The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Directed by Robert Aldrich
Genres - Action, Adventure, Drama, War |
Sub-Genres - Ensemble Film, War Adventure |
Release Date - Jul 15, 1967 (USA) |
Run Time - 149 min. |
Countries - United Kingdom, United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Director Robert Aldrich took what he considered a hopelessly old-fashioned script by Lukas Heller and Nunnally Johnson and fashioned The Dirty Dozen into one of MGM's biggest moneymakers of the 1960s--and the sixth highest-grossing film in the studio's history. Lee Marvin plays Major Reisman, assigned to coordinate a suicide mission on a French chateau held by top Nazi officers. Since no "normal" GI can be expected to volunteer for this mission, Reisman is compelled to draw his personnel from a group of military prisoners serving life sentences. This "dirty dozen" includes a sex pervert (Telly Savalas), a psycho (John Cassavetes), a retarded killer (Donald Sutherland), and the equally malevolent Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez, Jim Brown, and Clint Walker. On the dim promise of receiving pardons if they survive, the criminals undergo a brutal training program, then are marched behind enemy lines dressed as Nazi soldiers, the better to overtake the chateau and kill everyone in it--including the innocent wives and mistresses of the German officers.
Characteristics
Moods
Themes
Keywords
suicide-mission, group, machismo, major, training, war, Nazi
Attributes
High Artistic Quality, High Historical Importance, High Production Values