The Proud and Profane

The Proud and Profane is a 1956 American romantic drama film directed by George Seaton and starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr with Thelma Ritter, Dewey Martin, William Redfield and Peter Hansen in supporting roles. It was made by William Perlberg-George Seaton Productions for Paramount Pictures released in theaters on June 13, 1956. The film was and produced by William Perlberg, from a screenplay by George Seaton, based on the 1953 novel The Magnificent Bastards by Lucy Herndon Crockett. Plot In 1943, Lee Ashley, the widow of a Paramarine lieutenant killed in the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal has joined the American Red Cross un Noumea, New Caledonia, to entertain American servicemen. Her leader at the service club, Kate Connors, had initially been reluctant to have her assigned there 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 Colin Black, 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, whom Kate notices is a changed, silent, and saddened man since she last knew him. During a battle, Holmes had gathered some Marines together in prayer. A Japanese soldier, thought to be dead, threw a hand grenade, killing several and wounding their sergeant. Black demotes the wounded sergeant because he should have known better than to let his men gather in the open and never lets him forget that his presence caused their deaths, with the bodies of the Marines shielding the chaplain from injury. Holmes's guilt is compounded by a tropical fever and exhaustion from working that has taken its toll.