The Big Red One (1980)

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller (written by)

Release Date:

28 May 1980 (France)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

The real glory of war is surviving.

Plot:

The story of a sergeant and the inner core members of his unit as they try to serve in and survive World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | Sicily | Omaha Beach | Concentration Camp | Africa

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	The Sergeant
Mark Hamill	...	Pvt. Griff, 1st Squad
Robert Carradine	...	Pvt. Zab, 1st Squad
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Pvt. Vinci, 1st Squad
Kelly Ward	...	Pvt. Johnson, 1st Squad
Stéphane Audran	...	Underground Walloon fighter at asylum (as Stephane Audran)
Siegfried Rauch	...	Schroeder (German sergeant)
Serge Marquand	...	Rensonnet
Charles Macaulay	...	General / captain
Alain Doutey	...	Broban (Vichy sergeant)
Maurice Marsac	...	Vichy colonel
Colin Gilbert	...	Dog Face POW
Joseph Clark	...	Pvt. Shep (soldier on troop transport)
Ken Campbell	...	Pvt. Lemchek (#2 on Bangalore torpedo)
Doug Werner	...	Switolski
Perry Lang	...	Pvt. Kaiser, 1st Squad
Howard Delman	...	Pvt. Smitty (soldier who trips mine)
Marthe Villalonga	...	Madame Marbaise
Giovanna Galletti	...	Woman in Sicilian village (as Giovanna Galetti)
Gregori Buimistre	...	The Hun (German soldier killed by The Sergeant in WWI sequence)
Shimon Barr	...	German male nurse in Tunisian hospital
Matteo Zoffoli	...	Sicilian boy - Matteo
Abraham Ronai	...	German Field Marshall
Galit Rotman	...	Pregnant Frenchwoman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samuel Fuller	...	War Correspondent (as Sam Fuller)
Pascal Breuer	...	Hitler Youth (uncredited)
Luther Fear	...	German standing in tank in snow (uncredited)
Walter Flesch	...	Colonel (uncredited)
Anat Harel	...	Graziella (uncredited)
Ulli Kinalzik	...	Gerd (uncredited)
Christa Lang	...	German Countess (extended edition) (uncredited)
Guy Marchand	...	Captain Chapier (uncredited)
Steve Moriarty	...	Staff Sgt at Kasserine Pass (uncredited)
Yossi Pollak	...	Herr Green Shirt (uncredited)

Directed by
Samuel Fuller

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Samuel Fuller		written by

Produced by
Gene Corman	....	producer
Douglas Freeman	....	producer (reconstruction, 2004)
Brian Jamieson	....	executive producer in charge of production (reconstruction, 2004)
Richard Schickel	....	producer (reconstruction, 2004)

Original Music by
Dana Kaproff

Cinematography by
Adam Greenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bryan McKenzie		(2004 reconstruction)
Morton Tubor

Art Direction by
Peter Jamison

Makeup Department
Blanche Shuler	....	hair stylist
Blanche Shuler	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Peter Cornberg	....	unit production manager
Brian Hamblin	....	post-production supervisor (reconstruction)
Rony Yacov	....	production manager: Israel
Avner Orshalimy	....	production manager: second unit (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Todd Corman	....	second assistant director
Arne Schmidt	....	assistant director (as Arne L. Schmidt)
Lewis Teague	....	second unit director
Avner Orshalimy	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Gary Zembow	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)
Leo Zisman	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Hankins	....	property master
Ladislav Wilheim	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Cyril Collick	....	sound mixer
David Dockendorf	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jack A. Finlay	....	sound editor
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Linden	....	sound designer: 2004 reconstruction
William L. McCaughey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tara Paul	....	sound designer: 2004 reconstruction
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound designer: 2004 reconstruction
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jeff Clifford	....	special effects
Peter Dawson	....	special effects
Kit West	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Arn Campero	....	digital paint (reconstruction, 2004)
John Falchi	....	digital paint (reconstruction, 2004)
Gary Forbes	....	digital paint (reconstruction, 2004)

Stunts
Roy Street	....	stunt coordinator: horse stunt
Waldo	....	stunts: free fall (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jim Dunn	....	key grip
Skip Karnas	....	best boy (as Albert Karnas)
Melton Maxwell	....	gaffer (as Mel Maxwell)
Laurel Moore	....	still photographer
Yoni Hamenachem	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Edith Cottrell	....	casting: France
Barbara Miller	....	casting

