The Dirty Dozen

Plot synopsis:
In Britain, in the spring of 1944, Allied forces are preparing for the D-Day invasion. Among them are Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin), an OSS officer; his commander, Regular Army Major General Sam Worden (Ernest Borgnine); and his former commander Colonel Everett Dasher Breed (Robert Ryan). The personalities of the three men are shown to clash and the characters of the individualistic Reisman and the domineering Breed are established. Reisman is aided by his friend, the mild-mannered Major Max Armbruster (George Kennedy).
Major Reisman is assigned an unusual and top-secret mission, code-named Operation Amnesty. He is to train a small band of the Army's worst convicts (previously selected by the Army) and turn them into commandos to be sent on a virtual suicide mission, the airborne infiltration and assault on a château near Rennes in Brittany. The chateau will be hosting a meeting of dozens of high-ranking German officers, the elimination of whom will hamper the German military's ability to respond to D-Day by disrupting the chain of command. Those who survive the mission will be pardoned and returned to active duty at their former ranks. However, as Reisman repeatedly tells the men, few of them will be coming back from this one.
After witnessing a hanging in a military prison, Reisman is assigned 12 convicts (the 'Dirty Dozen'), all either serving lengthy sentences or awaiting execution. Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel) reads out their sentences of each man (during the credits of the film) as Major Reisman walks down the line of prisoners.
On March 19, Reisman visits Franko, Wladislaw, Maggott, Posey and Jefferson in their cells. Some details of their crimes are revealed and he uses a different approach with each in an effort to gain their cooperation.
Under the supervision of Reisman and MP Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel), the group begins training. After being forced to construct their own living quarters, the 12 men are trained in combat by Reisman and gradually learn how to operate as a group. For parachute training, they are sent to the base operated by Colonel Breed. Under strict orders to keep their mission secret, Reisman's men run afoul of Breed and his troops, especially after Pinkley - under Reisman's orders - poses as a general and inspects Breed's troops. Angered at the usurpation of his authority, Breed attempts to discover Reisman's mission by having two of his men attack Wladislaw in the latrine, but they are both knocked out by Posey and Jefferson.
The 12 men think Reisman sent them until Breed and his men investigate the Dirty Dozen's camp, and recognize the two men who jumped Wladislaw in the latrine. Reisman, who had been away when Breed and his paratroopers arrived, infiltrates his own post and opens fire on the paratroops as the convicts jump them. They disarm the paratroops, Colonel Breed is ordered to take his men and leave, and Major Reisman is called on the carpet by General Worden and his chief of staff, Brigadier General Denton.
Denton, siding with Breed, insists that Reisman has exceeded his authority and urges General Worden to terminate Operation Amnesty. Reisman rises ferociously to the defense of his men, pointing out they had crammed six months of training into as many weeks and deserved a chance to prove themselves. Major Armbruster suggests a test that would show whether Reisman's men are ready. During practice maneuvers in which Breed will be taking part, the "Dirty Dozen" will attempt to capture the Colonel's headquarters. During the maneuvers, the men use various unorthodox tactics, including theft, impersonation, and rule-breaking, to infiltrate Breed's headquarters and hold his men and him at gunpoint. This proves to General Worden that Reisman's men can be used for the mission and that the operation is a go.
Due to the men's nature, Reisman makes them recite the details of the attack in a rhyming chant to help them remember their roles:
Down to the road block, we've just begun.
The guards are through.
The Major's men are on a spree.
Major and Wladislaw go through the door.
Pinkley stays out in the drive.
The Major gives the rope a fix.
Wladislaw throws the hook to heaven.
Jiminez has got a date.
The other guys go up the line.
Sawyer and Gilpen are in the pen.
Posey guards Points Five and Seven.
Wladislaw and the Major go down to delve.
Franko goes up without being seen.
Zero Hour: Jimenez cuts the cable; Franko cuts the phone.
Franko goes in where the others have been.
