One of the year’s smash hits, this action-packed, archetypal bloke-flick is violent, amoral, and a magnificent adventure that stirs the blood and warms the heart.
Set in England in 1944, the film begins with a hanging execution in an army prison, which US Army officer Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) is called upon to witness. Reisman is noted for his rejection of discipline, for exceeding orders in the field, and has a record demonstrating that he is an individualist who does not submit meekly to authority.
He is ordered to select 12 death-row military prisoners convicted for crimes of murder, rape and robbery with violence, and to train and qualify them for a behind-the-lines operation in six weeks.
Their target is a French chateau behind Nazi lines, used by German officers for conferences and recreation. Their purpose is to kill as many officers as possible in order to interrupt the German chain of command prior to the Allied forces’ invasion of Europe.
As the men selected for Reisman’s team are all sentenced to hanging or hard labour for their crimes, the mission is called “Project Amnesty”.
The men are offered a pardon if they succeed in the mission and return alive. But if there is any breach of discipline, they will go right back to prison. There are no complicated motives, no layers of intrigue – just the need to lay a righteous beating at the enemy’s heart.
The ‘dirty dozen’ includes a sex pervert (Telly Savalas), a psycho (John Cassavetes) and a mentally challenged killer (Donald Sutherland).
Reisman initially uses the group to best the troops of his by-the-book superior officer, Colonel Breed (Robert Ryan), in war games.
They then lead a perilous assault on the well-guarded French chateau and kill the Nazis vacationing there, becoming somewhat dubious heroes.
Only three of the original fourteen survive: Major Reisman, an MP, and the member of the dirty dozen who had been shown to be the most trustworthy, Wladislaw (Charles Bronson). His crime had been to shoot a soldier who was running off with the medical supplies.
Reisman’s comment when he learnt this was, “You made one mistake. You let somebody see you do it”.
The violence is mild by today’s standards, but it still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, and the movie rightly earned its original X certificate.
Some films show the absurdity of war, others satirise its insanity, but Robert Aldrich’s all-star caper just uses it as an adventure playground.
Dem doity Nazi’s don’t stand a chance!
The irony is that these criminals redeem themselves by committing acts which are more barbaric than the ones they were condemned for – because anything is acceptable in war.
Major John Reisman
Lee Marvin General Worden
Ernest Borgnine Joseph Wladislaw
Charles Bronson Robert Jefferson
Jim Brown Victor Franko
John Cassavetes Sgt Bowren
Richard Jaeckel Maj Max Armbruster
George Kennedy Pedro Jiminez
Trini Lopez Capt Stuart Kinder
Ralph Meeker Col Everett Dasher Breed
Robert Ryan Archer Maggott
Telly Savalas Vernon Pinkley
Donald Sutherland Samson Posey
Clint Walker Colonel Denton
Robert Webber Milo Vladek
Tom Busby Glenn Gilpin
Ben Carruthers Roscoe Lever
Stuart Cooper Corporal Morgan
Robert Phillips Seth Sawyer
Colin Maitland Tassos Bravos
Al Mancini
Director Robert Aldrich
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He is ordered to select 12 death-row military prisoners convicted for crimes of murder, rape and robbery with violence, and to train and qualify them for a behind-the-lines operation in six weeks.
Some films show the absurdity of war, others satirise its insanity, but Robert Aldrich’s all-star caper just uses it as an adventure playground.
