''The Devil's Brigade'' is a 1968 American

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "se ...

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 ...

filmed in

Panavision Panavision Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...

, based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade. The film recounts the formation, training, and first mission of the 1st Special Service Force, a joint American-

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

unit, known as the Devil's Brigade. The film dramatizes the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing what is considered an impregnable German mountain stronghold, Monte la Difensa.

Plot

In the summer of 1942, American Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick, a War Department staff officer with no prior combat or command experience, is summoned to Britain where he is selected by Admiral Lord

Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy of ...

to raise a commando force composed of both American and Canadian personnel for operations in German-occupied Norway. Back in the U.S., Frederick arrives at the derelict Fort William Henry Harrison in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

where he receives his American troops — all of whom are jailbirds, ne'er-do-wells, and misfits. When the hand-picked elite Canadian contingent arrives there is immediate friction with the Americans and chaos ensues. By the time Frederick manages to overcome the national differences and mold the

First Special Service Force The 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) was an elite joint American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, formed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick of the Operations Division of the U.S. General Staff. During the Italian campaign of W ...

into a highly trained commando unit, he is informed that the Allied High Command have had a change of heart and offered the Norwegian missions to British troops. Left without a role, the brigade is ordered to be disbanded and its soldiers reassigned. Frederick remains undeterred and manages to persuade Lieutenant General Mark Clark to give his men a chance to prove themselves with a new mission in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Clark's skeptical deputy commander, Major General Maxwell Hunter, orders the 1st Special Service Force to reconnoiter a

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

garrison in an Italian town, but Frederick goes one better and captures the entire town. In the process, they earn the nickname "Die Teufelsbrigade" — The Devil's Brigade. Convinced now of the ability of Frederick's men, Lieutenant General Clark promotes Frederick to full Colonel and gives them a task no other Allied troops have managed to accomplish — to capture Monte la Difensa. Facing severe obstacles, the Devil's Brigade attacks the undefended eastern side of the mountain by scaling a cliff the Germans believed could not be climbed. Reaching the top as a unit, they take the stronghold despite considerable losses, allowing the Allies to continue their advance north into Italy. The film makes much of the initial animosity and rivalry between contrasting (and stereotypical) Canadian and American personas until the men forge themselves into a cohesive unit focused against the German enemy forces.

Cast

William Holden William Franklin Holden (né Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film '' Stalag 17'' (1953) and the Pri ...

as Lt. Col./Col. Robert T. Frederick *

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...

as Maj. Alan Crown (Based on Lt. Col Thomas Cail MacWilliam) *

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor, director, and singer. He was best known for his TV role as Dr. Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade' ...

as Maj. Cliff Bricker * Andrew Prine as Pvt. Theodore Ransom * Jeremy Slate as Sgt. Patrick O'Neill *

Claude Akins Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor. He played Sonny Pruit in '' Movin' On'', a 1974–1976 American drama series about a trucking team; Sheriff Lobo on '' The Misadventures of Sheriff Lob ...

as Pvt./Cpl. Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman * Jack Watson as Cpl./Sgt. Peacock *

Richard Jaeckel Richard Jaeckel (born R. Hanley Jaeckel; October 10, 1926 – June 14, 1997) was an American actor of film and television. Jaeckel became a well-known character actor in his career, which spanned six decades. He received an Academy Award nomin ...

as Pvt./Cpl. Omar Greco * Bill Fletcher as Pvt. Billy 'Bronc' Guthrie * Richard Dawson as Pte./Cpl. Hugh MacDonald *

Tom Troupe Thomas Troupe (born July 15, 1928) is an American actor and writer. Biography Troupe was born in 1928 and grew up in North Kansas City, Missouri, and studied with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio in Manhattan during the early 1950s. ...

as Pvt. Al Manella * Luke Askew as Pvt. Hubert Hixon * Jean-Paul Vignon as Pte. Henri Laurent * Tom Stern as Capt. Cardwell, Garrison CO of Fort William Henry Harrison * Harry Carey Jr. as Capt. Rose * Michael Rennie as Lt. Gen.

Mark W. Clark Mark Wayne Clark (1 May 1896 – 17 April 1984) was a United States Army officer who fought in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II. During World War I, he wa ...

, Commander of the U.S. Fifth Army * Carroll O'Connor as Maj. Gen. Maxwell Hunter *

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir and later in Western films. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigio ...

as Brig. Gen. Walter Naylor *

Gretchen Wyler Gretchen Wyler (born Gretchen Patricia Wienecke; February 16, 1932 – May 27, 2007) was an American actress and dancer. She was also an animal rights advocate and founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. Biography Early lif ...

as the Lady of Joy * Patric Knowles as Adm Lord Mountbatten * Wilhelm Von Homburg as Fritz * Maggie Thrett as Millie * James Craig as Maj. Gen. Knapp * Richard Simmons as Gen. Bixby *

Norman Alden Norman Alden ( Adelberg; September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on '' The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He provided ...

as the M.P. Lieutenant

Production

Development

The producer David L. Wolper was a noted documentary filmmaker interested in getting into feature films. He purchased the

film rights Film rights are rights under copyright law to produce a film as a derivative work of a given item of intellectual property. In US law, these rights belong to the holder of the copyright, who may sell (or " option") them to someone in the film indus ...

to Adleman and Walton's book in October 1965. (He had already bought the rights to the book ''The Remagen Bridge''.) Wolper said he was attracted to the material because he did not want to be typed as a serious documentary filmmaker. "It's based on truth but it's a 'movie movie' a fun and games type thing," he said. United Artists agreed to finance. Wolper hired William Roberts to do a script. The producer later wrote in his memoirs that "this was my first feature but I was not in the slightest bit intimidated." In October 1966 William Holden agreed to star. The following month Andrew McLaglen agreed to direct.

