The Devil's Brigade seems like an inferior copy of The Dirty Dozen, but in actual fact it's hard to justify such a view of the film because it takes many of its plot elements from a factual situation. The brigade of the title, made up of proper Canadian soldiers and American misfits doing time in the military jail, really existed.
However, despite the film's strong basis in fact, it's still a generally unsuccessful effort. The WWII action film as a genre was beginning to look tired by the late '60s, having been the subject of countless films. This one sticks too rigidly to the cliches and the war-film-formula to make it fresh or appealing.
William Holden is well cast as the leader of the brigade, a stubborn and strong willed individual who successfully whips them into shape. The rest of the cast perform reasonably enough, but don't quite generate the required panache to lift their characters above the material. The mission which forms the main crux of the plot - a suicidal attempt to scale a heavily defended enemy hill - is filmed decently, but it takes a long time to get to that sequence (indeed, many would say too long).
The Devil's Brigade is slightly too mechanical and uninspiring to be a worthwhile film. If you haven't seen many WWII impossible mission flicks, you'll probably enjoy it, but if you have seen plenty you'll probably find this one all too familiar.
However, despite the film's strong basis in fact, it's still a generally unsuccessful effort. The WWII action film as a genre was beginning to look tired by the late '60s, having been the subject of countless films. This one sticks too rigidly to the cliches and the war-film-formula to make it fresh or appealing.
William Holden is well cast as the leader of the brigade, a stubborn and strong willed individual who successfully whips them into shape. The rest of the cast perform reasonably enough, but don't quite generate the required panache to lift their characters above the material. The mission which forms the main crux of the plot - a suicidal attempt to scale a heavily defended enemy hill - is filmed decently, but it takes a long time to get to that sequence (indeed, many would say too long).
The Devil's Brigade is slightly too mechanical and uninspiring to be a worthwhile film. If you haven't seen many WWII impossible mission flicks, you'll probably enjoy it, but if you have seen plenty you'll probably find this one all too familiar.