Helmer Robert Aldrich & thesp Lee Marvin were unlikely types to become mainstream cinematic forces. They made three pics together, ATTACK/’56, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH/’73 and this mega-hit. The foolproof plot (12 violent WWII U.S. army prisoners get a chance at redemption if they complete an impossible mission behind German lines) gets characterization & structure from vet scripter Nunnally Johnson, though you’ll look in vain for a surprise or a grace note in the entire thing. But it plays, man, it plays. Some of the dozen make little impression, and poor Robert Ryan has a miserable role to play, but Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, John Cassavetes & George Kennedy earn their stripes. There’s a lot more to Aldrich then noisy macho posturing (some of the savagery displayed on ‘our side’ were new at the time), but clean-limbed action sequences & brusk efficiency aren’t to be sneezed at.
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Feel free to place comments directly on any of the film posts and to test your film knowledge with the CONTESTS scattered here & there. (Hey! No Googling allowed. They're pretty easy.)
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