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

and

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the NBC Western fiction, Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was ...

were offered roles in the film. The

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

and the Canadian Department of National Defence both agreed to assist the film production.

Shooting

Filming started 15 April 1967. The motion picture was filmed with the 19th Special Forces Group at Camp Williams, Utah, 20 miles south of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, with battle locations on

Lone Peak Lone Peak is a mountain summit in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and the center of the Lone Peak Wilderness, established in 1978. With an elevation of , it is one of the highest peaks in the range and among ...

near

Draper, Utah Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. state of Utah, about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. As of the 2020 census, the population is 51,017, up from 7,143 in 1990. Draper is part of two metropolitan area ...

, and on location in Sant'Elia Fiumerapido, Italy. Parts of the film were also shot in Park City, Lehi, Alpine,

Solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may wo ...

and Granite Mountain in Utah. David L. Wolper realized it would be as cheap to shoot in an Italian village as building an Italian set in America. However, the birthday scene which is set in Italy was filmed at the National Guard Armory in Salt Lake City, with

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

students as extras. The U.S. National Guard Bureau provided 300 members of the Utah National Guard to portray soldiers in the mass battle scenes filmed. Wolper had the Brigade wear attractive but fictional red berets that appeared as well as on the film's posters and on the

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

cover of Adelman and Walton's book. The cast of ''The Devil's Brigade'' included NFL

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Paul Hornung Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football halfback and kicker who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 to 1966 ...

and

World Middleweight Champion Championship recognition 1884–1910 Champions were recognized by public acclamation. A champion in that era was a fighter who had a notable win over another fighter and kept winning afterward. Retirements or disputed results could lead to a cha ...

boxer Gene Fullmer in minor roles. They can be seen in the barroom brawl sequence, Hornung as a belligerent lumberjack and Fullmer as the bartender. Wolper later wrote that Holden was very cooperative during the shoot in Utah, only drinking wine, but in Italy his drinking got out of control. Wolper had to call on the assistance of a woman in Paris who had dealt with Holden before and helped him finish the film on schedule. Filming concluded on July 3, 1967, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Post production

McLaglen said when he showed the finished cut to United Artists they "loved" the film.

But the producer had a big projection room in his house, and he showed the movie for a solid week to a hundred people, and I think a hundred people had ideas of what we should do with the movie... And without me having any input – I didn't have the last say – they cut the movie and, in the end, it was not nearly as good as it could have been. I had a great ending, and a lot of good stuff in there, and he didn't know what he was doing. I still worry about that.

Soundtrack

Alex North Alex North (born Isadore Soifer; December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', ''Spartac ...

composed the score of the film, re-purposing the theme from his rejected score to the pilot episode of '' The Rat Patrol''. At the time of release only a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

by Leroy Holmes was released by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

. The album was illustrated with the original Sandy Kossin artwork of the film and featured instrumental (with whistling) and a male chorus singing lyrics to North's title theme. The album also contained cover versions of other North themes from the film as well as 1940s popular music that appeared in the film. In 2007 Film Score Monthly and Intrada released a limited CD edition of North's original score with Kossin's artwork including alternate versions of the title theme, North's own arrangements of four 1940s jazz popular tunes, two traditional

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

s, and the

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

version of ''

Scotland the Brave "Scotland the Brave" () is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being " Flower of Scotland", and " Scots Wha Hae"). History The tune probably originated in the late 19th c ...

'' featuring in the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere on May 14, 1968, at the Michigan Theater, Detroit and at the Vanity Theater in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

in Canada. It opened at an additional 5 theaters in Detroit the following day.

Reception

Box office

The film was the fourth-most-popular movie in general release in Britain in 1968, after ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'', '' Barbarella'' and '' Carry on Doctor''. Wolper later wrote "''The Devil's Brigade'' turned out to be a terrific film. It was a wonderful story, the acting was excellent, and the preview audiences and critics loved it. Unfortunately it came out just a few months after the release of '' The Dirty Dozen'', which was the same kind of story. It was a big hit and it killed us. We got lost in the wind."Wolper p 164

Accuracy

To the veterans of the Force, the film was historically inaccurate. In a TV documentary ''Suicide Missions: The Black Devils'', Force member Bill Story stated: "''The Devil's Brigade'' was and is a very entertaining war movie. But as a piece of accurate history it's sheer nonsense. There was never an aspect of ''The Dirty Dozen''. This was absolutely not true." Canadian military historian and writer

Tim Cook Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who is the current chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Cook had previously been the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook joined ...

said of the film “It is a rousing wartime adventure that I find repays with each viewing. Over the years, veterans have told me they also enjoyed the film. One chuckled with pleasure and said he remembered it differently, however. Indeed.”

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Brigade 1968 films 1960s action war films 1968 action films 1968 war films American action war films 1960s English-language films Films about the United States Army Canadian Armed Forces in films Italian Campaign of World War II films Films set in Montana Films set in Italy Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films about Canada–United States relations Films directed by Andrew McLaglen Films scored by Alex North Films shot in Utah United Artists films Cultural depictions of Lord Mountbatten Films shot in Lazio Films set in London American World War II films Films shot in London Films with screenplays by William Roberts (screenwriter) Films based on non-fiction books World War II films based on actual events Films produced by David L. Wolper 1960s American films English-language action films English-language war films