Monumental World War II Movie

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2011)

Director Brian Hutton followed up his smash hit World War II espionage thriller "Where Eagles Dare" with "Kelly's Heroes." Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton masqueraded as Germans to infiltrate an impregnable castle and rescue a prisoner who knew everything about D-Day. Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland and Eastwood behave like renegades who plan to loot a heavily guarded bank behind enemy lines. "The Italian Job" scenarist Troy Martin Kennedy pulls off a spectacular premise that had never been done before when he combined a World War II movie with an impossible heist thriller. A platoon of restless G.I.s who are left to their own designs storm enemy lines to rob a bank. Since command has pulled them out of battle and ordered them to take rest and relaxation, they decide to grab something for themselves. Clint Eastwood plays Kelly, a former U.S. Army lieutenant demoted because somebody had to assume blame for a botched mission that claimed the lives of all his men. Kelly captures a German officer,Colonel Dankhopf, and interrogates him with liquor to loosen his tongue. Our hero discovers an ingot of gold that looks like a lead bar in the Colonel's brief case. Initially, Dankhopf tries to persuade Kelly that the bar is really made out of lead so it could sink the satchel in water. As Sgt. Big Joe, Telly Savalas co-stars as an abusive but skeptical non-com, while a woolly Donald Sutherland steals the show as a stoner tank commander. Eastwood and company set out for a $16 million pay day and wind up turning the tide of battle with their exploits. Confronted by angry Germans prepared to kill them, our heroes find themselves being pursued by a crazy General (Carol O'Connor) dying to hand out medals for gallantry. The finale in an occupied town is played as if it were a World War II version of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" is inspirational. "Kelly's Heroes" boasts ingenuity, suspense, tension, and humor. The scene where Oddball's tankers destroy a railway shipping center to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" is really amusing. "Kelly's Heroes" is a must-see for all combat movie fanatics.