To Hell and Back

"Rejected by the Marines, the Navy, and the Army paratroopers due to his small size and youthful appearance, when he was finally accepted by the army Murphy became the most decorated soldier in U.S. history!!!"

1955 1h 46m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 71

ActionRomanceDramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

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The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.

“Rejected by the Marines, the Navy, and the Army paratroopers due to his small size and youthful appearance, when he was finally accepted by the army Murphy became the most decorated soldier in U.S. history!!!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Marshall Thompson
Johnson
Charles Drake
Brandon
Gregg Palmer
Lt Manning
David Janssen
Lt Lee
Denver Pyle
Thompson
Jack Kelly
Kerrigan
Paul Picerni
Valentino

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writers: Gil Doud
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jesse Hibbs, shot by Maury Gertsman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Edward Curtiss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Audie Murphy and Marshall Thompson and Charles Drake carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Rejected by the Marines, the Navy, and the Army paratroopers due to his small size and youthful appearance, when he was finally accepted by the army Murphy became the most decorated soldier in U.S. history!!!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0048729 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jesse Hibbs directs. Maury Gertsman behind the camera. Edward Curtiss cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

171 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Jesse Hibbs, shot by Maury Gertsman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Edward Curtiss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Audie Murphy and Marshall Thompson and Charles Drake carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Rejected by the Marines, the Navy, and the Army paratroopers due to his small size and youthful appearance, when he was finally accepted by the army Murphy became the most decorated soldier in U.S. history!!!".
7IMDB entry: tt0048729 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Maury Gertsman
Editing: Edward Curtiss
Makeup / hair: Joan St. Oegger
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: To Hell and Back (1955)

Also by

Jesse Hibbs

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-02-01
★ 7/10
Based on the true exploits of Audie L. Murphy’s experiences during the Second World War, he plays himself as he leaves his rural Texas farmstead and makes his way via training, North Africa, Italy and France to a parade back home where he is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. Now obviously he is making this film and pretty much intact, too, so there’s not a great deal of jeopardy about that. What we do witness, though, is an understated patriot who knows how to engage with an audience and who, given the Korean War was still keeping young American men from their families as this was released, manages to convey a less militaristic and more human characterisation of a soldier as opposed to the more “ye ha!” types. Perhaps it is a little sentimentalised, but he comes across as very much a charismatic man in or leading a squad of friends, or brothers, and with plenty of cheeky banter incorporated into the action scenes, the whole film has a cinematic authenticity to it that I found quite watchable. Though there’s nothing especially graphic here, it still doesn’t shy away from tragedy and goes some way to reminding us that war isn’t a game nor were the Nazis the pushover so often suggested in other war movies.

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