The Proud and Profane (1956)

In Noumea, New Caledonia 1943, Lee Ashley (Deborah Kerr), the widow of a Paramarine lieutenant killed on the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal has joined the American Red Cross on the island to entertain American servicemen. Her leader at the service club, Kate Connors (Thelma Ritter) had initially been reluctant to have her assigned to New Caledonia lest she use her position as a pilgrimage to find out about her late husband. In addition to entertaining, serving the soldiers and giving French lessons, the Red Cross women are expected to help with the wounded — which Lee initially refuses to do.

A Marine Raider battalion comes to New Caledonia after fighting in the South Pacific. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Black (William Holden) objects to the Red Cross women treating his men softly; he states that the only place for women in war are "skirts" that the men chase and the "sweethearts" that wait for them back home. He changes his mind when he tries to seduce the attractive Lee, who initially refuses his advances. Black decides to gain her interest by pretending he knew Lee's late husband and was with him shortly before he died. Though Lee despises the Colonel's arrogance and demands, she is fascinated by him and falls in love with him.

Another member of the battalion is the Navy chaplain, Lieutenant Junior Grade Holmes (William Redfield) whom Kate notices is a changed, silent, and saddened man since she last knew him. During a battle the Chaplain had gathered some Marines together in prayer. A Japanese soldier, thought to be dead, used the group as a target for his hand grenade, killing several and wounding their sergeant with a spinal injury. Black demotes the wounded sergeant in rank because he should have known better than to let his men gather in the open. Black constantly harasses the Chaplain by never letting him forget that his presence caused their deaths, with the bodies of the Marines shielding the Chaplain from any injury. Holmes's guilt is compounded by a tropical fever and exhaustion from working that has taken its toll.

Another man in the battalion is Private Eddie Wodcik (Dewey Martin) whom Kate had adopted and raised in New York when his parents and sister were burned to death in a tenement fire. Kate loves him like her own child and he reciprocates when he is not being watched by his fellow Marines. Eddie feels that Lee looks exactly like his sister would have if she hadn't died and becomes her protector, promising violent retribution against anyone who doesn't show Lee respect. Eddie demonstrates his ability by giving a disrespectful sailor (Ross Bagdasarian) a jiu jitsu throw to the floor.

Lee and the colonel have dinner on board an American warship. A former neighbor of Lee is now a naval officer (Peter Hansen) on the ship and is present at dinner. Lee and the naval officer spend the evening talking about their pre-war civilian lives in a wealthy community. An angry Black later relates to Lee his life of childhood poverty as a half Indian in Montana. When the Raiders are shipped out for a couple of months, Lee discovers she is pregnant and that the colonel has a wife in Washington. She later learns things about her husband that she never knew. The hot-headed Eddie also discovers what his colonel has done to Lee.

Cast

William Holden as Lt. Col. Colin Black
Deborah Kerr as Lee Ashley
Thelma Ritter as Kate Connors
Dewey Martin as Eddie Wodcik
William Redfield as Chaplain Lt. (jg) Holmes
Ross Bagdasarian as Louie
Adam Williams as Eustace Press
Marion Ross as Joan
Theodore Newton as Bob Kilpatrick
Richard Shannon as Major
Peter Hansen as Lieutenant (jg) Hutchins
Ward Wood as Sergeant Chester Peckinpaugh
Geraldine Hall as Helen
Evelyn Cotton as Beth
Ann Morriss as Pat

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