CAST A GIANT SHADOW (1966)

Writer/director Mel Shavelson’s decades with Bob Hope left their mark on this Israeli "Birth of a Nation" saga as Kirk Douglas’s Jewish-American soldier can’t stop with the snappy one-liners. Only a stop at Dachau (with John Wayne along to get teary-eyed) puts a damper on things. A pity, since behind the awkward dramatic structure and simplified political outlook is a good tru-life story of a WWII officer reluctantly recruited to help launch a proper Israel army in its start-up days. Lots of stars pop up to varying effect (Frank Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, Yul Brynner, Senta Berger, Topol & Luther Adler wearing a fright wig to play Ben-Gurion), so you never get too bored waiting for the next inspiring historical recreation. D.P. Aldo Tonti adds what he can visually, but Shavelson is out of his ‘fach.’