Tous les héros sont morts

The different contributions by the screenplay and the director to a movie's quality have always been misunderstood. Critics, amateur and professional, give all the credit to the director when a film is good, and all the blame when a film is not.

"The Hell With Heroes" has a brilliant cast and a really good screenplay that, with one final polish, could have been a masterpiece. However, Universal entrusted this project to a TV director and a second string crew, and the movie did not fulfill its potential. Nevertheless, "The Hell With Heroes" is interesting and enjoyable, and in places quite moving. Better than almost any other film, it demonstrates that if the screenplay is good, a fine movie will probably result, even if the director is sub-standard.

Set in 1946 in North Africa and Europe, where the ravages of the Second World War have caused shortages of everything, "The Hell With Heroes" tells how two American ex-servicemen are lured into working with black-marketeers. One of the ex-war heroes falls in love with the mistress of the head of the racket, and all the main characters face dilemmas and have to make difficult choices. With that narrative material and that cast, a classic film could have resulted.

Unfortunately the director did not know where to place his camera: frequently the camera is too close, when a medium shot would have been better. Even worse, the director is in too much of a hurry and does not allow scenes to play naturally, with characters pausing to think, and with emotions rising gradually. There are several key scenes that fall well short of the screenplay's potential. This is not the cast's fault. They do the best they can, and Rod Taylor in particular provides some high quality emotional acting.

Another area where the movie should have been better is in the make-up and lighting of Claudia Cardinale. Cardinale in the 1960s was a magnificent woman, but her beauty is given no help in "The Hell With Heroes". If only someone like Jack Cardiff or John Alton had been behind the camera! (If only someone like John Frankenheimer or Robert Wise had been directing!)

"The Hell With Heroes" seems to have disappeared in recent years, and is now almost unknown. Not long ago a bootleg DVD was touted on Ebay, and the vendor stated that the copyright was in the public domain. I hope this is incorrect, because I want Universal to issue a proper wide-screen DVD.

Had it been informed by the sensibilities prevailing but a few years after its release, The Hell With Heroes might have become a cult classic: two discarded war heroes, cynical pilot-of-fortune Taylor and his appealingly (and handsomely) ingenuous sidekick Deuel, adventuring in an Africa in its last throes of anti-colonialist turmoil, fall victims to a crook and his moll ... it reeks of existential angst while providing plenty of Cardinale's cleavage (with stuff blowing up in the background). But the film neatly sidesteps the paradoxes it presents -- whose land is this, and who are the real savages here? (Hint: they wear wrist watches and sunburn easily). Deuel's performance has satisfying depth, and his technique, considerable subtlety; despite the role's stereotypical attributes (friendly, uncomplicated kid, worships older, cynical Alpha Male), his is the only character whom we suspect of thoughts and feelings to which we are not explicitly privy. Worth watching if only to ponder how Deuel might further have developed his craft had he not succumbed to depression over the slick commercial path onto which his career was even then being steered. Taylor is reliably fun to watch, Cardinale is real eye-candy, and Guardino and McCarthy deliver as always ... the action and scenery aren't half bad, either. As a plus, it's a decent family film (not pre-schoolers, of course), with a moral spin about what evil does to those who tolerate it and the usual pre-ratings absence of frontal nudity, baroque sexuality, and self-medication with heroin. Good beat, you can dance to it -- I give it an 85.

I saw this film maybe 25/30 years ago on T.V. and thought it was a great film. I knew who Rod Taylor was from The Time Machine and The Birds, and thought the dark haired young man working with him was particularly handsome - I didn't even know it was Pete Duel! From what I remember of the film, it was very exciting and built up to a very emotional climax.

What a shame Pete Duel's films have faded out of circulation while other films that were not half as good are given air time on T.V. and can be purchased relatively easily.

I love Rod Taylor's films and this one should be proudly displayed with the rest of his excellent work.

I've never understood why they have not shown this film on T.V. since. I keep hoping TCM or Sky Classics will dig a copy out of the vault and broadcast it (but it hasn't happened yet) - I live in hope. Failing that, I would love to buy this film (but can't find it - grrr!). If anyone out there has any pull with the studios, please, please, please, release this film on DVD (and don't forget us who don't live in the US, who would love to see this film too)!!! Just release it for one year - and in different regions - and tell us when it's out - that will be enough time. Pleeeeaaaase????