We all come out like it's Halloween.
The night of the raid, the men are flown to France, and practice a rhyme they have learned which details their roles in the operation. A slight snag occurs, when upon landing in a tree, one of the dozen, Jiminez (Trini Lopez), breaks his neck and dies, but as trained, the others proceed with the mission, Gilpin taking on Jiminez's duties. Wladislaw and Reisman infiltrate the meeting disguised as German officers, while Jefferson and Maggott sneak onto the top floor of the building. The others set up in various locations around the chateau.
The plan falls apart when Maggott sees one of the women who had accompanied the officers, abducts her at knifepoint, and orders her to scream. The German officers downstairs ignore her, thinking she is just having sex. Maggott stabs her and begins shooting wildly at enemy and ally alike, alerting the German officers. Jefferson kills Maggott because he has compromised the mission and evidently gone mad.
As the officers and their companions retreat to an underground bomb shelter, a firefight ensues between the Dirty Dozen and the chateau's guard force. As planned, Wladislaw and Reisman lock the Germans in the bomb shelter, then pry open the ventilation ducts to the shelter, drop unprimed grenades down, then pour gasoline inside. Jefferson throws a live grenade down each shaft and sprints for the stolen half-track the team has "liberated," but is shot down as the grenades explode. Over the course of the battle, all but two of the convicts are killed, leaving Reisman, Bowren, Wladislaw and Franko as the remaining survivors of the assault team. As they make their escape Franko, shouting triumphantly that he has survived, is shot by a stray round. Only Reisman, Bowren and Wladislaw (the lone prisoner) manage to get out alive.
A voiceover from Reisman confirms that General Worden exonerated the surviving members of the Dirty Dozen, and communicated to the next of kin of the rest that "they died in the line of duty".

Tags: cult, comedy

Review:
Quentin Tarantino looks like he just might follow through with his threat to make the ultimate "guys on a mission movie" if he gets his 'Inglorious Bastards' on to the big screen, but he'll be pushed to equal 'The Dirty Dozen', the quintessential movie in the genre.
It shouldn't be taken too seriously - I don't think anyone is going to argue it's a realistic depiction of war - but it's still one of the most entertaining movies around, and it's impressive collection of tough guys and character actors is really hard to beat.
Screen legend Lee Marvin ('Point Blank', 'The Killers') with the assistance of his Sgt (Richard Jaeckel), must train a motley collection of criminal and misfits (including John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, Clint Walker and Donald Sutherland), for a suicide mission behind enemy lines.
It stars Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Ryan and Jim Brown.1944, just prior to D-Day.Major Reisman (Marvin) is a none conformist kind of guy and he riles the higher brass no end, so it comes as no surprise to him that he is the man assigned the unenviable task of assembling a suicide squad of army criminals for a mission to destroy a château in France.
Over 50 years since it first lured people into the picture houses, Aldrich's movie shows no sign of aged frayed edges, or better still, and more remarkable, the enjoyability factors it holds has not diminished.What makes it a great film, then?
First off is the all-star macho cast assembled by Aldrich and his team, big hitters like Marvin (stepping in when John Wayne balked at the script), Borgnine, Kennedy, Ryan and Bronson were already names to the public, but these are also supplemented by soon to be "stars" like Cassavetes, Sutherland and Savalas (also stepping into a role vacated by another, this time Jack Palance who didn't like the racial aggression of the character) & stoic performers like Jaeckel & Robert Webber.
The messages in here are not sledge hammered into the story (Aldrich always said he wasn't making a message movie, just a film about camaraderie and unlikely heroes), and the construction of the action is top notch from one of America's most under appreciated directors.
OSS Major Reisman (Lee Marvin, "Hell in the Pacific") is an insubordinate Army officer who's facing a court-martial, when he's given one last chance for a reprieve: select twelve Army prisoners from a maximum-security detention center, train them for a top-secret mission behind the German lines, and then lead them into battle.
