''Sette baschi rossi'' also known as ''The Red Berets'', ''Seven Red Berets'' and ''Congo Hell'' is a 1969 Italian/West German co-production, filmed in Ethiopia, about a fictional group of

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. The film was produced and directed by screenwriter

Mario Siciliano Mario Siciliano (1925–1987) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. In 1962 he founded Metheus Film.pp. 228-229 Curti, Roberto ''Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980'' McFarland, 22 Oct 2013 He directed more than twenty film ...

in his debut as a director. It was based on the novel ''Rebellion'' by

Piero Regnoli Piero Regnoli (1921–2001) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. Career Born in 1921, Regnoli worked in the film industry between 1953 and 1991 where he wrote over 110 screenplays and directed 11 films. Regnoli's work ranged fr ...

, under his pen name Dean Craig.

Plot

Set during the Simba rebellion, during the Congo Crisis, the film begins with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., the spearing executions of a group of captured mercenaries, and the

pack rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

of a French female journalist. At Mercenary Central an angry Colonel Kimber rebukes the only survivor of the incident, German Captain De Brand. De Brand has left important documents in the Simba village that contains information on the activities and employers of the mercenaries. The documents must be retrieved within four days. De Brand says he can recover the papers and rescue the captured journalist with a small patrol. The Colonel agrees, but informs De Brand that his record of performance clearly shows he is incapable of leadership, and appoints African-American Captain Lauderwood to lead the patrol. Kimber adds three men to the patrol: a German Field Commander, a black African named Martinez and an Irishman named O'Fearn. As the patrol is unfamiliar with a swamp and desert they have to cross, Lauderwood recruits Carrès, a French

gunrunner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...

, for the fee of $15,000. Carrès is familiar with the area as he has sold weapons to the Simbas. Carrès became a weapons salesman after witnessing the torture of his wife who was burned and beaten to death in front of him. He became further alienated when the French government did not want to antagonise the local situation by seeking their prosecution. Lauderwood also takes along Wooder, a female mercenary doctor.

Cast

Note: the pairings of actor-to-role at IMDB and BFI are not in complete agreement

Production trivia

*Marturano also acted as the film's

armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, wi ...

and stunt director. *Several of the action set pieces of the film were reused in Siciliano's 1978 '' Scorticateli vivi'' (''Skin 'em Alive''). *Like the 1968 film '' Dark of the Sun'', also about mercenaries fighting in the Congo Crisis, ''The Seven Red Berets'' features a train sequence.

Notes

External links

* 1969 films 1960s action war films Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo West German films Films set in Africa Films based on Italian novels Films about mercenaries Rail transport films Macaroni Combat films 1969 directorial debut films Films set on trains 1960s Italian films {{war-film-stub