Mark Turner
The sixties saw a slew of war films being made focusing on WWII with many that are still considered classics. Both THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN were made during this time. But with the Vietnam War losing steam and support and more anti-war protests going on it was only a matter of time before the two collided. This was the case with PLAY DIRTY.The war in Africa carries on and the allied forces are doing all they can to bring it to an end. Col. Masters (Nigel Green) has been sending out forays into the area and learning from them while casualties increase among those groups. He believes he has found Rommel's gasoline dump and wants to send in an elite group to take them out. While chastised by his superior Brig. Blore (Harry Andres) he's given the go-ahead and allowed someone who knows about gasoline depots to go along in charge. Once he leaves Blore presents the same concept and takes credit for the plan.Capt. Douglas (Michael Caine) is the unfortunate gas expert to go along. Relatively new to command he's an ex-British Petroleum employee. He meets with Masters and learns what his mission will be. He is accompanied by Capt. Cyril Leech (Nigel Davenport), a ruthless scoundrel more inclined to save his own skin rather than follow through with a mission. Masters agrees to pay Leech 2,000 pounds in return for Douglas' safe return.What follows is a rather lengthy trek across the desert with all that is included there. Sandstorms, an oasis and enemies galore attempt to prevent the motley crew from their goal. Each member of this group has some sordid past to contend with. Among them are murderers, traitors, rapists and a gay Arabian couple which I would think was quite controversial at the time. As proof of how despicable they are when they find a Red Cross truck for the Germans their first thought is to rape the nurse inside. One of the two Arabs stops this with Leech following up.Leech and Douglas have no use for one another. Douglas may not be a battle weary soldier but he knows his duty and follows through. Leech on the other hand is willing to go along until something better comes up. Along the way the combative duo eventually come to terms with their situation.Setbacks happen and problems force the team to rethink what to do next. Communications become impossible when their radio is damaged. Now on their own they continue to complete the mission, completely unaware that circumstances have changed and the higher ups now want the fuel left intact. These same men in charge feel that the task set for Douglas and his team is impossible and have no problem letting them be killed as acceptable losses. As a matter of fact they're counting on it. It isn't until the last portion of the film that the fate of Douglas and all in his command is revealed.I enjoy war movies as well as anyone. I realize that a number of them made during WWII were done as entertainment but propaganda pieces as well. Why would you want to make a war film during wartime that helped the enemy? But movies made following the war still carried on a somewhat patriotic flair to them which is not always a bad thing.The metaphors for the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement of the time had to eventually filter into the movies being made. While some of what happens in here is probably part true the movie at moments feels too over the top in its depiction of top level commanders seeking fame and glory at the expense of those beneath them. There were moments when watching that I wondered just who the bad guys in the story really were.As far as the movie itself is it is slow going. The trek across the desert moves at a snail's pace. The grit of the sand filling every uncovered inch of person and equipment can be felt while watching but the endless stretch of tan and brown doesn't make for exhilarating entertainment. The choice to focus on the two main protagonists of Douglas and Leech leaves the rest of the team relatively unknown with little or no dialogue with their dialogue extremely limited.In the end it was interesting to view from a historic aspect, a movie made against war about war, but I found little else to make me recommend this film to anyone but die hard WWII movie fans and Michael Caine fans. It's not something I'd go back to revisit.Twilight Time has released the film with their standard of perfection when it comes to the picture quality. Extras are limited to an isolated music and effects track and the original theatrical trailer. As with all Twilight Time releases copies are limited to just 3,000 copies so if you're interested make sure you get one before they're gone.
MartinHafer
In many ways, "Play Dirty" is like taking "The Dirty Dozen" and merging it with the director's cut of "Lawrence of Arabia". The film is about a group of cutthroats and criminals who are on a mission behind enemy lines AND it has TONS and TONS of long and dry (no pun intended) desert scenes where very little is happening. Considering that these two other films were made before "Play Dirty" and are much better films, then you can guess some of my feelings about the film.The film begins with an officer and petroleum expert (Michael Caine) being forced to go on a crazy mission behind enemy lines in North Africa to destroy fuel depots during WWII. I say crazy because the other officer he'll be serving with is a real rogue--and was let out of prison for the mission. This guy has a group of equally nasty rogues who are all experts at playing dirty and NOT abiding by the rules of warfare and this includes dressing up as Italian soldiers.Too much of the film is spent on the team's trek across the desert...way too much. It makes for a terribly paced film and it only improves later in the film when they FINALLY make it to their objective. Additionally, unlike "The Dirty Dozen", most of the rogues (with the exception of their leader, played by Nigel Davenport) have no real personalities and are nothing like the cast of "The Dirty Dozen". They are just faceless scum. The ending is decent because it is very different--otherwise, I thought the film amazingly dull.Best moment of the film--when Davenport says "I didn't like the tea". Worst moment--when EVERYONE stood near the guy as he disarmed a German booby trap! Why, in the name of all that is holy, didn't they take cover...FAR away from the guy with the pliers disarming the bomb?! And, why didn't anyone tell the two gay guys that the place was booby trapped so they wouldn't blow themselves up?! Also, although it worked out well in the end, there is an attempted rape in the film that is pretty disturbing--particularly for folks in the audience who have themselves been victims, so be forewarned.By the way, if you care, a lot of the equipment in the film is neither German nor Italian. This is no surprise, as little of it survived the war. The German halftrack vehicles, for instance, are American M3 models.
