The Dirty Dozen (1967)

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:

Major | Mission | General | U.S. Army | Military

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	...	Card-Playing German Officer (uncredited)
John G. Heller	...	2nd German Sentry at Chateau (uncredited)
John Hollis	...	German Porter at Chateau (uncredited)
Hildegard Knef	...	(uncredited)
Richard Marner	...	German Sentry at Chateau (uncredited)
Dick Miller	...	MP at Hanging (uncredited)
Lionel Murton	...	MP Lt. Col. in charge at hanging (uncredited)
Suzanne Owens-Duval	...	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
Colin Grimes	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Tim Hutchinson	....	set designer (uncredited)
Mickey Lennon	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound recording
Franklin Milton	....	sound recording
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)
William Offer	....	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)

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

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

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presented by)
• MKH
• 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)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Filmipaja (1967) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• 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 Home Video (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (HD DVD)
• Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Bros. Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD) (Special Edition)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Herald Pony (????) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Brothers (????) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (Germany) (DVD) (Premium Edition)
• Warner Home Video (????) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Karma Transport  transportation (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Dirty Dozen" - International (English title) (informal title)

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German | French | Spanish | Latin

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 (video re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:16 (f) | Netherlands:12 | UK:15 (tv rating) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | 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) (1995) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Aldbury, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Stars from this movie George Kennedy, Clint Walker, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown were reunited to play the voices of the soldiers some thirty-one years later in Small Soldiers (1998).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Wires visible on a flare during the attack on the German compound.

Quotes:

Maggot:It's judgment day, sinners! Come out, come out wherever you are!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best of Film Noir (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

National Emblem

Splendidly Produced; a Tough and Tough-Minded Film

Many viewers of film, myself include, rate this as one of the most exciting "mission"'' stories of all time. Adapted from an intelligent but Freudian source novel, the plot theme is a subtle one for a movie; it's about convicted men in WWII being given odds for life in the form of a suicide mission that may wipe their slates clean-- or perhaps not... its main theme is self-assertion, set against its opposite, enforced repression. The key to every action men undertake in this very tough and and tough-minded Nunnnally Johnason and Lukas Heller script is: "Is that person dealing with the reality of the world of and his/her own responsibility to act?" From convict Telly Savalas' character, mystical murderer of women who claims a divine calling to punish their sexuality, to Charles Bronson and Jim Brown who reacted to persecutions and are innocent by reason of self-defense, to their leader, the mission's architect, Major Reisman, who wants his plan to go forward his way despite resistance from brass, every man of the outfit is tried against the same standard. Jimenez is climbing a rope and says he can't make the tower; Franco refuses to shave because the officers have hot water and he does not, Posey can't control his temper, control-freak Col. Breed hates any man who does not go by the book; etc. As a production, Robert Aldrich's direction is probably his masterpiece; the acting is far above average, especially Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber, energetic John Cassevetes and Al Mancini; the inspired casting of powerful top-sergeant-level Ernest Borgnine as an obviously far-beyond-his element general works brilliantly. The art direction, special effects, sets, and music (by Frank de Vol) all complement a taut script filled with memorable terse dialogue. Entire sequences such as the selection interviews for the mission team, the building of the camp, a visit to Breed's hq, Breed's invasion of the camp, the training regimen, the "graduation party", Reisman's verbal defense of his men, the war games' challenge, preparing for the mission, the early invasion steps, Maggot's adlib, the attack by Reisman's team, the escape and the hospital climax and denouement--all these sections are made memorable to many admirers of this beautifully made and unusual story. As officers attached to the mission, George Kennedy, Richard Jaene-too-subtle secondary theme of the film is: the wrongness of arbitrary power in anyone's hands, including Nazis, US army officers or their brutal agents (such as Breed's men who beat up Charles Bronson for information). The film is about individuals who when they harm no one else and are effective human beings, men who can always get the job done, always control themselves. who need to be free to operate. Such men the film says are "heroes"--men with an unusual ability to create results on Earth; the sort of men films ought to be made about in a nation that talks individualism and claims to value capability. This is a great adventure, of enduring artistry, occasional brutality and intelligently-developed dialogue. It has logical actions, and spectacular physical performances and This is a strong and well-thought-out adventure film, one of the richest of its genre, to be watched many times.