Movie #723 ........................."Force of Arms"

Movie #723 "Force of Arms" shows the brutality of war on two people who fall in love midst all the turmoil. The fight sequences are well done for the time period, and the message comes out loud and clear how tough WWII was on the civilians, the reluctant conscripted men & women like the ones Holden and Olson play. The ending is a bit unbelievable, but satisfying -- I was hoping it wouldn't end like "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" --- and happily, it didn't. The actors have good chemistry and the love story works, too. I'd give it 3 stars. 1951 film with William Holden and Nancy Olson --- director Curtiz Winter, 1943. The German army has halted the American advance in the mountains of Italy; back-and-forth combat decimates Joe Peterson's platoon. On leave in Naples, Joe meets WAC lieutenant Eleanor MacKay; initially cool, she begins to melt during a bombing raid. Their romance develops despite Joe's periodic returns to the front. But whether he'll come back in the end becomes more than doubtful.