The Biggest Battle (1978)
"Il grande attacco" (original title)

A story of how World War II affected the lives of a German family and an American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war.

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Cesare Frugoni, Umberto Lenzi (screenplay),

Stars:

Helmut Berger, Samantha Eggar, Giuliano Gemma

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helmut Berger	...	Lt. Kurt Zimmer
Samantha Eggar	...	Annelise Ackermann
Giuliano Gemma	...	Captain Martin Scott
John Huston	...	Sean O'Hara
Stacy Keach	...	Major Mannfred Roland
Ray Lovelock	...	Lt. John Foster
Aldo Massasso	...	Lt. William McShane
Venantino Venantini	...	Michael
Ida Galli	...	Sybil Scott (as Evelyn Stewart)
Orson Welles	...	Narrator (voice)
Edwige Fenech	...	Danielle
Henry Fonda	...	General Foster
Aldo Barberito	...	SS major
Rik Battaglia	...	American commando
Andrea Bosic	...	Mimmo Parnat

Storyline

A story of how World War II affected the lives of a German family and an American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war.

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Plot Keywords:

war correspondent | soldier | desert | hospital | north africa | 

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Taglines:

The most awesome battle ever seen!

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Genres:

War | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy West Germany Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1978 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Biggest Battle

Filming Locations:

Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, National Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 103 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 71521 delivered on 7-2-1978.

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Connections

Edited from Battle of the Commandos (1969)

User Reviews

Italian War Epic Without The Italians

This film has the unmistakable whiff of tax write off about it and I can't believe the non-Italians in this Italian made World War II film weren't doing this one for nothing more than a paycheck and a European vacation.

For an Italian film you would think Italy would be mentioned somewhere in this story. The climax of the movie is the battle for Tunisia where the Italians had a lot of soldiers. The battle scenes are merely stock footage from other and better films.

The only tie in this whole story is a meeting in Berlin of retired army general Henry Fonda, war correspondent John Huston, German-Jewish actress Samantha Eggar and German major Stacy Keach. Meeting at the time of the Olympics there, the four dismiss the possibility of war.

After that it seems like you're watching four or five separate films all at once. Everyone seems to be just reciting the dialog by rote and hurrying off to do better things presumably. Even Orson Welles who narrates the English language version, can't whip up any excitement in his voice.

It's just another one done for the money.