Force of Arms

Armed with GI battle gear and his jaded, world-weary screen persona, William Holden pushes toward Rome with the famed Texas 36th Division Infantry in Force of Arms, from the author of Guadalcanal Diary. "You never hear the one that gets you" is the common wisdom when enemy shells fall. Similarly, Joe Peterson (Holden) never knows what hits him when he meets WAC officer Eleanor MacKay (Nancy Olson). Joe's always been fearless in battle. Now it's tempered by a newfound will to survive. But caution in war can have dire consequences. Holden and Olson, fellow Sunset Blvd. Oscar nominees* the year before, are powerfully and tenderly reunited as lovers engulfed in war's chaos. They're well showcased by the director of the ultimate wartime romance: Casablanca's Michael Curtiz.

• war