, where Hess is regarded as a hero, sometimes called the “Father of the Korean War Orphans.” Battle Hymn is usually aired annually on television on South Korea’s Memorial Day (June 6).
Why You Should See It: Battle Hymn is a pretty good war drama film. Most of the cast members are good in their roles. The action is good and the airplane battle scenes in the film are impressive as well. Battle Hymn has a good message about redemption and is strongly pro-faith. Battle Hymn isn’t perfect, but it is very well-intentioned and enjoyable.