The Dirty Dozen (1967)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

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

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

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:

Robert Aldrich was told that he could be in line for an Oscar as Best Director for the film if he cut out the scene of Jim Brown dropping hand grenades into the bomb shelter. The scene was considered controversial because the Germans (including women) were locked inside the bunker and had no chance to survive. Aldrich considered it but elected to leave the scene in to show that "war is hell".

Goofs:

Factual errors: After Sgt. Bowren dubs the "Dirty Dozen" with their titular nickname, he orders, "Dress right, dress." The men space off with left hand on belt and elbow extended to the side, which is "close interval dress". At the sergeant's order, they should have spaced off with the left arm extended at shoulder level.

Quotes:

Joseph T. Wladislaw: Killin' generals could get to be a habit with me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Insecticidal (2005)

Soundtrack:

Einsam

The Best Ensemble Rugged He-Man Cast Ever !!!!!!

Time and Turner saturating the airways about once a month have taken some toll on the impact of this great action adventure film which has the best ensemble rugged he-man cast every to take on the Nazi's on film. Tame by today's standards it was landmark in 1967 for unlike any previous war film the objective was not to take an island or a hill or a fortress but to kill enemy officers. Released during a time when we still considered war to have some morale standards at least when conducted by American's what better way to justify murdering our enemy than using the dregs of the American Army in a top secret covert mission. Our heroes a mixture of murderers thieves and rapists were actually more villainous than their Nazi adversaries The dozen's casting was highlighted by the brilliant Cassavetes as the punk gangster Franco and Savalas as the sadistic psychotic bigot Maggott. Bronson, Brown & Walker are the brawn of the group and the film provides all of them the opportunity to display their physical attributes. Sutherland represents the only other major character of the dozen as the unit idiot. Lee Marvin was in his prime and I consider this his best and most definitive role as the leader of the dozen. Borgnine and Ryan also standout as adversarial superiors to Marvin. This was a man's film from beginning to end and although not as colorful or explicit as the excellent book it was based on it was every bit as good a film as was the book and the exciting climax was a big improvement on the non climactic book.