324 TO HELL AND BACK
I looked at it more closely, I saw that Hussein was left in power and George
Bush encouraged the Iraqi civilians to rise up against Hussein and said ‘ We’ll
help you do it.’ And the people did rise up, and we didn’t support them...
and they got massacred by their own army. I thought that this would be an
in ter est ing backdrop for a story about a band of soldiers who go into this sur-
real, corrupted Iraqi atmosphere after the war. They think Iraq is littered with
cell phones, luxury cars and booty stolen from rich Kuwait, and they want to
steal something for themselves. But they suddenly find a situation that com-
pletely confronts their humanity and demands that they re- think what they’re
doing and who they are. Almost every thing in the film is true. Saddam did
steal all the gold from Kuwait, and it was missing for a long time. When he had
to return it, some was missing... And many American soldiers were dissatis-
fied about leaving Saddam in power and seeing him beat up his own people.
(:// urbancinefile. com. au / home / view. asp? a= 3186 & s= Features).What Russell could not acknowledge is that his story constructs a Western liberal
wish- fulfillment fantasy that uncritically posits a “white savior” cinematic trope,
that is, the portrayal of a white character (Clooney’s Archie Gates) rescuing people
of color from their plight: an example of a paternalistic Orientalism that subtly
undermines the film’s putative good intentions.To Hell and Back (1955)
Synopsis
To Hell and Back is an American war film directed by Jesse Hibbs and starring Medal
of Honor recipient Audie Murphy as himself. Based on Murphy’s 1949 autobiog-
raphy, the film recounts his combat exploits in the Eu ro pean Theater during World
War II.Background
Medal of Honor winner Audie Leon Murphy (1924–1971) killed 250 enemy sol-
diers; he was the most decorated U.S. combat soldier in WWII and a celebrated
national hero. When Universal- International purchased the film rights to Audie
Murphy’s memoir, To Hell and Back (1949, ghost writer: David “Spec” McClure) in
June 1953, the studio approached Murphy to play himself. Concerned that taking
the role would be perceived as self- aggrandizing, he initially declined, recommend-
ing Tony Curtis instead, with whom he had previously co- starred in three West-
erns. Producer Aaron Rosenberg and director Jesse Hibbs pressured Murphy to star
in the picture, despite the fact that 31- year- old Murphy would be portraying himself
as he was at ages 18 to 20— actually not a prob lem inasmuch as Murphy still had an
unusually youthful appearance. Eventually Murphy relented and signed on.Production
The movie was filmed at Fort Lewis and the Yakima Training Center, near Yakima,
Washington, in the fall of 1954 with soldiers from the base serving as extras.