The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Réalisateur:

Robert Aldrich

Scénaristes:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay) and
Lukas Heller (screenplay) ...

Date de sortie:

15 juin 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drame | Guerre

Accroche:

Train them! Excite them! Arm them!...Then turn them loose on the Nazis!

Intrigue:

A US Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers in World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Mission | Suicide Mission | Behind Enemy Lines | Nazi | Prisoner

Récompenses:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

A good old fashioned war film with no hidden agenda.

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Dec. 9	2:00 PM	AMC
Thur. Dec. 10	6:15 AM	AMC

Ensemble

Lee Marvin	...	Major Reisman
Ernest Borgnine	...	General Worden
Charles Bronson	...	Joseph Wladislaw
Jim Brown	...	Robert Jefferson
John Cassavetes	...	Victor Franko
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sergeant Bowren
George Kennedy	...	Major Max Armbruster
Trini López	...	Pedro Jiminez (as Trini Lopez)
Ralph Meeker	...	Captain Stuart Kinder
Robert Ryan	...	Col. Everett Dasher Breed
Telly Savalas	...	Archer Maggott
Donald Sutherland	...	Vernon Pinkley
Clint Walker	...	Samson Posey
Robert Webber	...	General Denton
Tom Busby	...	Milo Vladek

Autre(s) titre(s):

Dirty Dozen (International: English title) (informal title)

Durée:

150 min

Pays:

UK | USA

Langue:

Anglais | Français | Allemand

Couleur:

Couleur (Metrocolor)

Rapport de forme:

1,75 : 1

Son:

Stereo | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Classification:

USA:Approved (certificate #20802) | Iceland:16 | UK:12 (2006) | West Germany:16 (f) | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1968) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating)

Lieux de tournage:

Aldbury, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Société:

MKH

Anecdotes:

The movie was a box-office success which spawned three television sequels, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) (TV), Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987) (TV) and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988) (TV); a brief TV series during the 1980s, "Dirty Dozen: The Series" (1988) and a remake, Dirty Dozen (2012).

Goofs:

Anachronismes: The women in the "graduation ball" scene in the barracks are dressed in 60s style clothing and have 60s style hairstyles.

Guillemet:

Victor R. Franko: Hey! What's the matter with you? You think I'm going to die? Ha! If you think that then you don't know Victor Franko.

Connexions De Film:

figure dans Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Bande son:

Einsam

A good old fashioned war film with no hidden agenda.

A generally entertaining war film with no real political axe to grind or patriotic flagwaving getting in the way. Its very dangerous trying to humourise war in the movies, because that would be offensive to all those that had served & died in real life. Kelly's Heroes and 1941 probably went a little too far, pretending that war is really fun & cool when you've got people like Clint Eastwood in charge. But then you have other war films that are black in its humour but manage to keep into focus the cruelty & horrors of war at the same time - M*A*S*H and Catch 22 are the best examples. With Dirty Dozen we have something of a go-between; the humour amongst the characters is light & welcoming but never falls into farce or bad-taste; and Aldrich quickly pulls us back into the fold with some tight scripted scenes of drama & mass murder (throwing petrol & grenades into that German bunker to name but one. I often wonder about that scene, and whether it was some kind of metaphor for the gas chambers & concentration camps in Belsen) But unlike MASH & Catch 22, Aldrich resists the temptation to openly politicise the effects of war, after all this film was made in '67 near the height of the Vietnam war/protests. Instead he takes a straight line course of action and lets us be moved & entertained by the convicted GIs doing their duty. Marvin is excellent as the hardnosed but disobediant Major. He plays the anti-hero far better than Eastwood in Kelly's Heroes. Marvin just looks the type who'd give the top brass as well the Germans a real hard time. But special mention must go to Cassavettes as Viktor Franko, the trouble-maker's trouble-maker. His character is so refreshing & wild amongst a relatively mild cast of supporting extras, with the exception of Savalas. Franko is the Joker of the pack but you soon feel an attachment for him in spite of his crimes. Sutherland & Bronson, don't really add much. The former plays a slightly naive man who hasn't really grown up and Bronson just smirks & mumbles a lot. The only other character worthy of a mention is the truly terrifying Savalas, who is a Christian through & through, yet hates all women as much as the Germans; and has a most spine chilling laugh! Difficult to believe this man later became Kojak! The film is a tad overlong; the first & last 40 minutes hold the interest but the middle section (the War Games scene), is far too long and generally detracts. All the same, DD is a very good movie, especially for those who don't want to be politically moralised too. ***/*****