Editorial Department
David Bretherton	....	supervising editor
Erica Flaum	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bodie Chandler	....	music supervisor
Gene Feldman	....	music editor
Dana Kaproff	....	conductor
Alfred J. Carranza	....	first assistant music editor (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Lynn A. Aber	....	script supervisor (as Lynn Aber)
Craig Corman	....	production assistant
Vic Heutschy	....	unit publicist
Lori Steiner	....	continuity: second unit
Alan Weisman	....	gunsmith
Elizabeth Yanoska	....	location auditor
Sherrie Bradshaw	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)
Michael Davenport	....	assistant: Sam Fuller (uncredited)
Rick Schmidlin	....	consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Lorimar Productions (presents) (as Lorimar)
• Lorac Productions (2004 reconstruction)

Distributors

• United Artists (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1982) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Adams Filmi (1980) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Scotia (1980) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox Video (1984) (Belgium) (video)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/CBS Home Video (1981) (USA) (video)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Rautakirja (????) (Finland) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (Germany) (DVD) (premium edition)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles (as MGM)
• Technicolor  prints by

Also Known As:

"The Big Red One: The Reconstruction" - USA (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and some language (2004 reconstruction)

Runtime:

113 min | 162 min (reconstructed version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Italian | German

Color:

Black and White | Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (reconstruction) | Dolby (original release)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1980) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:R (2004 reconstruction) | Iceland:16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:14A | West Germany:16 (f) | Germany:16 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Israel

Company:

Lorimar Productions

Trivia:

When it was released, this movie was director Samuel Fuller's first film showing in theaters for about six or seven years.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the ambush scene, with the German hiding behind the cross, the sun is shining on the cross and the German's face. However, in the same sequence the cross casts a shadow across the field in the opposite direction to the first scene.

Quotes:

The Sergeant:Killing insane people is not good for public relations.
Griff:Killing sane people is okay?
The Sergeant:That's right.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Among the greatest WWII epics

A lot of people hate The Big Red One. They call it farcical, uneven, clichéd. They find it farcical, I believe, because the film revels in the absurdity of war rather than gloss over it. They would rather watch a film, like Saving Private Ryan, which ignores absurdity in favor of violence. These people find it uneven because the "important scenes" (like the D-Day and North African invasion) take only a minute or two to conclude, while other scenes, less typical of a war movie, spread out before us. They call it clichéd because the movie is unsubtle in its treatment of character development and plot.

I cannot agree with these beliefs. The Big Red One is not only one of the greatest WWII films, it is also one of the greatest war movies.

Sam Fuller's film, which was butchered by the studio, is the picaresque tale of 5 members of the First Infantry, known, because of their shoulder patch, as the Big Red One. The film moves from one story to the next without spending too much time on any particular tale.

The individual vignettes, as they must, vary in quality, but on the whole are excellent. The Big Red One stirs within you a desire to run right out and tell your friends about this amazing scene or that.

There's the soldier who loses his testicle, the birthing scene in the belly of a tank, Lee Marvin, in Middle Eastern garb, traipsing across a beach, soldiers dug into holes over which a Panzer tank division travels, the entire Mad House segment... The list goes on.

Some people dislike the absurdest nature of several of this film's stories, but, for me, those surreal touches make this film great.

Without them (and there are a lot), you would be left with a very normal and very boring film. Using bandoleers as stirrups is genius, as is the woman faking crazy as she whirls through a monastery, slicing German throats.

The performances are solid, for this type of film, but if you are looking for subtlety, go elsewhere. Each character is drawn in broad strokes; you never learn too much about them, but you learn enough to understand who they are and why. Lee Marvin, as usual, is amazing. He is one of the great, gruff actors of our time, bringing a special, intangible quality to every film in which I've seen him. He makes every movie he's in better just by showing up. There are too few actors about whom you can say that.

Like the acting, the direction is masculine, but, for a war movie, that's a compliment. In some ways, Fuller's direction here and in his other films reminds me of Hemmingway's writing - terse and effective. Both men believe in an economy of shots or words, depending on their medium, but, through that economy, they attain a muscular sort of poetry akin to the beauty of a horse's rippling muscles as it races on a plain. Fuller's direction here, though not his best when compared to Underworld USA or Shock Corridor, is still better than most, especially considering that this was his first film in several years.

All in all, I find the Big Red One to be an exemplary war movie, even in its emasculated format (I cannot wait to see the restored, 140 minute print, which should improve upon scenes that feel to brief in this version). It's certainly no Apocalypse Now, but it puts to shame most World War II epics before or since.