Anzio (1968)
"Lo sbarco di Anzio" (original title)

One of WWIIs bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead. Four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march to Rome.

Directors:

Edward Dmytryk, Duilio Coletti

Writers:

H.A.L. Craig (screenplay), Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (book),

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk, Robert Ryan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Mitchum	...	Dick Ennis (war correspondent, International Press)
Peter Falk	...	Cpl. Jack Rabinoff
Robert Ryan	...	General Carson
Earl Holliman	...	Platoon Sgt. Abe Stimmler
Mark Damon	...	Wally Richardson
Arthur Kennedy	...	Maj. Gen. Jack Lesley
Reni Santoni	...	Pvt. Movie
Joseph Walsh	...	Doyle
Thomas Hunter	...	Pvt. Andy
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Pvt. Cellini
Anthony Steel	...	Gen. Marsh
Patrick Magee	...	Gen. Starkey
Arthur Franz	...	Maj. Gen. Luke Howard
Tonio Selwart	...	Gen. Van MacKensen
Elsa Albani	...	Emilia

Storyline

Allied forces land at Anzio unopposed but instead of moving straight inland their commanding officer decides to dig in. A battle-hardened war correspondent borrows a jeep and drives to Rome and back without meeting any German forces, but his report on this absence of the enemy is discounted. By the time it is finally decided to make a move the Germans have arrived in strength and a prolonged and bloody fight ensues.

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Plot Keywords:

american soldier | place name in title | m1 rifle | fire | pain | 

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Taglines:

Where the end of World War II began.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for war violence

Details

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

English Italian German

Release Date:

24 July 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anzio

Filming Locations:

Royal Palace, Caserta, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Black Devils" was the nickname of the 1st Special Service Force, The Devil's Brigade (also called The Black Devil's and The Black Devils Brigade), a joint American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942 .

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Goofs

Two different figures are given for the casualties suffered by the Rangers during the ambush - 776 and 767 (+ 7 survivors).

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Quotes

Dick Ennis: [referring to a radio that went dead] Ain't that a bitch? A dumb, dirty stupid useless bitch!

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Soundtracks

"Bye Bye Blackbird"
(uncredited)
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Mort Dixon
Sung by Rabinoff with the prostitutes in the ambulance and with the girl in the house

User Reviews

Uneven War Movie

It's always a bad sign when a film's theme tune sounds nothing like the genre it's claiming to be . THE BAT for example features a funky jazz tune and boy was that film a pile of rodent droppings and alarm bells started ringing when the opening credits of ANZIO started where a war weary corespondent played a very possibly drunk Robert Mitchum marched through a military HQ to the sounds of a Frank Sinatra style swing song ! Yeah there's nothing quite like a war film to get you on your feet grooving away , bah bah bah bah bah bah bah

ANZIO isn't an awful film but it's far from being a great one either with the script being the major problem . It opens one of those light hearted scenes of with over paid , over sexed and over confident US soldiers that we've seen far too many times before . I guess it's supposed to be amusing but it's not . Eventually the film lives up to its title and shows us what went wrong at the Anzio landings with the American generals Clark and Lucas not driving inland quick enough . This is a fairly good history lesson since it paints a fairly poor picture of American leadership in Italy . Remember in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN , BAND OF BROTHERS and A BRIDGE TOO FAR Monty is painted as possibly the most incompetent allied General of the war ? This was nothing compared to the ridiculous mistakes made by Clark and Lucas during the Italian campaign , though somewhat cowardly this film renames Clark as " Carson " and Lucas as " Lewis " which is a great pity because a history student could do worse than watch this film , though if they did they'd notice like a great number of war films made during this period ( BATTLE OF THE BULGE is a good example ) that both German and American tanks are from a different generation but the Anzio landings here are more accurate than the ones seen in PINK FLOYD THE WALL

After this the narrative then sadly settles down into a straightforward war film where the action could basically have taken place anywhere like France or the Phillipines where a bunch of GIs are surrounded by the enemy and have to make it back to enemy lines . As many people have pointed out on these pages the script is rather unfocused and slightly disjointed and I had a gut feeling that some of it ended up on the cutting room floor , for example we see the platoon escape from a house at night and almost immediately after the platoon are trapped by some German snipers in the middle of the day , though to be honest this isn't a movie that is afraid to kill off characters so deserves some credit alongside the historical accuracy