''The Greatest Battle'' ( it, Il grande attacco, lit=The Great Attack) is a 1978 Euro War film co-written and directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring an all-star

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

, including

Giuliano Gemma Giuliano Gemma (2 September 1938 – 1 October 2013) was an Italian actor. He is best known internationally for his work in Spaghetti Westerns, particularly for his performances as the title character in Duccio Tessari's ''A Pistol for Ringo'' (1 ...

Helmut Berger Helmut Berger (; born Helmut Steinberger; 29 May 1944) is an Austrian actor, known for his portrayal of narcissistic and sexually-ambiguous characters. He was one of the stars of the European cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s, and is regarded a ...

, Stacy Keach, Ray Lovelock, Samantha Eggar, Henry Fonda,

Evelyn Stewart Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon. Extremely prolific, som ...

, and

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

. The Italian-West German-Yugoslavian co-production was produced by Mino Loy and

Luciano Martino Luciano Martino (22 December 1933 – 14 August 2013) was an Italian film producer, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, the brother of the director and screenwriter Sergio Martino, he was active in the cinema industry since the ...

for Titanus. It was also released under the titles ''The Biggest Battle'' and ''Battle Force''. The plot centers on a group of German and Allied nationals throughout the early years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including a British commando (Gemma), an American general (Fonda) and his son (Lovelock), a Jewish actress (Eggar), a war correspondent (Huston), and two very different German officers (Berger and Keach). The film climaxes in a recreation of the

Battle of the Mareth Line The Battle of the Mareth Line or the Battle of Mareth was an attack in the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (General Bernard Montgomery) in Tunisia, against the Mareth Line held by the Italo-German 1st Army (General Giovanni Messe). ...

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Plot

During the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

, ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

'' officer Manfred Roland organizes a dinner with a group of friends and international acquaintances to celebrate the event. The guests include famed German actress Annelise Hackermann, American Brigadier General Harold Foster, and Canadian war correspondent Sean O’Hara. Roland and Foster gift each other matching medals reading “In God We Trust” in English and German respectively, and the group resolve to meet again in four years. Six years later, Europe is in the midst of

, and the once-friends have been forcibly sent separate ways. Hackermann has married Roland, and though their union is a happy one she lives in hiding due to her secret

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage making her a target of the Nazis’ racial policies. In America, Foster's younger son John flunks out of college and subsequently joins the Army like his older brother Ted, despite his father's reservations. Despite their mutual hopes that the war will be over soon, the conflict only escalates and America soon enters the war against Germany. Roland is assigned to deal with

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

s in occupied territories, and is subsequently forced to perpetrate

summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

s despite his moral objections. Annalise is forced into performing sexual favors by a lecherous SS colonel who threatens her with arrest over her Jewish heritage. O’Hara, meanwhile, manages to use his old military connections to be assigned to frontline correspondence duty in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. In

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, ''Wehrmacht'' Lt. Kurt Zimmer begins a transactional relationship with Danielle, a beautiful French woman whose husband was killed by the Germans and prostitutes herself to the occupying personnel to survive. Having requested a transfer to the North African front, Zimmer is given a “farewell” assignment in France; to oversee the transportation of a massive train-mounted cannon targeted by guerillas. Meanwhile, John Foster is assigned to commando duty due to his fluent French, and parachutes behind enemy lines to join with a local

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

cell in a mission to destroy the cannon. The mission is a success, but John is the sole survivor of his unit, while Zimmer narrowly escapes with his life. Months later, John, Zimmer, and Roland are all separately reassigned to

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on their respective sides. John befriends

British commando The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn ...

Captain Martin Scott, who is forced to leave his family during Christmastime to return to duty. Roland narrowly survives an Allied air attack and meets Zimmer, who reads him a letter sent by Annalise. Unbeknownst to them both, Annalise is arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

at the whims of Jurgens. Her interrogators offer her reprieve from the concentration camps if she exposes the locations of her colleagues, forced underground by the Nazi regime. Without any means of escape, Annalise manages to break from captivity long enough to commit suicide. The Allies prepare for an offensive against the

Mareth Line The Mareth Line was a system of fortifications built by France in southern Tunisia in the late 1930s. The line was intended to protect Tunisia against an Italian invasion from its colony in Libya. The line occupied a point where the routes into T ...

