The plot and summary have already been discussed here. I would like to add my spin on the actors. Jack Palance always seems so suited for sinister type roles, but here he gets a chance to play a character you can sympathize with, even though there is a still a dark edge to his character. He is very good in this film, and (here is my spoiler), no one in the history of film making has ever played a corpse better than Palance, in this film.
Eddie Albert is so effective as the cowardly weasel, Capt. Cooney, that it took years for me to enjoy any other roles that he had later on. He made that much of an impression. It took a couple of years of "Green Acres", to wipe the association of Albert's Capt. Cooney from my mind, whenever viewing him.
Lee Marvin, delivers just what you would expect from his role. Nasty fellow, that Colonel. Totally self-serving.
The rest of the squad form up a great little ensemble. I don't think that people realize just how talented Buddy Ebsen really was. While everyone else gives an edgy performance here, he balances the whole thing with a subtle, low keyed approach. Robert Strauss (probably best known as Animal in "Stalag 17") has little room to yuk it up in this film, although he does have a couple of "zingers". He is still one of those people that any time you see them, you can't help but smile. And what can I say about Richard Jaeckel? Was there A WWII film made from the mid 40s through the 60s, that Jaeckel WAS NOT in? A fixture in the genre. I wonder what the play, that this film is based upon, was like.
Eddie Albert is so effective as the cowardly weasel, Capt. Cooney, that it took years for me to enjoy any other roles that he had later on. He made that much of an impression. It took a couple of years of "Green Acres", to wipe the association of Albert's Capt. Cooney from my mind, whenever viewing him.
Lee Marvin, delivers just what you would expect from his role. Nasty fellow, that Colonel. Totally self-serving.
The rest of the squad form up a great little ensemble. I don't think that people realize just how talented Buddy Ebsen really was. While everyone else gives an edgy performance here, he balances the whole thing with a subtle, low keyed approach. Robert Strauss (probably best known as Animal in "Stalag 17") has little room to yuk it up in this film, although he does have a couple of "zingers". He is still one of those people that any time you see them, you can't help but smile. And what can I say about Richard Jaeckel? Was there A WWII film made from the mid 40s through the 60s, that Jaeckel WAS NOT in? A fixture in the genre. I wonder what the play, that this film is based upon, was like.