The combined credits of William Holden and Deborah Kerr will contain the titles of the best films of the Fifties. But The Proud And Profane will never go down in the top 10 list of either of these stars.Kerr is a Red Cross volunteer sent to New Caledonia which was a major US base in the Pacific War in the Forties. She's a recent widow of a Marine Lieutenant killed at Guadalcanal. Now she's in her grief trying to make some kind of atonement. What we don't need here is women on some kind of pilgrimage as her new supervisor at the Red Cross played by Thelma Ritter points out. In fact Ritter tries many times during the film to give Kerr a reality check.Holden was her husband's brigade commander and one tougher than usually tough Marine. Apparently her husband was a sensitive sort and Holden is unlike him in just about every way. In fact Holden is brutally frank about wanting to get to know her intimately and does.After which he undergoes a complete change of heart. And it turns out he's married most unhappily to a woman back in the states. These two stars had all the chemistry of vinegar and peppermint lifesavers. Funny because very soon Kerr was to be cast with Robert Mitchum in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison where he plays a tough Marine and she a nun. Those two were wonderful on screen together. But no movie magic emanated from the silver screen with Holden and Kerr.William Redfield plays a chaplain and some of those scenes with Holden were like Spock and McCoy going back and forth. Redfield was way too self righteous in a way DeForest Kelley never was.Best in the film is Thelma Ritter who many times is just that. And Adam Williams has a small, but key role as a gravedigger and tender in the new cemetery on Guadalcanal. He's the one who finally gives Kerr the ultimate of reality checks.Definitely a film for fans of the two stars and Thelma Ritter.

"The Proud and Profane" is an annoying war film. That's because to me, the characters (in particular the two leads) come off as phony and unlikable. Together, they form a relationship that is about as believable as a politician making a promise (of any sot).Deborah Kerr plays a very annoying woman. Her husband was killed at Guadalcanal and, inexplicably, she joins the Red Cross and goes to the Pacific to try to find folks who could tell her about her husband. This is hard to believe but when wounded men arrive and she doesn't want to see them because it bothers her to see hurt men, I just wanted to slap her. What an immature and unlikable lady--more like a débutante going to a cotillion than a lady volunteering to help in the war effort.As for William Holden, he plays a tough 'blood and guts' colonel who is VERY intense and selfish. His way of dealing with things is to tell the men to suck it up. Lost an arm? Suck it up. Paralyzed for life? Stop your whining. He even yells at the Chaplin! This guy makes Attila the Hun seem charming.So, you've got too seriously unlikable characters. And, they seem to have absolutely nothing--NOTHING--in common. So, when they suddenly starts kissing and the music wells up with a romantic strain, I felt like throwing a coffee cup at the TV screen. The dialog simply was some of the worst I'd heard of since my last Ed Wood film! The sticky, gooey, and utterly stupid dialog. The worst might be Holden's 'Indian half-breed' speech--but it's all pretty lame.I've noticed that this film has a respectable overall score and decent reviews. Well, I don't get it. Despite top stars, this is a bad film whose only interesting attributes are the bit characters--where you get to see a very young Marion Ross and David Bagdasarian (the guy who created the Chipmunks) in small parts. Otherwise, a complete waste of time.

The Proud and Profane (1956)Yes, this movie features William Holden and Deborah Kerr, who do their characteristic best in a lower budget echo of the 1953 blockbuster "From Here to Eternity," also featuring Kerr (but with Lancaster and, for good measure, Montgomery Clift). The comparison is fair, because the similarities are too blatant, and so it's fair to also say that, as ordinary as this movie is, it had potential. There are qualities to the story line that are too moving (wounded soldiers in the Pacific, a widow tracing the last days of her Marine husband's life, a love affair against the rules) and the actors are too fine (add Thelma Ritter as an important third) to just dismiss the whole thing as a mess.The director, George Seaton, is really a screenwriter, and though he directed a dozen features, none of them are especially memorable. His real fame rests on assisting with several great movies (like "The Wizard of Oz") and with a single brilliant coup--the screenplay for the original 1947 as well as the later TV version of "Miracle on 34th St." And it is no surprise that Seaton's own screen writing in "The Proud and Profane," though prosaic, is very good. Ah, but filmmaking is about timing, flow, surprise, drama, light, shadow, and sounds of all kinds. This is the director's blank canvas and Seaton doesn't go anywhere in any of these areas. The light is bright and flat. The camera-work is functional and bland (cameraman John Warren being a newcomer, moving quickly to television, including many Hitchcock episodes). The score is strong (thanks to veteran master Victor Young) but there is no attempt to insert diegetic music or more interesting internal sounds. Even the supporting cast is pigeonholed into clichés (and there is no critical secondary male role, as Clift played in the 1953 movie). Thelma Ritter is at her best, more normalized than in other roles, but believable and superb.I write all this for a routine movie because of Holden, who is an understated and sometimes brilliant actor, and Kerr, who I never warm up to but who is almost designed to be too cold to like. Kerr in particular is up and down here, at times so perfectly cast and so convincing you start to really watch closely, but other times she has to stretch her role a little (when she is dancing, for example, or in the cheesy beach scene early on) and it's awkward. Holden is made to be an enigma, and when he warms up (out of uniform) he's likable, and when he's cold, he's cold, but never admirable, which is what a commander needs to be at least.I enjoyed this movie because I enjoy movies, but also because it has aspects that are terrific. If you really like war films that aren't about battle (as I do), this is a must see. And if you want perspective on "From Here to Eternity" you really will appreciate both films more. For just a fresh, well-made movie, terrific you will need to keep looking.

An intriguing recounting of the tolls of war from a human standpoint without graphic depiction of battle scenes, this focuses upon the lives of four primary characters stationed in Guadalcanal and/or Bataan, in the South Pacific, during World War II."The Proud and Profane" (Paramount, 1956) studies psychological aspects of its characters: Lieutenant Colonal Colin Black (William Holden in a belligerent role), Lee Ashley (Deborah Kerr as a determined force), Kate Connors (Thelma Ritter as a no-nonsense nursing supervisor), Eddie Wodcik (Dewey Martin as an innocent serviceman) and Chaplain Holmes (William Redfield as an altruistic minister).While Lee volunteers with Kate's Red Cross troop with an ulterior motive in mind, Colin finds himself drawn to her unattainable reserve. Kate provides common sense for Lee to abide by and also security for the nurses and wounded service personal in her charge, as well as for Eddie, whom she treats as her nephew.Produced by William Perlberg, directed by George Seaton, with its screenplay by George Seaton, based on a novel by Lucy Herndon Crockett, this wartime drama pleasantly buffers the viewer from unwelcome scenes of direct enemy attacks. Filmed in Black & White on location in Puerto Rico, this affords the viewer arrays of tropical scenery and often contains aerial footage of panoramic mountain scenery, as well as its calm coastal plains and lagoons.Its capable cast handles its material well, with poignant portrayals of those who serve and suffer...in more ways than one.