The key to every action men undertake in this very tough and and tough-minded Nunnnally Johnason and Lukas Heller script is: "Is that person dealing with the reality of the world of and his/her own responsibility to act?" From convict Telly Savalas' character, mystical murderer of women who claims a divine calling to punish their sexuality, to Charles Bronson and Jim Brown who reacted to persecutions and are innocent by reason of self-defense, to their leader, the mission's architect, Major Reisman, who wants his plan to go forward his way despite resistance from brass, every man of the outfit is tried against the same standard.
As a production, Robert Aldrich's direction is probably his masterpiece; the acting is far above average, especially Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber, energetic John Cassevetes and Al Mancini; the inspired casting of powerful top-sergeant-level Ernest Borgnine as an obviously far-beyond-his element general works brilliantly.
In fact Marvin's and the performance of others in the cast helped The Dirty Dozen get over two very big improbable situations I have always found in this film.The first one being the way the conflict between Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin is handled.
Then again a whole big part of the film wouldn't have occurred if Ryan had been let in on Marvin's mission.The second thing is that granted these guys might be considered expendable to say the least with several of the dozen scheduled for a firing squad, but the army would want to make sure the mission had some chance of succeeding.
Only in movieland.Marvin's mission is to infiltrate and kill a lot of the German high command as they gather at a French château in the weeks before D-Day. How he does is something you have to watch The Dirty Dozen before.
A dozen criminals (Oscar-nominee John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland being the major standouts) are trained for a suicide mission into Nazi territory in 1944 and act as assassins.
The rest of the dozen give good performances, but I'll be honest and say that the famous faces stuck in my mind more.Overall this is not a wonderful film and, as a war movie it isn't the best `mission' movie you could find (simply cause the mission is quite short and straightforward.
The training section and the mission itself combine to form an enjoyable film that is driven by a great cast playing good characters..
I just watched it for the first time last night on TV, clipped though it was for those smaller brained people among us who don't like to see dark bits at the top and bottom of their screens.It's interesting that there are three real character acts to this movie.
¨Dirty Dozen¨ is an entertaining film with Lee Marvin as tough officer along with the ordinary team of renegade soldiers of World War II .
The dangerous mission includes a numerous group formed by a motley and diverse squadron played by all-star cast .This is a rugged WWII actioner concerning about an experienced officer , Major Reisman , he's assigned by Military staff (Ernest Borgnine who acted in the original and all the sequels, Robert Webber , George Kennedy) to train a dropout group of murderers , criminals and rapists who get a chance to redeem themselves .
Lee Marvin reprieves a bunch of ¨Death Row¨ inmates , forges them into a two-fisted fighting unit and leads them on a deadly assignment into Nazi territory , but there is a religious crazy in the team .The prisoners are oddballs , rag-tag and undisciplined gang (a large cast formed by John Cassavetes, Clint Walker , Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas , Jim Brown , Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez), under command a sergeant (Richard Jaeckel).
At the end they must participate in the suicidal mission behind the enemy lines , to wipe the German group by means of a violent assault over a strongly protected castle.Lee Marvin as Major Reisman assumes the character of the leader of the Dirty Dozen in this wartime classic movie directed by Robert Aldrich and based on the characters created by T.M. Nathanson , being scripted by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller.
This is one of the most entertaining action packed war films ever made with a tremendous cast playing unique characters.
I first saw this film when I was about 8 year old and thought it was the best thing I'd seen on TV.Lee Marvin heads the cast as an unorthadox, short on discipline rebellious Major during World War II whose given a suicidal mission by a bunch of Generals headed by the excellent Ernest Borgnine.
He must take 12 convicts train them and take them on a mission behind enemy lines to destroy a large chateau and kill a large number of important German officers who'll be partying there that night.The films explosive climax is fantastic as you know inevitably that not everyone will survive the mission and by now you've sort of chosen who your favourite characters are.
