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IMDbPro

The Victors

  • 19631963
  • 2h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
28,150
4,919
Senta Berger, Romy Schneider, Melina Mercouri, Jeanne Moreau, Rosanna Schiaffino, and Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
DramaWar
Intelligent, sprawling saga of a squad of American soldiers, following them through Europe during World War II.Intelligent, sprawling saga of a squad of American soldiers, following them through Europe during World War II.Intelligent, sprawling saga of a squad of American soldiers, following them through Europe during World War II.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
28,150
4,919
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Carl Foreman
    • Writers
      • Alexander Baron(novel "The Human Kind")
      • Carl Foreman(written for the screen by)
    • Stars
      • Vince Edwards
      • Albert Finney
      • George Hamilton
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Carl Foreman
    • Writers
      • Alexander Baron(novel "The Human Kind")
      • Carl Foreman(written for the screen by)
    • Stars
      • Vince Edwards
      • Albert Finney
      • George Hamilton
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 67User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos33

    James Mitchum in The Victors (1963)
    Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
    Senta Berger and Albert Finney in The Victors (1963)
    Rosanna Schiaffino in The Victors (1963)
    George Hamilton and Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
    Melina Mercouri in The Victors (1963)
    Melina Mercouri in The Victors (1963)
    Senta Berger, George Hamilton, and Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
    Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
    Romy Schneider in The Victors (1963)
    Maurice Ronet in The Victors (1963)
    Melina Mercouri in The Victors (1963)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Vince Edwards
    Vince Edwards
    • Pvt. George Baker
    • (as Vincent Edwards)
    Albert Finney
    Albert Finney
    • Russian Soldier
    George Hamilton
    George Hamilton
    • Cpl. Theodore Trower
    Melina Mercouri
    Melina Mercouri
    • Magda
    Jeanne Moreau
    Jeanne Moreau
    • French Woman
    George Peppard
    George Peppard
    • Cpl. Frank Chase
    Maurice Ronet
    Maurice Ronet
    • French Lieutenant
    Rosanna Schiaffino
    Rosanna Schiaffino
    • Maria
    Romy Schneider
    Romy Schneider
    • Regine
    Elke Sommer
    Elke Sommer
    • Helga Metzger
    Eli Wallach
    Eli Wallach
    • Sgt. Joe Craig
    Michael Callan
    Michael Callan
    • Eldridge
    Peter Fonda
    Peter Fonda
    • Weaver
    James Mitchum
    James Mitchum
    • Pvt. Robert Grogan
    • (as Jim Mitchum)
    Senta Berger
    Senta Berger
    • Trudi Metzger
    Albert Lieven
    Albert Lieven
    • Herr Metzger
    Mervyn Johns
    Mervyn Johns
    • Dennis
    Tutte Lemkow
    Tutte Lemkow
    • Sikh Soldier
    • Director
      • Carl Foreman
    • Writers
      • Alexander Baron(novel "The Human Kind")
      • Carl Foreman(written for the screen by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film opened in London in the winter of 1963 at a length of 175 minutes and was universally criticized for being too long. It did not generate much box-office interest in this initial engagement and, by the time it went out on general release several weeks later, it had been trimmed by a little over a quarter of an hour. As it was a film filled with brief (or prolonged) episodes of war rather than one continuing plot-line, it was easy to shorten the film by taking out one episode in its entirety - a story concerning a young French orphan who is unofficially adopted by the platoon, and who, as the soldiers are horrified to discover, has survived the German occupation by becoming a child prostitute. This role was played by the French teenage actor Joel Flateau, who was still prominently billed on the film's posters and in the opening credit sequence. The film did no better at the box-office, and vanished from sight in Britain for many years, until, in 2004, it began to appear again on British television, and also got a DVD release in the same period. The episode was not restored, however, and Flateau's name was now excised from the credits. The film was also now missing other scenes, notably a brief one where some British soldiers, finding a piano in a ruined building, sing the traditional army song, "The Long And The Short And The Tall" - not in the usual bowdlerized version, but with liberal use of the F-word, which here was used for the first time in an English-language film.
    • Goofs
      "Psst! Feind hört mit" meaning "Shh! Enemy is listening" appears in a scene on a wall. Then it changes to incorrect "Psst! Feine hört mit". Then it changes to the correct first version again.
    • Quotes

      [Craig is sound asleep in Philippe's old bed. Sounds of explosions and gunfire rage on outside, but he doesn't stir. A noise startles him awake and he grabs his gun barrel]

      Sgt. Craig: Who's there?

      [It's the French Woman. She's cowering in a corner of the bedroom]

      French Woman: I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb you, but I'm frightened. I just wanted to stay here, near someone.

      Sgt. Craig: Those are our guns, I think.

      French Woman: Mmm... It's not the guns, it's the planes! They were bombing till a moment ago, and you never woke up!

      [She begins to sob]

      French Woman: I slept for a while, and I haven't been able to since. I really don't know how you can sleep with all that!

      [She and Craig hear explosions outside]

      French Woman: I can't be alone. I just can't bear it anymore. Please... may I stay here? I won't bother you. Please!

      [Craig lifts the covers of the bed, beckoning her in. Gratefully, she gets in beside him]

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: ENGLAND, 1942
    • Alternate versions
      Some prints run 156 minutes.
    • Connections
      Edited into Bass on Titles (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      March of The Victors
      By Sol Kaplan Freddy Douglass

    User reviews67

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    A fine film that should be on DVD - uncut
    I saw The Victors on the big screen in 1964 and its impact has never left me. I saw a cut version on TV a few years ago, and while forty years of film watching and life experience made the movie seem a little heavy-handed and sentimental to me, it still packed a punch. It is not a perfect film - there is the occasional bad moment, and some techniques that were startling in 1963, particularly the newsreels and the hand-held camera used in the opening scene, are now familiar.

    Nevertheless, The Victors should serve as a needed lesson to "kids today" that WWII was not fun, not easy, and not "an adventure." Beating the Nazis was a grinding, miserable task that was paid for in suffering and loss. (As for concentration camps, a previous reviewer missed the scene in which one is indeed liberated.) Unusually, the film shows the effect of war on women and children, as well as on the fighting men. It's also remarkable that the movie was released years before the "disillusionment" of the Vietnam War. Had more Americans seen The Victors they might have had a better idea of what the nation was getting itself into. Watch The Longest Day or Patton, then watch The Victors and then decide which seems the most "true to life." If you don't know what "symbolism" means, the final episode, filmed at the height of the Cold War, and its epigraph by World War I poet Wilfred Owen, will show you.

    The opening credits suggest the historical relationship between World war II and World War I. They also should remind everyone that there were plenty of Black GIs in WWII, and that Uncle Sam didn't win the war all by himself.

    There are moments of real humanity here. The Vince Edwards episode was considered "controversial" in 1963, and in today's film culture may actually seem banal, but it's about understanding as well as loneliness. The memorable sequence involving George Peppard and the English family is wonderfully understated.

    Somebody should explain why this occasionally flawed but excellent and provocative film has never been released to home video.
    helpful•19
    3
    • wuxmup
    • Jan 8, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 19, 1963 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
      • Italian
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Die Sieger
    • Filming locations
      • Salerno, Campania, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Highroad Productions
      • Open Road Films (II)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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    Senta Berger, Romy Schneider, Melina Mercouri, Jeanne Moreau, Rosanna Schiaffino, and Elke Sommer in The Victors (1963)
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