The Devil's Brigade
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Movie Reviews of The Devil's Brigade
Movie Review: The Trurth about the Devil's Brigade
Summary: 4 Stars
I've seen this movie several times over the years and consider it a very good film with solid acting. For the most part it is historically accurate, but much of the real story has been omitted. One former "Forceman" I met did not like the film because of the way it portrayed the characters as brawling misfits and lovers. Several of the characters in it were real people, including COL (later LT GEN) Frederick, SGT MAJOR O'Neill, and GEN Mark Clark. To learn more about the history of this unit I recommend you read the book of the same title. You will discover much more to the story than a movie has time to capture, such as an "odd" Englishman named Pike who conceived the idea, and the chaos of their first operational mission conducted against what was thought to be a Japanese held island. If you are ever in Montana, I also strongly encourage you to visit the Montana Military History Museum in Helena. Among other things, the museum has articles on display from the First Special Service Force. When I visited it two years ago I was privileged to meet one of the original members who helped establish the unit and lead a company of "Forcemen" through all their campaigns. His personal adventure alone would make for a long movie. Note, this was the only Army unit in WWII history to earn battle streamers for service against the Japanese (Aleutian campaign), Italians, and Germans (Italy and France). It also was the only unit at that time simultaneously trained for airborne, mountain, and amphibious operations.Movie Review: Not a Dirty Dozen ripoff!
Summary: 4 Stars
The Devil's Brigade is a WWII story about the formation of a Special Forces unit meant to help the war effort in Europe. A ragtag bunch of Americans and a crack unit of Canadian troops are brought together to train to form this unit. Excellent cast with William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, Dana Andrews, Carroll O'Connor, Richard Jaeckel, Claude Akins, Jeremy Slate, Andrew Prine, Luke Askew, and Richard Dawson in a pre-Family Fued role.Critics said The Devil's Brigade is a ripoff of The Dirty Dozen, but it really isn't. While the storylines are similar, the overall idea of the movie is much different with the The Devil's Brigade dealing with a true story. This movie is a great guy film with excellent performances by much of the cast. There are some funny scenes as the Yanks and the Canucks get used to each other before the mandatory bonding scene during a barroom fight with a group of lumberjacks.
The DVD presentation is good with the widescreen presentation and the theatrical trailer. As another reviewer pointed out, the trailer contains Richard Jaeckel screaming as he falls from the cliff, something not in the movie. Excellent World War II adventure story with great cast and good action scenes. Don't miss it!
Movie Review: A Brigade of Character Actors
Summary: 4 Stars
A movie noteworthy mostly because of the supporting cast of character actors. Most notable are Richard Jaeckel (THE DIRTY DOZEN), Claude Akins (RIO BRAVO, tv's SHERIFF LOBO), Luke Askew, Andrew Prine (tv's V-THE MINISERIES/THE FINAL BATTLE), and even Richard Dawson (tv's HOGAN'S HEROES, FAMILY FEUD). Otherwise this is a basic WWII action flick with some big name stars (William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Carrol O'Conner, Micheal Rennie, Vince Edwards). An Allied special forces commando unit is hastily created to enter the early days of WWII to keep the Germans occupied until the actual American forces can send troops. This commando unit consists of misfit American GI's and elite Canadian soldiers. Part of the movie is a cliched plot where the ragtag Americans must get along with the posh Canadians. At first the two groups hate each other until fisticuffs at a local bar againts lumberjacks unites the two groups. Then, when this happens they become a fine tuned fighting unit. Pretty predictable stuff, but entertaining nonetheless with some great war action sequences and cliched characters. Standout performances by Richard Jaeckel as Pvt. Omar Greco (supposedly an acrobatic circus performer), and Claude Akins as Rockman.Movie Review: A darned good war flick about special ops.
Summary: 4 Stars
William Holden, Cliff Robertson, and Vince Edwards turn in their customary fine performances in this excellent story about one of the early Special Operations units. The storyline is simple enough. A Special Ops unit is formed for a specific mission in Norway (the mission is eventually changed. Nice bit part by Michael Rennie as General Mark Clark). For reasons I was never quite clear on, the unit is comprised of equal parts of American misfits and Canadian elite troops. (This is said to be historically accurate). My favorite part of the movie is the interaction between the American rogues and the more cultured, but equally tough, Canadian troops. There are some hilarious scenes that take place during pre-combat training which show how the unit gelled together into an elite force.The action scenes are very well done, and the attitude of the regular army units towards the unconventional Special Ops unit is true-to-life. Special Ops units have traditionally, at least until recently, been the orphans of the army, and that is brought out very well in this fine movie.
If you like a straightforward, well-acted war movie, this is one of the better ones.
Movie Review: Filmed in Utah location
Summary: 4 Stars
Great movie with good cinematography. Much of the Devil's Brigade was filmed in Northern Utah between Provo and Salt Lake City at the GPS coordinates N 40.27.18 W 112.1.99 for the military camp and N 40.31.484 W 111.45.264 for the mountain scene in the final battle. The military camp used was Camp Williams while the mountain was on top of Lone Peak directly across the valley from the camp. Lone Peak was used because it looks so much like the mountains in Italy or rather the Swiss Alps in the summer months. At the beginning of the movie, when the soldiers arrive in the trains, you can see the sun reflecting off the windshields of vehicles traveling North and South on Interstate I-15. While the fighting is going on atop the mountain at the end, you can see Kennecot Copper mine in the upper right of the screen. It's unfortunate that many of the great actors of this 1968 movie have passed away. This movie is a must for viewers who love a good action WWII movie.