Not a bad war film as these things go. Decent production values, nice attention to wardrobe, effective location shooting, and a couple of professional performances add up to a watchable movie along the lines of "The Guns of Navaron." A group of British Commandos and Jewish Special Servic Forces kidnap a Canadian officer, Hudson, to guide them through the desert in an attempt to destroy Rommel's fuel depot at Tobruk.
The mission succeeds of course and an impending disaster by British forces is aborted. Most of the men die but a handful, including Hudson, manage to escape.
It's not really worth going on about. The direction is by Arthur Hiller and is professionally competent. The story was written by Leo Gordon, who has given himself a small role as one of the raiders. Nigel Green as the Commando Colonel gives his usual compellingly hammy performance. The plot is a bit complicated. As in "The Guns of Navaron" and "Where Eagles Dare," there is a traitor in the group. If you can't pick him out after a few lines, you get no better than a D Plus in this course.
George Peppard, born in Detroit, plays Bergman, the German Jew who speaks flawless German. The chief weakness in his performance is that he does not speak flawless German. My own command of German has deteriorated over the years into a kind of influence over it, but when Peppard gives an order like "Vorwarts!" (I had to leave out an umlaut) and it comes out as "Forvards!", even I have to wince.
The climax is explosive and brutal, as it must be in a film like this.
The mission succeeds of course and an impending disaster by British forces is aborted. Most of the men die but a handful, including Hudson, manage to escape.
It's not really worth going on about. The direction is by Arthur Hiller and is professionally competent. The story was written by Leo Gordon, who has given himself a small role as one of the raiders. Nigel Green as the Commando Colonel gives his usual compellingly hammy performance. The plot is a bit complicated. As in "The Guns of Navaron" and "Where Eagles Dare," there is a traitor in the group. If you can't pick him out after a few lines, you get no better than a D Plus in this course.
George Peppard, born in Detroit, plays Bergman, the German Jew who speaks flawless German. The chief weakness in his performance is that he does not speak flawless German. My own command of German has deteriorated over the years into a kind of influence over it, but when Peppard gives an order like "Vorwarts!" (I had to leave out an umlaut) and it comes out as "Forvards!", even I have to wince.
The climax is explosive and brutal, as it must be in a film like this.