The Dirty Dozen (1967)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay) and
Lukas Heller (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Train them! Excite them! Arm them!...Then turn them loose on the Nazis!

Plot:

A US Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers in World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Mission | Suicide Mission | Behind Enemy Lines | Nazi | Prisoner

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Major Reisman
Ernest Borgnine	...	General Worden
Charles Bronson	...	Joseph Wladislaw
Jim Brown	...	Robert Jefferson
John Cassavetes	...	Victor Franko
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sergeant Bowren
George Kennedy	...	Major Max Armbruster
Trini López	...	Pedro Jiminez (as Trini Lopez)
Ralph Meeker	...	Captain Stuart Kinder
Robert Ryan	...	Col. Everett Dasher Breed
Telly Savalas	...	Archer Maggott
Donald Sutherland	...	Vernon Pinkley
Clint Walker	...	Samson Posey
Robert Webber	...	General Denton
Tom Busby	...	Milo Vladek
Ben Carruthers	...	Glenn Gilpin
Stuart Cooper	...	Roscoe Lever
Robert Phillips	...	Corporal Morgan
Colin Maitland	...	Seth Sawyer
Al Mancini	...	Tassos Bravos
George Roubicek	...	Pvt. Arthur James Gardner
Thick Wilson	...	General Worden's Aide
Dora Reisser	...	German Officer's Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gerard Heinz	...	Cardplaying german officer (uncredited)
John G. Heller	...	2nd German Sentry at Chateau (uncredited)
John Hollis	...	German porter at chateu (uncredited)
Hildegard Knef	...	(uncredited)
Richard Marner	...	German sentry at chateau (uncredited)
Dick Miller	...	MP At Hanging (uncredited)
Suzanne Owens	...	Prostitute (uncredited)
Frederick Schiller	...	Drunken German General (uncredited)
Richard Shaw	...	German Officer who seals the Bunker (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Aldrich

Writing credits
Nunnally Johnson		(screenplay) and
Lukas Heller		(screenplay)
E.M. Nathanson		(novel)

Produced by
Raymond Anzarut	....	associate producer
Kenneth Hyman	....	producer

Original Music by
Frank De Vol		(as De Vol)

Cinematography by
Edward Scaife		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Michael Luciano

Art Direction by
William Hutchinson		(as W.E. Hutchinson)

Makeup Department
Ernest Gasser	....	makeup artist
Wally Schneiderman	....	makeup artist (as Walter Schneiderman)

Production Management
Julian Mackintosh	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bert Batt	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tim Hutchinson	....	set designer (uncredited)
Mickey Lennon	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound recordist
Franklin Milton	....	sound recordist
John Poyner	....	sound editor
Van Allen James	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Cliff Richardson	....	special effects supervisor
Alan Barnard	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Peter Hutchinson	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Roy Whybrow	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jack Woodbridge	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gerry Crampton	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Gerry Crampton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jim Dowdall	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Dunne	....	stunts (uncredited)
Romo Gorrara	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terence Plummer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mike Reid	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Terry Richards	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rocky Taylor	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Weston	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan McCabe	....	camera operator
Tony Spratling	....	camera operator
Chris Ashbrook	....	focus puller: second unit (uncredited)
Jim Dawes	....	grip (uncredited)
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)
Paul Wilson	....	camera operator (uncredited)
David Wynn-Jones	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Frank De Vol	....	conductor (uncredited)
Bronislau Kaper	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Miklós Rózsa	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Walter Lesley Tiley	....	truck driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Angela Allen	....	continuity
Walter Blake	....	title designer: main title
Jim Dowdall	....	armorer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• MKH
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Seven Arts Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmipaja (1967) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1986) (Finland) (TV) (2005)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (Finland) (video)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1996) (Finland) (TV) (1998) (2000)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Creative Design (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (????) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Karma Transport  transportation

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #20802) | Iceland:16 | UK:12 (2006) | West Germany:16 (f) | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1968) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Aldbury, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

MKH

Trivia:

Lee Marvin (Marines), Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson (Army), Ernest Borgnine (Navy) and Clint Walker (Merchant Marine) all served in World War II.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The women in the "graduation ball" scene in the barracks are dressed in 60s style clothing and have 60s style hairstyles.

Quotes:

Samson Posey: I don't want to hurt you Major.
Major John Reisman: You're not gonna hurt me, I'm gonna hurt you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Insecticidal (2005)

Soundtrack:

Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me

Great fun movie with a great cast

During World War II, Major Reisman is called to a high level meeting to discuss his next mission – to train a group of soldiers and prepare them for a mission behind enemy lines. However the `soldiers' that Reisman has been assigned are all sentenced to death or life in prison for their crimes. The mission is a suicide mission on a French chateau where German top brass will be, the aim being to kill as many as possible. But before the mission, the group must pass a training to be considered for pardoning.

Well known by all men everywhere, this is less a serious war movie and more an enjoyable ensemble romp through a training camp, with the final third being the mission itself. This is the film's strength – the training sections are very enjoyable and good fun to watch. The mission is punchy and dramatic and works very well as the conclusion to the film rather than the whole film itself (which other `mission' films have to do). The training is slick and enjoyable, not only it is occasionally quite funny but it is also consistently amusing and exciting at turns.

The film's main selling point (increasingly so) is the all star cast, all of whom do really good work. Marvin is tough in the lead and he is well supported by Borgnine, Kennedy, Ryan and Jaeckel playing the other officers. Of the prisoners Cassavetes steals the show with his cocky Franko although he is not short of famous support. Sutherland (although not well known at the time) is good comic relief, Savalas is a little too heavy for the film but adds menace, Bronson is good value, Brown is strong and is well known due to a weepy Billy Crystal! The rest of the dozen give good performances, but I'll be honest and say that the famous faces stuck in my mind more.

Overall this is not a wonderful film and, as a war movie it isn't the best `mission' movie you could find (simply cause the mission is quite short and straightforward. However it is a fun movie that never drags despite the slightly longer than normal running time for this type of movie. The training section and the mission itself combine to form an enjoyable film that is driven by a great cast playing good characters.