Anzio: one of WWII's bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead--four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march... Read allAnzio: one of WWII's bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead--four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march to Rome.Anzio: one of WWII's bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead--four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march to Rome.
- Directors
- Edward Dmytryk
- Duilio Coletti(Italian version)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPeter Falk in his 2006 autobiography "Just One More Thing: Stories of My Life" stated that he didn't like the script for this film, finding it hackneyed and full of cliché; he wanted to leave the film for these reasons. However, producer Dino De Laurentiis encouraged him to stay by giving him film-poster name-above-the-title credit as well as choice of writer for his dialogue. Falk stayed on the picture and apparently actually wrote his own dialogue.
- GoofsToward the beginning of the film, Cpl. Jack Rabinoff (Peter Falk) is in the back of a Red Cross ambulance with three prostitutes and grabs a shoebox-sized box labeled "Hershey's Milk Chocolate Multi Pack" with a "1968 design" of the Hershey logo. One of the prostitutes reaches into the box and pulls out a "1968 design" box of Brach's Milk Chocolate Stars. In addition to the two anachronisms, Hershey's and Brach's are two separate companies.
- Quotes
Dick Ennis: [attending to Rabinoff who went into sudden convulsions] Look, fellows, I think he can use the air more then the company, okay? Anything anybody can do?
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: No, unless you have a band-aid.
Dick Ennis: Very funny.
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: Oh, it's murder. The stomach, you see? A Japanese grenade ripped my insides. Got medal in there. Under tension it contracts and all hell breaks loose. I must have been tense.
Dick Ennis: Good thinking. You belong in a hospital, not in a war.
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: Yeah, that's what they said when they sent me home.
Dick Ennis: You mean you got out, then you went to Canada and joined this outfit?
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: That's right.
Dick Ennis: How did you get past the doctors?
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: Lied about my age.
Dick Ennis: You gotta be crazy. Half your guts blown out and you're back here. What for?
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: Awkward time for a interview.
Dick Ennis: You got something better to do? Why did you re-enlist?
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: Why? Because I like it, you know. I missed it, Ennis. With all the mud and pain, these clowns giving orders, there's nothing like it. Look, a guy sells shoes for 40 years. I live more in one day, I see more and feel more. I taste more, I think more. I'm more, understand? I'm more. There's more to living than breathing. Capisce?
Dick Ennis: Capisce.
Cpl. Jack Rabinoff: You're the same way, that's right. War is part of you. You belong to it and when this one's over, you'll find another and I hope I'm with you.
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Carol Burnett Show: Nanette Fabray and Steve Lawrence (1970)
In hindsight, it's easy to pick the right choices for actions and plans to succeed in any matter. But, in the case of Anzio, the generals, high command and even the public learned of the error early on. The Allies stopped to build a beachhead. Most know the story. Major General John Lucas was wary of getting pinned down as had happened at Salerno. He didn't want to lose as many lives. But the plan for this landing was to advance and take the Alban Hills above the beaches – and then to proceed to Rome if possible. Instead, he moved a few miles inland – and dug in short of the hills.
What is befuddling is that common military sense seems to have gone out the window. First, Lucas didn't pursue the orders to take the hills. Second, when the Allies encountered no resistance at all in the landing, why didn't he push forward until they encountered resistance? That's a basic rule about finding where your enemy is and what is his strength. Third – the importance of the hills was obvious because they commanded overview of the entire beach area. That would be the place to dig in to protect the beach.
As the movie shows, a jeep actually reached the outskirts of Rome with no resistance – and reported back. But Lucas still chose to dig in and wait. So, this paranoid, fearful general gave up the element of surprise that the landing had been, and instead entrenched and allowed the Germans to move in and surround the area with heavy artillery and armored power. The result was a five month battle that was among the bloodiest of WWII, with 30,000 casualties. Equally bad, it gave German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring time to later pull his troops from the southern barrier and regroup all his forces north of Rome to continue to hold the Allies at bay with costly encounters.
One wonders if this operation under General George Patton wouldn't have turned out much different. Wouldn't Patton have seized the moment, cut off Kesselring's defensive line in the south, freed Rome, and prevented a German regrouping north of Rome? He could have done that in a few days. So could Lucas have done, if only he hadn't been so timid and paranoid. And, that would likely have had the Allies pushing toward Paris by the time of the D-Day landings at Normandy five months later on June 6, 1944. Instead, the worry about too many casualties led to many more and further ensured the dragging on of the war.
Apparently the U.S. military leadership has not learned an important lesson from the Anzio fiasco. We have had other instances since WW II of weak generals who fail to take initiatives with much more costly results. This isn't to pick on generals. But when we consider that just a few guys at the top make decisions that affect the lives of thousands of men under their commands, perhaps we need to find a better way to pick our battle leaders and weed out or bypass those who can't make bold and clear command decisions.
This film, "Anzio," is about the unopposed landing at Anzio, and the Allies decision to dig in. It's not about the bloody battle that results. It gives us a little taste of action with some Ranger forces. But it's enough to raise questions in the viewer's mind about the poor leadership and failed opportunities, and the consequences they had at Anzio and in the war. For that, this film has some value as well.
- SimonJack
- Sep 17, 2014
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Bitva za Antsio
- Filming locations
- Royal Palace, Caserta, Campania, Italy(opening scene)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 57 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1