, with Scott assigned to clear a pathway of mines for a tank detachment. The night before the attack, John is contacted by his father, who tells him that his brother has been killed in action. O’Hara tries to comfort John by quoting him

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, while Scott sets out to clear the mines. Things go wrong when they're caught by German sentries led by Zimmer, and pinned down in a

foxhole Foxhole may refer to: * Foxhole, a type of defensive fighting position constructed in a military context * Foxholes, Hertford, an eastern suburb of Hertford * Foxholes, North Yorkshire, a village and civil parish in Northern England * Foxhole, C ...

until daybreak. With only minutes left until the tanks arrive, Scott and his remaining men make a break for the tanks, Scott managing to climb atop and warn the crew before they reach the mines. Thanks to his efforts, the Allied tanks manage to break through the German defenses; Roland is killed as his position is overrun, and Scott loots the “In God We Trust” medallion off of his body. O’Hara is killed by stray artillery fire, and in Paris, Danielle is killed by partisans who mistake her for a collaborator. With the

ending in an Allied victory, Scott gifts John the medallion, and he notes its similarities to his father's own without realizing the significance. John is promoted and reassigned as an aide to General

George Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

, and Scott tells John that there are more battles and more wars to come. In America, General Foster visits his elder son's grave as he's informed of John's promotion.

Cast

as Capt. Martin Scott *

as Lt. Kurt Zimmer * Samantha Eggar as Annelise Hackermann * Stacy Keach as Lt. Manfred Roland * Ray Lovelock as John Foster * Henry Fonda as Brig. Gen. Harold Foster *

as Sean O'Hara * Edwige Fenech as Danielle *

Guy Doleman Guy Doleman (22 November 1923 – 30 January 1996) was a New Zealand born actor, active in Australia, Britain and the United States. Early life Doleman was born in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand, later moving to Australia. Career During the 1 ...

as Brig. Gen. Whitmore * Venantino Venantini as Michael * Patrick Reynolds as Christopher * Ida Galli as Miss Scott *

Rik Battaglia Rik Battaglia (byname of Caterino Bertaglia; 18 February 1927 – 27 March 2015) was an Italian film actor. He was born at Corbola, near Rovigo, Veneto. He mainly used the stage name of Rik Battaglia although alternate names he used for his fi ...

as Yves *

Andrea Bosic Andrea Bosic (15 August 1919 – 8 January 2012) was an Italian film actor of Slovene origin. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1951 and 1985, mainly in films called Spaghetti Westerns. He has appeared in films alongside John Philli ...

as Mimis Parnat *

Geoffrey Copleston Gerald Geoffrey Copleston (18 March 1921 – 1999) was an English actor, voice actor, and translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The Englis ...

as Colonel Jurgens *

Mirko Ellis Mirko Ellis (4 September 1923 – 11 September 2014) was a Swiss-Italian film, stage and television actor. Born Mirko Korcinsky in Locarno to a family of Lithuanian origin, Ellis moved, after his studies, to Italy, where he made his film debut i ...

as Captain Hans Becker * Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Batelli * Robert Spafford as Gen.

* Michele Soavi as Ted Foster *

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

as the Narrator

Release

''The Greatest Battle'' passed Italian censors on 19 January 1978. The film was released under several titles, including ''La Battaglia di Mareth'', ''The Biggest Battle'' and ''The Great Battle''. The American version was cut by several minutes and adds a voiceover narration by

Reception

Mick Martin and Marsha Porter wrote that the film has "lots of phony battle scenes, bad acting, and a poor script". Leonard Maltin writes: "Amateurish muddle about WW2 combines tired vignettes with well-known stars, dubbed sequences with others, and newsreel footage narrated by Orson Welles. A waste of everybody's time".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Battle Films directed by Umberto Lenzi Films shot in Almería Films scored by Franco Micalizzi 1970s war films West German films Macaroni Combat films German war films Constantin Film films German World War II films Italian World War II films English-language Italian films English-language German films 1970s Italian-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s German films