"War Is Hell" was the second of two features (along with "Cry of Battle") playing at the Texas Theatre in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. After fatally shooting US President John F. Kennedy and Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit earlier that afternoon, Lee Harvey Oswald sneaked into the theater without paying. After box office cashier Julia Postal was informed by shoe store employee John Brewer that a man had entered the theater, she called Dallas police. Despite attempting to shoot the arresting officer, Oswald was arrested. Oswald was fatally shot two days later by club owner Jack Ruby while being transferred to another jail. Coincidentally, lead actor Baynes Barron was born on May 29, 1917—the same day as the fallen president.