From Hell to Victory

In the shadow of the approaching World War, four friends an American, an Englishman, a Frenchman and a German vow to meet every year on the same day in the same cafe, regardless of the impending conflict., Chronicling the WWII experiences of six friends. George Peppard, George Hamilton, Horst Buchholz, Capucine, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sam Wanamaker. Directed by Hank Milestone., At the end of the 1930s, a group of friends of various nationalities promise to meet up again in Paris in a year’s time. But little do they know that the War is about to intervene and that their worlds are about to be torn apart., The internationally produced From Hell to Victory is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are separated by WW II. German Jurgen Dietrich (Horst Buchholz) is isolated from his old chums by his loyalty to the Fatherland. Still, he and his former comrades hold out hope for a happy reunion at war’s end. George Peppard, George Hamilton and Capucine also appear. Despite some well-done battle sequences and a star-studded cast, From Hell to Victory never received an American theatrical release. In some prints, director Umberto Lenzi is billed as “Hank Milestone” (possibly an homage to All Quiet on the Western Front director Lewis Milestone).