Bitter Victory (1957)

A commander receives a citation for an attack on Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

René Hardy (screenplay), Nicholas Ray (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Burton, Curd Jürgens, Ruth Roman

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Burton	...	Captain Leith
Curd Jürgens	...	Major Brand (as Curt Jurgens)
Ruth Roman	...	Jane Brand
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Mekrane
Anthony Bushell	...	General Paterson
Alfred Burke	...	Lt.Colonel Callander
Sean Kelly	...	Lieutenant Barton
Ramón de Larrocha	...	Lieutenant Sanders (as Ramon De Larrocha)
Christopher Lee	...	Sergeant Barney
Ronan O'Casey	...	Sergeant Dunnigan
Fred Matter	...	Oberst Lutze
Raoul Delfosse	...	Lieutenant Kassel
Andrew Crawford	...	Private Roberts
Nigel Green	...	Private Wilkins
Harry Landis	...	Private Browning

Storyline

In North Africa during World War II, Major David Brand is assigned to lead a British commando raid into German-held Benghazi to retrieve whatever documents they can lay their hands on at the German headquarters. His number two will be Capt. Jimmy Leith who speaks Arabic fluently and knows Benghazi well. Brand also learns that Leith and his beautiful wife Jane were lovers before the war creating tension between the two. Brand is untested in battle and freezes at a critical moment, losing the respect of his men. After the raid, the trek back is arduous and takes it's toll on the men. It also results in only one of the two senior officers surviving.

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Plot Keywords:

commander | rommel | raid | africa | commando | 

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Taglines:

30 Fighting "Desert Rats" Invade Africa's Fortress

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English German Arabic

Release Date:

March 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amargo Triunfo

Filming Locations:

Victorine Studios S.O.V.I.C. Nice, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Transcontinental Films, Robert Laffont Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Upon seeing this at the Venice Film Festival, Jean-Luc Godard said his iconic statement "Le cinema, c'est Nicholas Ray (The cinema is Nicholas Ray)."

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Quotes

Capt. Leith: You have the Christian decency that forbids killing a dying man, but approves the work of the sharpshooter.

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Crazy Credits

The producer gratefully acknowledges the kind cooperation of the British war office and of her majesty's forces in Lybya

User Reviews

More than cinema

Before entering the cinema theater I read a review of the film made by Godard in Cahiers du Cinéma. He defined this movie 'more than cinema' and a pure reflection of life. The miserable and coward behaviour of the character (played superbly by Curd Júrgens), a bewildered Richard Burton when futilely carries over his shoulder a dying soldier through the desert until he realizes his death: 'I kill the living and save the dead! or the moment when Ruth Roman looks for "Jimmy" among the survivors of the expedition, and many more... are all beautiful pieces of life, probably bigger than life... How easy is killing!? I also wanted to emphasize the brilliant expressionist photography used in the film. Especially in the nocturnal sequences.