The build up and the training scenes are also brilliant as you discover the backgrounds behind these violent criminals.It's Marvin's show but John Cassavettes is superb as Victor Franco, in fact with a supporting cast featuring Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy and Clint Walker you know you're in for a great ride, nobody is wasted.There's a lot of humour mixed with quite serious issues...you sometimes forget that this band of jokers are killers with only one chance to survive a mission they are hardly trained for.This classic is on par with The Great Escape and Where Eagles Dare, Three inferior TV movies were made in the mid eighties which basically take the same idea from the original but they are obviously no match.It's available on video and DVD and every home should have a copy.
With Dirty Dozen we have something of a go-between; the humour amongst  the characters is light & welcoming but never falls into farce or  bad-taste; and Aldrich quickly pulls us back into the fold with some  tight scripted scenes of drama & mass murder (throwing petrol &  grenades into that German bunker to name but one.
A great cast here with film veterans Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Charles Bronson and actors who would become well known including Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes in his only Academy Award nominated performance (he lost out to Kennedy who won for his performance in Cool Hand Luke)and Jim Brown, who retired from the NFL while filming this for an acting career.
It's a good action film with a great cast but it's too much like a comic book action story than an actual war drama story.
"The Dirty Dozen" is one of the best movies about war, with the perfect combination of action and comedy.
Most importantly The Dirty Dozen proves that to be a good solider you have to break a few rules.From the cold opening monologue to the explosive finale you've got yourself a film that sets a standard for how to make an action movie years and years since.
So you can either watch The Dirty Dozen in two ways, one to study the army through a wide open image or secondly as a highly entertaining action movie.
The most important question The Dirty Dozen make the viewer ask is none other than "Is this what the army is really like?" I'd say it is and by making a film that shows that the best war men are criminals Robert Aldrich has created an anti war statement..
To take a bunch of murderers, rapists, thieves, then make us root for them as war heroes, and laugh at their antics, then get caught up in their mission but (if we catch it) feel an unease at how that mission quietly echoes the gassing of Jews in concentration camps leads to high number of levels at which to take the film leads to a very complicated movie experience masquerading at 'fun' entertainment.
The Dirty Dozen(1967) is an entertaining movie full of exciting action and great acting.
Another great film from 1967 that stands the test of time.No one would ever believe in a story about a bunch of losers going into some German High Command and killing off Generals in exchange for their freedom.
Yet, this is one of the greatest and most successful war movies ever made.Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) directed a masterpiece written by Nunnally Johnson (The Grapes of Wrath).The cast was outstanding with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, Ralph Meeker, Richard Jaeckel, Trini Lopez, and Robert Webber.
However, for the younger generation, it does just enough to stay on the right side of the "boring line".For a basic plot summary, this film focuses on the efforts of Army officer Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) to turn a ragtag group of convicts into a serious fighting force for a suicide mission behind enemy lines.
Many of the cons are played by popular actors/personalities such as Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, and Donald Sutherland, to name but a few.Like I said, this film does just enough to keep it from being boring.
Again, this is probably a generation-gap difference in film watching at play here, but I just wanted to point it out.Thus, though I wouldn't ever call this movie a "classic" unless I'm referring to the decade in which it was made, it is decent enough to warrant a viewing if you are a fan of either WW2 flicks, or ensemble-cast blockbusters that showcase celebrities of that era.
If you asked me what three features made this film great in particular, I would say the excellent direction, the long but always engaging script and most importantly, Lee Marvin--in his greatest role of his career.Marvin is placed in charge of a group of 12 demented sociopaths who are given the choice to either join him in a suicide mission or have their full sentences enforced (and in many cases, this means the death penalty).
As a sadistic killer, who goes through religious rages against sex-driven women, Telly Savalas, who almost helped bungle the plot, deserved a nomination as well, but didn't get one.Lee Marvin is their faithful commander who asserts himself and then gets the guys into shape for this daring fete.The picture goes down some what as time is taken out for war games and the 12 men fooling Robert Ryan on two occasions.
