''The Hell with Heroes'' (''A Time for Heroes'' and ''Run Hero Run'') is a 1968 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Joseph Sargent Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the action movie '' White Ligh ...

(his first feature directorial effort) set in Africa immediately after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film stars

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ''The Time Machine'' (1960), ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), '' The Birds'' (1963), and ''In ...

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

and

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Rep ...

Plot

In 1946, after fighting in World War II, two former

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

pilots in North Africa, Brynie MacKay (

) and Mike Brewer (

Pete Duel Peter Ellstrom Deuel (February 24, 1940 – December 31, 1971), known professionally as Pete Duel, was an American stage, television, and film actor, best known for his starring role as outlaw Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith) in the tel ...

) are forced to work for Lee Harris (

Harry Guardino Harry Guardino (December 23, 1925 – July 17, 1995) was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Biography Guardino was born to an Italian family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised in Bro ...

), an international smuggler to get money needed for their return to civilian life. The smuggler wants them to fly to France, with Egyptian cotton cargo. When Brynie finds that their real cargo is contraband cigarettes, he extorts Harris for more money. In retaliation, Harris plants narcotics on Brynie's aircraft and informs Colonel Wilson (

) at U. S. Counterintelligence. With Byrnie's aircraft impounded and his money seized, Elena (

), Harris's mistress comes to his aid. Harris exacts a promise for 12 more illegal cargo flights, but Mike warns that they will both be killed if they go ahead with this scheme. When Mike tries to trap Harris by informing Col. Wilson about the smuggling runs, Harris, who is flying with the two pilots, kills Mike, but is knocked out by Byrnie. Fearing Harris's gang is waiting for him at the prearranged destination, Byrnie lands his aircraft at an abandoned military air strip and informs Wilson where the contraband can be found. With Elena at his side, Byrnie then escapes to North Africa. When Harris tracks them down, Brynie overcomes Harris and turns him over to Wilson, and because of the deal Mike had made, is released. Byrnie decides to return to the United States with Elena and become a teacher, his former profession.

Cast

Production

Although by this stage in his film career, Rod Taylor was a reasonably big film star, the producers could get him cheaply for this film under an old multi-picture contract he had signed with

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

in 1962. Pete Duel was starting the first film as a Universal contract player.Green 2007, pp. 61–62.

Reception

''The Hell with Heroes'' did not receive positive critical reviews. In his review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', John Mahoney wrote that the film "... is a trite and unpleasant tale ... you are aware that the director is trying to punch up deficient material." In the review at ''The Motion Picture Herald'', the commentator noted that ''The Hell with Heroes'' was "... in the tradition of old-fashioned melodrama, which is essentially what this picture basically is."Green 2007, p. 61.

References

Bibliography

* Green, Paul. ''Pete Duel: A Biography'', 2d ed. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2007. . * Vagg, Stephen. ''Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood''. Albany, Georgia: Bear Manor Media, 2010. .

External links

* *
''The Hell with Heroes''
at the Rod Taylor Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Hell With Heroes 1968 drama films 1968 films American aviation films Films scored by Quincy Jones Films directed by Joseph Sargent Films set in 1946 Films set in Algeria Universal Pictures films Films with screenplays by Harold Livingston 1968 directorial debut films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films