George Takei and Jeffrey Hunter. From Hell to Eternity to Star Trek alumni.

The story of Guy Gabaldon is just ripe for the telling, and Hollywood should sincerely consider re-making his story into a new movie.  Guy's story is unique in that he was a minority who was raised by another minority group.  Here is a boy with different ethnic influences who grew up to be an American hero.  Is this not the soap box that Obama climbed on to get to the White House?

Guy Gabaldon was a Hispanic boy growing up in a dysfunctional Los Angeles home in the 1930s.  According to the movie his best friend George, was a Japanese boy whose father was a coach at their school.  The film is vague on how it all comes to pass, but Guy ends up moving in with them and the coach's parents.   The three generations of Japanese-Americans became Guy's foster family.  He was particularly close to the grandmother, who taught him how to speak Japanese.

When World War II started, his new family was sent away to an internment camp. Guy gets drafted when he comes of age.  His ability to speak Japanese quickly makes him a valuable asset.  A large portion of the film features the deadly battle and capture of Saipan.  When he and another marine are hiding near some Japanese, he is able to translate their plans.  His big moment comes when he faces down a Japanese General who ends up killing himself in front of 800 Japanese soldiers.  Guy then convinces them all to surrender.

Hell to Eternity plays out in three acts.  The first is his youth, being raised with the Japanese family.  The third and longest is the realistic, action packed fighting in the war.  The second act is shortest, but also the most out of place. 

Guy and two other GI's spend their last day of liberty getting drunk and trying to get laid.  Their search for a good time ends in a room with a cold Japanese matriarch, a Japanese stripper with all the right curves, and an uptight American girl in uniform.   The stripper gives them a show while the men hoot and holler.  Once the American girl gets drunk enough she decides to do the same, causing much more lascivious reactions from the soldiers.  

As I wrote in my article, http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/article/The_Male_Libido_in_Early_American_Movies 1959-1961 were the years where men in film were finally allowed to act horny without being a villain.  Sure, sex on film happened before 1959 but it was done in the most chaste of ways.  Often male characters were ashamed or create excuses for acting on lustful thoughts.  What was about 1960 that finally allowed the pursuit of recreational sex to be acceptable?    

It is an interesting scene and the girls look good doing it.  It was highly censored as you end up seeing more of the guy's reaction than you do the women in their underwear.   Although it is a good scene, it should have been cut.  It has nothing to do with the rest of the story of a bilingual minority becoming a hero to a nation.  The film runs over two hours long and ends on the battlefield.  Although at one point he gets a letter from his foster grandmother, it would have been nice to see a reunion between them.  It would not have been as titillating as the stripper scene, but it would have made better sense plot wise.

As a six foot Caucasian with matinee idol looks, Hunter was not the best casting choice,  He was a fine enough actor but he did not resemble the short, average looking Mexican.  Hunter was the same age as Gabaldon, but he filmed his scenes 15-20 years to late.  With all the young male Hispanic actors in Hollywood today, I am sure they could find a better match to play the highly decorated Gabaldon, if they ever re-make this film. 

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