''The Last Blitzkrieg'' is a 1959 American

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed

Arthur Dreifuss Arthur Dreifuss (sometimes credited as Dreyfuss; March 25, 1908 – December 31, 1993)Veluwe The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts. The Ve ...

and the Cinetone Studios in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

for a

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

release. The film is a fictional account of

Operation Greif Operation Greif (german: Unternehmen Greif) was a special operation commanded by '' Waffen-SS'' commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The operation purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse ...

during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, where German commandos attempted to capture several bridges on the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

while disguised as Allied personnel. Columbia contract stars

Dick York Richard Allen York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He played teacher Bertram Cates in th ...

and

Kerwin Mathews Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor best known for playing the titular heroes in ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and ''Jack the Giant Killer'' (1962). Early life ...

also star in the film.

Technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

to the film was Major John W. McClain who was a company commander with the 23rd Infantry. A

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the screenplay was written by Walter Freeman.

Plot

In late 1944, several American prisoners plan an escape from a German

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

. However, unknown to them, among them is a German, Lt. Hans von Kroner, known to them as Sgt. Richardson, who is spying on the prisoners, reporting their escape plans to the camp commandant and polishing up his

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

. Reporting the escape plan to the camp commandant, von Kroner is told he is being removed from the camp and reassigned to another unit as part of a top secret project gathering all fluent English-speaking members of the

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 ...

for an unstated reason. The prisoners' plan fails and many die. Von Kroner is sent to a German castle with others for Operation ''Greif'' (called "Operation OK Butch" in the film), where they will dress in

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

uniforms and spearhead the

Ardennes Offensive The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

by committing sabotage, interdicting supply lines and seizing key objectives for the attacking German forces. Assisting in the training, von Kroner is assigned a team of three other men with various skills, including a

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

Officer, Wilitz, who regales his comrades with stories of his exploits in terrorizing unfortunates whilst a member of the

Brown Shirts The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ralli ...

. Von Kroner's team's activities and the initial German assault meet with success, but both soon run into unexpected difficulty. Von Kroner's forged orders are countermanded by a decimated American infantry company of the 23rd Infantry Regiment that forces them into being replacements, while the bad weather that made the German assault successful ends, enabling Allied air power to harass the Germans. In their new unit, von Kroner meets Sgt. Ludwig and Cpl. Ennis, whom he knew in the prisoner camp; they say they were the only survivors of their escape, as the Germans knew about it and ambushed them. Obtaining plans for an American counterattack against a strategic crossroad, von Kroner warns the Germans by radio of the American attack but is ordered to stay with the Americans to ensure that the attack fails. Von Kroner's team sabotage a jeep with a bomb, killing the company commander, and attempt to destroy the unit's other vehicle, a weapons carrier, arousing Ludwig's suspicion. The company attacks a German position with Wilitz using the opportunity to shoot their lieutenant in the back, placing Ludwig in command. Several German prisoners are taken, and Richardson/Von Kroner volunteers to take them to Battalion headquarters. He returns to tell his comrades that the prisoners didn't want to escape; they wanted to surrender to the Americans with von Kroner taking them in. A furious Wilitz insists that von Kroner should have shot the lot of them. With news of German infiltrators behind American lines spreading, Ludwig is further suspicious when Wilitz doesn't know what the American "

hot foot The hot foot is a prank where the prankster sets the victim's shoe laces or shoe on fire with a match or lighter. There are several other versions of the hot foot prank, but all involve using a source of flame near a victim's foot. Other versi ...

" is.

Cast

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

... Lt. Hans von Kroner / Sgt. Leonard Richardson

... Wilitz

... Plt. Sgt. Ludwig

Larry Storch Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' and hi ...

... Cpl. Ennis

Lise Bourdin Lise Bourdin (born 20 November 1925) is a French retired film actress. As of 2017, Bourdin resided in Paris. Selected filmography * ''Children of Love'' (1953) * ''The River Girl'' (1954) * '' The Last Five Minutes'' (1955) * ''Desperate Farew ...

... Monique
Han Bentz van den Berg ... Major von Ruppel

Leon Askin Leon Askin (; born Leon Aschkenasy, 18 September 1907 – 3 June 2005) was an Austrian Jewish actor best known in North America for portraying the character General Burkhalter on the TV situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Life and career ...

... Sgt. Steiner

Robert Boon Robert Boon (October 26, 1916 – January 13, 2015) was a Dutch-born American film, television, and theater actor. His film credits included '' The Tanks Are Coming'' in 1951 and '' Queen of Blood'' in 1966. Boon's television credits included ' ...

... Kirsch
Ton Van Duinhoven ... Hoffner
Gijsbert Tersteeg ... Colonel Eindorf

Brett Halsey Brett Halsey (born Charles Oliver Hand, June 20, 1933) is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during ...

(billed as Montgomery Ford) ... Capt. Levin
Charles Rosenblum ... Schwarz

Production

The film was shot in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the Cinetone studios in

and in the Veluwe forest between Apeldorn and Arhhem.IMDb: ''The Last Blitzkrieg – Filming Locations''
Linked 2016-03-30

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Blitzkrieg 1959 films 1959 war films American black-and-white films American war films Columbia Pictures films Films shot in the Netherlands Western Front of World War II films World War II spy films American World War II films Films set in castles Films directed by Arthur Dreifuss 1950s English-language films 1950s American films