The film has an all-star cast, including Lee Marvin, George Kennedy (albeit briefly), Clint  Walker, Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson.
The characters are great, too (and so are all of the performances.)  We really get to like and care for all of the sentenced men who make the "Dirty Dozen," and also for Lee Marvin, the best bad-ass to ever appear on the screen!
I dont know y i never get tired of these old films.Major Reisman (Marvin) is assigned a top-secret mission to train army's twelve worst convicts and turn them into elite soldiers to infiltrate and assault on a castle which will be filled up with high-ranking German officers.
Being that all of them are facing sentences from as little as 20 years up to hanging, the choice became easy.The characters were fantastic: Donald Sutherland as the Christopher Lloyd-like goofy Vernon Pinkley, Jim Brown as the few-worded Robert Jefferson, Telly Savalas as the fire and brimstone Southern religious nut, and John Cassavetes as the loud, unruly, and obnoxious Victor Franco were the real standouts.
During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.
This "dirty dozen" includes a sex pervert (Telly Savalas), a psycho (John Cassavetes), a killer (Donald Sutherland), and the equally malevolent Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez, Jim Brown, and Clint Walker.
On the dim promise of receiving pardons if they survive, the criminals undergo a brutal training program, then are marched behind enemy lines dressed as Nazi soldiers, the better to overtake the chateau and kill everyone in it--including the innocent wives and mistresses of the German officers.The cast here is brilliant and each brings something to the screen that makes this such a great film.
Here, Lee is given the task of training a dozen army convicts, some basically decent guys, some real psychos, and lead them on a suicide mission to a French chateau to assassinate as many German officers as possible.
Donald Sutherland (as Pinkley) and others in the all-star cast have their moments and share in Robert Aldrich's box office glory.****** The Dirty Dozen (6/15/67) Robert Aldrich ~ Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas.
A great movie that's filled with explosive action and weird humor about a stubborn Army Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) is ordered by two generals (Ernest Borgnine and Robert Webber) to train twelve G.I. felons who are sentenced to long terms of imprisonment or be hanged, into commandos for a raid on a château in France where the German army's chain of command is at.
One of my favourite war movies, the Dirty Dozen is action packed, funny, bleak and cool.
"The Dirty Dozen" has one of the most impressive star casts ever (such as Ryan, Borgnine, Kennedy, Sutherland and Savalas ), and at least uses it pretty good.Rating: 7 of 10..
This film is funny and has an all star cast: Charles Bronson,Lee Marvin,Donald Sutherland,Telly Savalas....
Say what you want about the Dirty Dozen but it has a great story, with great characters and lots of great action.Think of almost all of the tough actors and you got them here.
Right up there with my favourite Aldrich films (though maybe 'Kiss Me Deadly' is still my number one), and of the greatest performances of both Lee Marvin and John Cassavetes (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at both the Golden Globes and Oscars for his work here).This hearkened back to the heady times when if you got a great cast and director together, you were virtually guaranteed you'd come out of it, because of comparatively little studio interference, with a bonafide classic piece of cinema.
The Dirty Dozen is one of those off-beat classics that surfaces once in decade: a war movie with little violence, great acting, humor, tension, a good story-line and fine direction.
Just consider the cast: Lee Marvin, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, James Brown, Trini Lopez, Clint Walker and Telly Savalas!
The Dirty Dozen is by far one of the best action movies of all time.
These men were not going behind enemy lines to capture an enemy outpost or liberate a village , they were going in to destroy a chateau and all the Germans in it.Good cast led by Lee Marvin, with other such standouts as John Cassevettes as Franco and Charles Bronson as Wladislaw as two of the most prominent prisoners in the group.The film has only aged just a tad with time, but it remains an awesome movie that reinvented the genre of action.
This is one of Marvin's best movies.The Dirty Dozen is a classic war movie.