Kelly's Heroes (1970), directed by Brian G. Hutton.
First review
Comic WW2 caper film on an ambitious scale. Clint Eastwood is the star but it is an ensemble picture. Telly Savalas tends to dominate the scenes he's in. He's the only ethical character, doing it for the other men rather than the money. Extra comedy from Don Rickles ("Crapgame", a hustler) and Donald Sutherland ("Oddball", a hippy tank commander who must have a time machine somewhere).
It's mostly fun. They mow down armies of Germans in largely bloodless mayhem. The shouting and comic mugging was funnier then than now; time is hard on comedy. The whole tone is vastly cynical, but this was the Vietnam era and Hollywood respect for the military had been declining for a long time. There was a long period on TV and in the movies where officers were nothing but buffoons and no plot was too ridiculous.
Best to skip over technical problems, like the difference between mortars and artillery field pieces. Also: movie makers seem to have no idea how much gold weighs. The actors sling it around as if it were brass plated props.
There is one segment that stands out: the approach to and entry of the town with the Nazi gold before the big battle is nicely tense, well staged and photographed.
The "Burning Bridges" theme song, a bit of bubble-gum sung by the Mike Curb Congregation, is a woefully unfortunate choice. I remember it had some radio play. Other than that the Lalo Schifrin score is fine, particularly in the above mentioned pre-battle sequence.
Available on Blu-ray.
Second review
New notes and thumbnails from the Blu-ray. I'm liking it more now than last time.
That's a great opening: lines of German soldiers in the rain at night, steely-eyed Clint Eastwood in a jeep in the middle of it, trying not to be noticed.
Making a war film during an increasingly unpopular real war must take some care. You want a wide audience so it must be both exciting and satirical, with misfits for heroes, as in The Dirty Dozen (1967). Cynics but not cowards. Need an appropriate enemy and nazis are always fair game. But even that rule is bent here when they make common cause with an SS officer.
I had a neighbor who had been a WW2 combat vet in France. He said he prefered to remember the funny parts and I wonder if he liked this film?
Not just an Eastwood picture but a great ensemble film. Telly Savalas and Don Rickles do great work here. I love everyone's pained responses to Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" utterances.
Filmed in Yugoslavia with great use of wide spaces and big skies. Production seemed to take over the whole town of Vižinada, beaten-down before and even more demolished by the tank battles.
One of the director's favorite effects is the first sight you have of a tank is the barrel of the canon as it comes crashing through a brick wall.
A remarkable amount of carnage, as is traditional in war adventure films, but the critics didn't like the clash with the more comical style.
Again, Lalo Schifrin's score gives great support to the long build-up for the final battle.
Nazi gold was both real and has achieved mythological status in books and films since, both exciting as a treasure hunt and morbid because we know where it came from.
The wikipedia suggests this is inspired by a true story, but I can't quite make out how true. Now I want to read Nazi Gold – The Sensational Story of the World’s Greatest Robbery – and the Greatest Criminal Cover-Up.
20 minutes were cut for the theatrical release and have not been restored for home video.
Available on Blu-ray.