zardoz-13
Anybody that dismisses director Andre De Toth's amoral World War II adventure thriller "Play Dirty" with Michael Caine as just another "Dirty Dozen" clone entirely misses the point of this first-rate combat epic. First, "Play Dirty" overflows with irony that is sorely lacking in "The Dirty Dozen." Second, the surprise ending of "Play Dirty" is nothing like the semi-happy ending of "The Dirty Dozen." Third, "Play Dirty" paints a negative image of the British military that Hollywood would never have done in the 1960s with "The Dirty Dozen." Fourth, characters in "Play Dirty" are seen puffing on the demon weed of marihuana. Fifth, "Play Dirty" has two homosexual characters. Sixth, aside from the Michael Caine protagonist, none of the characters in "Play Dirty" is sympathetic. Seventh, the least objectionable character in "Play Dirty" who found the men for his expedition speaks plainly when he advocates the use of criminals: "War is a criminal enterprise. I fight it with criminals." Eighth, the British criminals that Caine leads into combat are prepared to sacrifice their own professional counterparts to the German enemy without a qualm. Furthermore, regular British officers are just as willing to sacrifice Masters' men for the greater good of Queen and country. Ninth, the men that our hero supervises during the mission plunder the corpses of English soldiers after the Germans have ambushed them. The earliest big-screen American World War II movie with an Allied character that plundered war casualties was in John Guillerman's "The Bridge at Remagen" (1969) and the corpses were dead Germans, not his own countrymen. Altogether, De Toth and his writers depict warfare as unglamorous. One seasoned criminal character advises the hero: "You want to forget the noble sentiments if you want to live."Indeed, "Play Dirty" and "The Dirty Dozen" are similar in that each occurs behind Nazi lines with unsavory Allied personnel perpetrating acts of sabotage against an unsuspecting enemy. Unlike the death row inmates that Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) recruited for his suicidal mission to kill a château of dissolute Nazi generals, however, the convicts that Colonel Masters (Nigel Green of "Tobruk") uses for his mission have been on his payroll for some time and his dubious outfit with its record of one failure after another (eight, to be precise) is about to be disbanded by his superior officer, Brigadier General Blore (Harry Andrews of "633 Squadron"), while he plans to reassign Masters as warden of a P.O.W. camp. Mind you, Masters is no spit and polish officer. Unkempt, unshaven, and circumspect with regard to military decorum, Masters approaches his task with the mind of a university scholar and relies on unconventional methods that have yet to yield results. Masters reminds Blore: "The principles of desert warfare have not changed." Blore retorts: "The principles of getting value for your money haven't changed either." Here, Blore refers with sarcasm to the 17 jeeps, 24 trucks, 3 British officers, and 43-thousand of Her Majesty's pounds squandered in Masters' futile efforts. Masters convinces Blore to postpone disbanding his outfit after he outlines a provocative plan. Says Masters: "Two men are going to stop Rommel. One of them is Adolf Hitler who cannot give him enough fuel, and the other is me who's going to blow up the little he has." Masters shows Blore a series of photographs that African tribesmen have taken of an enemy fuel depot with Brownie cameras that he supplied them. Blore has little confidence in Masters, but he allows him one last chance to make good. However, he forces Masters to use a regular British Army officer, Captain Douglas (Michael Caine of "Alfie"), while Masters demands that Captain Cyril Leech (a mustached Nigel Davenport of "Nighthawks") bring Douglas back alive (as opposed to dead) unlike his numerous predecessors. Masters provides the incentive of two thousand British pounds to ensure Leech's cooperation. Captain Douglas, a conventional officer on loan from British petroleum, isn't overjoyed about being posted to Masters' outfit. Initially, Douglas argued that he wasn't a field officer, but his protests get him nowhere when his superior points out that he is dressed in the uniform of Her Majesty's Army. Reluctantly, Douglas embarks on this new mission with misgivings. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Masters, Blore appropriates Masters' plan as his own plan. Moreover, he has arranged for another group of regular army led by Captain Alan Watkins (Patrick Jordan of "You Only Live Twice") to shadow Douglas and Leech. Blore refers to Masters' group as a decoy that he considers expendable. The 400 mile journey of hardship behind enemy lines through the Sahara toward their objective amounts to a test of wills between Douglas and Leech. Douglas cherishes the misguided notion that he commands the mission, but Leech gives the real orders. Later, when Masters' men pose a threat not only to Hitler's army but also to the British, Blore compels Masters to commit treason in the name of the Queen and inform the Nazis that commandos have infiltrated their oil depot. Principally, things have changed and the same Nazi oil that the Allied had planned to destroy has since become valuable to the British. Ironically, even when the Germans inform Masters' group that they have been betrayed, our anti-heroes carry out their mission with spectacular but fatal results. "Play Dirty" contains several memorable lines of dialogue. The older, wiser, as well as wolfish Captain Leech advises naive young Captain Douglas about the rudiments of staying alive in wartime. "The way to survive here," he indicates, "is to watch, listen, and say nothing."Altogether, "Play Dirty" qualifies as an excellent World War II actioneer dripping with irony and sarcasm. World War II buffs with a jaundiced eye about patriotism will enjoy it. James Bond producer Harry Saltzman shot this exciting saga in Spain and the Iberian scenery provides a suitable substitute for the sun-drenched Sahara.
