Review of The Dirty Dozen (1967) by Van R — 17 Jul 2010

"Vera Cruz" director Robert Aldritch made a one-of-a-kind World War II movie with "The Dirty Dozen" based closely on E.M. Nathanson's bestselling novel about a U.S. Army plan to sneak military prisoners behind enemy lines at a rest and recuperation château where high ranking German officers had time to miss the horrors of war and indulge themselves in wine, good food, classic music, and willing women. Although it is the most popular of the parole-them-from-prison plots, "The Dirty Dozen" doesn't qualify as the first Hollywood film to exploit this gimmick. The Errol Flynn swashbuckler "Captain Blood" is the earliest of the films about prisoners who receive a parole or who are exonerated for their crimes in return for valiant service to their country.

Nevertheless, this groundbreaking World War II adventure epic spawned many imitators from European filmmakers, and Aldritch himself fared unsuccessfully in his own attempt to imitate himself with "Too Late the Hero." Insubordinate U.S. Army officer, Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin of "Point Blank") finds himself shafted into recruiting twelve hardened criminals that he must then train and take behind enemy lines to carry out a mission. Naturally, Reisman regards the plan as preposterous, and General Denton (Robert Webber of "$") is properly outraged. Reisman argues that these half-wits must receive a pardon or they will not go for the deal. Most of the men that he recruits are awaiting execution of their sentence, namely getting hanged by the neck until dead. General Worden (Ernst Borgnine of "The Wild Bunch") is inclined to agree with Reisman in his assessment of the plan.

Warden picks his twelve prisoners, among them are Victor Franco (John Cassavetes of "Saddle the Wind"), Archer Maggot (Telly Savalas of "The Battle of the Bugle"), Samson Posey (Clint Walker of "Cheyenne"), Robert Jefferson (Jim Brown of "Rio Conchos"), Vernon Pinkley (Donald Sutherland in a pre-"M.A.S.H." role), and Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson of "New So Few"), and they are a dirty, unshaven lot that don't respond well to discipline. "I think the first chance they get," observes M.P. Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel of "The Devil's Brigade"), "they will shoot the major in the head." Reisman relocates his men to a compound that they must build where he trains them in assorted maneuvers. The worst of the bunch is Victor Franco and Reisman uses Franco as a means to draw the others together so that they become the 'Dirty Dozen.' He does this by denying them water to shave with. Meanwhile, snooty Colonel Everett Dasher Breed (Robert Ryan of "Hour of the Gun") contends that his men can beat Reisman's rabble, so Worden schedules a war games and the Dozen prove that they are fit for their mission. Breed and Reisman hate each other with a passion.

Basically, "The Dirty Dozen" occurs in three parts: (1) the training, (2) the war games gauntlet, and (3) the final mission. The assault on the German château in the last half-hour of "The Dirty Dozen" is a nail biting, spine-tingler. "The Dirty Dozen" tops the movie chart as the most profitable movie made in its year of release. Belatedly, a number of lackluster sequels and eventually a short-lived television series followed in the wake of Aldritch's dynamic opus. Probably the most reprehensible character in the "Dozen" is Telly Savalas' racist Southern redneck who loves to use the N-word. The most suspenseful scene involves Jefferson's dash against machine gun fire as he dumps hand grenades into pipes leading to an underground room in the château. Of course, not everybody survives this blood curdling shoot'em up. The Charles Bronson character manages to stay alive and he has one of the best lines at the end of the film: "Killing generals could get to be a habit." The name-dropping celebrity cast, great production values, and taut helming by Aldritch make this a first-rate movie for guys. If you are a World War II fanatic and you haven't seen "The Dirty Dozen," then you must watch this movie!