To Hell and Back (1955)

War hero turned (mostly westerns) movie star Audie Murphy plays himself in this film adaptation of his (largely ghostwritten) memoir of the same name. To Hell and Back, after briefly visiting its subjects poor, rural Texas childhood, focuses on Murphy's remarkable military career. With a falsified birthdate the young and relatively small Murphy tried to join, and was rejected by, the marines, the navy, and the army paratroops, before ending up a grunt in north Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. The young solder excelled and gained confidence, eventually earning a battlefield commission as well as every possible commendation for bravery the army offered at the time, along with awards from the French and Belgian governments. He took risks, and he did so to save the lives of his friends, seeing some of the things he did its amazing to think they actually happened. This is an inspiring story well told, a tribute to what was best about mid century America, as well as a massive box office hit. I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to any WWII movie fan who hasn't seen it yet. ****