Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) Idiotic film that portrays a bunch of drunk losers who brawl, that suddenly become one of the best army units in WW2. The incessant brawling takes 2 hours of time. It is tedious and juvenile.William Holden is as stiff as ever in his role as some tough commander who's always at the front of the battle, without taking an injury I might add.You might want to throw away your brain once the actual battles start up, since the Wehrmacht is portrayed as a bunch of idiots who don't know how to fight or stand guard duty. The greenhorn US grunts walk down a stream and take the whole town just like that.There is also no way a bunch of greenhorn US grunts are going to capture a town that was probably supported by Gebirgsjäger (Mountain units) and Waffen SS Mountain units by simply and easily climbing up a steep hill without gloves or equipment.There is also no way a bunch of greenhorn US grunts are going to capture a hill held by seasoned Fallschirmjäger units (paratrooper).

Robert J. Maxwell Colorful and entertaining farrago of training camp and war-time clichés. William Holden is an army lt. colonel in World War II who is to take a company of American misfits and whip them into shape. Cliff Robertson is the major leading the company of proud Canadians.The subordinate roles are filled in by quite a few faces familiar from the period, notably Richard Jaekel, who has been in every war movie ever made, and Claude Atkins as the bully who learns to have a heart. Andrew Prine has a prominent role. He was a favorite of McLaglen but, alas, can't act any better than you or I. When the two groups have worked out their differences they're sent into combat and take an important hill in Italy at the cost of many of the men.It was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, son of Victor McLaglen, who was one of John Ford's stock company. Andrew must have learned a great deal about movie making from Ford, because Ford's sensibility is evident in most of the scenes, except that, as in a fun-house mirror, they're exaggerated beyond the point of mimicry.The sentiments are more than an homage, they're almost a parody. There is the usual emphasis on masculine bluffness, competition, bravery, a disdain for the dainty, lots of brawls, and a Niagara of booze. Rather than colorful the movie becomes gaudy.I sometimes wonder how movies like this go over in Germany. These Germans are as treacherous as the Japanese were in war-time flag wavers. And they are total idiots. A platoon of these American and Canadian specialists can capture an entire Italian town full of German soldiers without losing a man, and they can make fools of the enemy while doing it.The training camp scenes make up two thirds of the footage and the template is that of "The Dirty Dozen." There are some amusing scenes, like the one in which the martial-arts expert, Jeremy Slate, takes down the ruffian Akins. What makes it so funny is that Slate has a weak voice, wears wire-rimmed glasses and uses fancy language as he hectors Akins before the physical encounter. And then he uses the fight to illustrate the use of martial arts, lecturing the company while throwing Akins all over the place. It's like hearing Cyrano compose a poem during his duel with Valvert.The scenes of combat resemble "The Guns of Navarone." It's kind of enjoyable in that it's not the least challenging. If you enjoyed "Dozen" and "Guns," you'll probably enjoy this, although it's not too original.

Spikeopath The Devil's Brigade is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted to screenplay by William Roberts from the book of the same name written by Robert H. Adleman and George Walton. It stars William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, Harry Carey, Claude Akins, Andrew Prine, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Watson and Jeremy Slate. A Panavision/De Luxe Color production, music is by Alex North and cinematography by William H. Clothier.Based on real people and incidents, film follows the formation of the 1st Special Service Force (AKA: The Devil's Brigade), their training and subsequent mission to seize control of Monte la Difensa, a Nazi stronghold during the Italian Campaign in World War II.Somewhere along the path of war movie history there was a wind of change that saw the all heroic soldier of sincerity replaced by the anti-hero thug! Where misfits, criminals and army bums were thrust into missions that gave them the chance of redemption or a semblance of honour via death. This format reached a pinnacle, arguably, with Robert Aldrich's Magnificent Macho Movie, The Dirty Dozen (1967). A year later came The Devil's Brigade, a film strikingly similar to The Dirty Dozen, yet unlike Aldrich's movie is based on facts, it should also be noted that the novel The Devil's Brigade was written in 1966.McLaglen's movie follows the tried and tested formula, men from all walks of life thrust together and expected to gel as one fighting force. Cue hostilities and suspicions, here in the guise of a crack Canadian army unit joining forces with a platoon of American wasters. The training is as tough as it gets, the men continuing to try and out macho each other, and then that magical moment occurs when they come together as one and realise they actually can get on after all. This comes about in TDB courtesy of a gloriously over the top part of the film where the Yanks and Canadians brawl with local lumberjacks and the military police. Something which greatly makes their leader, Lt. Col Robert Frederick (Holden), very proud. He of course is straight from the "unconventional" line of military leaders.So it goes, fists fly as much as the jokes, the insults are barbed and the macho posturing never wavers. Frederick butts heads with the suits, his charges forced to prove themselves as an elite fighting force, and then it's to the big bang mission, where it's a time for heroes and we know that not everyone will survive the pyrotechnics. Cast performances are just fine, inevitably with such an ensemble piece many of the characters are not fully fleshed, but the main players impact well on the drama. North's music is delightfully boisterous, the blend of national themes most catchy, Clothier's photography around the Utah and Lazio locales lurches nicely from the screen, while McLaglen, so often derided for some of his directing assignments, does a bang up good job for the two action sequences that finalise the movie.It doesn't break new ground, but for this line of formula war movies it comfortably keeps the fires burning. 7.5/10

Wuchak "The Devil's Brigade" was released in 1968, 11 months after the hugely successful "The Dirty Dozen". Both films have similar plots and were based on real-life WWII units -- "The Dirty Dozen" was loosely based on the Filthy Thirteen and "The Devil's Brigade" more tightly based on the 1st Special Service Force, AKA The Black Devils.Their plots are similar in that they each involve a group of military delinquents being trained for a big mission and then the execution of that mission. They differ in that the 1st Special Service Force was comprised of both American and Canadian soldiers, rather than just Americans.Although "The Devil's Brigade" is based more on fact it's still a very Hollywood-ized depiction of events. For instance, actual members of the unit objected to the way the film limits the groups warm relations with the locals of Helena, Montana, (the city nearest their training base) to a major brouhaha in a saloon.The first half of the film takes place mostly at the dilapidated base near Helena, but was shot at a base in Lehi, Utah, which is a decent substitute since it's only 350 miles due south of Helena.Generally speaking, "The Devil's Brigade" is not as good as "The Dirty Dozen", but that's only because the latter film is so great, plus it came first. Yet it has some aspects that are just as good in their own way and sometimes better. For instance, the final mission in "The Dirty Dozen" involves the unit's raid on an opulent German château, which -- while good -- is hardly a typical WWII combat scenario; the final mission shown in "The Devil's Brigade", by contrast, involves the brigade's taking of a German stronghold atop a rocky mountain in Northern Italy, an excellent battle sequence.Although it's next to impossible to beat Lee Marvin as the commander of the unit in "The Dirty Dozen", William Holden is very strong in the counterpart role in "The Devil's Brigade". However, he was too long-in-the-tooth for the part as the real commander of The Black Devils was much younger, but that's not a big deal.Despite the above criticisms of the saloon brawl, it is a highlight, as is the scene in the mess hall where a hand-to-hand combat trainer is introduced. It's an extremely well-staged sequence.Claude Akins is great as the ape-like Pvt. Rockman, but his hysterics at the death of his Canadian comrade in battle is overly melodramatic. As if he wasn't prepared for the likely death of a fellow soldier in battle.FINAL SAY: If you're in the mood for a late 60s war flick in the mode of "The Dirty Dozen", "The Devil's Brigade" is a quality option.The film runs 130 minutes and was shot in Utah & Italy.GRADE: B