William Holden gets his own Dirty Dozen (it’s more like the Dirty Ten Dozen) including Richard Jeckel to boot. The Devil’s Brigade is a men-on-a-mission film that’s long on character and relatively light on action, which is the norm for these films but deals in a lot of clichés and archetypes without much adroitness.
Based on the true-life formation of the special forces, that’s the precursor of the Green Berets, that was nicknamed by the Axis militaries that were unfortunate enough to meet them. Major General Robert T. Frederick (William Holden) who was a Lt. Colonel at the time is given the task to put together an American and Canadian commando strike force to wreak havoc on the Nazis throughout Europe. Frederick accepts and gets a bunch of reprobate American Soldiers for all his troubles. Luckily, the Canadians are the best of the best led by Maj. Alan Crown (Cliff Robertson). If only they would get along. It will take both Federick and Crown working together to get the men to work as a cohesive whole. Only to face a suicide mission atop a mountain range occupied by Nazi cannons.
One expecting The Dirty Dozen or The Great Escape should temper their expectations. The Devil’s Brigade is on the level of something like Fury or A Bridge Too Far. The film is still entertaining and works better than lower-tiered “men on a mission” films but it doesn’t have the wealth of adroit characterizations and story that the top tier of the subgenre does like Guns of the Navarrone or even the cult classic Play Dirty. The problem is that it does what it does without much style or wit. Characters and plot do exactly what you expect like a finely tuned machine. Which isn’t a bad thing if those characters and plot devices are done with aplomb.
However, it must be said that both Robertson and Holden are terrific as the Canadian and American leaders (and the leads of the film). Their relationship and their work together is what holds the film together. Though credit must also be given to director Andrew McLaglen and cinematographer William H. Clothier whose use of the widescreen frame is marvelous, especially during the climatic battle scene.
The Devil’s Brigade is a perfect Saturday afternoon film. One that may lead you to watch one of the true greats of the subgenre.
The Transfer
This upgraded special edition’s image is always sharp and consistent, and free of any spots or blemishes. The grain structure is varied at points especially during the darker scenes or shot on location, though this is the consistency and nature of the photography of the area. The Devil’s Brigade is a wonderfully looking widescreen film and never doesn’t look wonderfully filmic in its presentation. The transfer is a beautiful representation of the theatrical image and looks like a freshly struct archival print keeping the “character” of the cinematography by William H. Clothier.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin
Theatrical Trailer
The Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin hosted by Nathaniel Thompson from Mondo Digital begins with their qualifications and how this is a continued look at war films. Some of the details include their personal experiences with seeing the film for the first time; the critical response to the film – which was not favorable; the film being a true-to-life WW2 story; a discussion of the life and career of William Holden – including a discussion about his work in Military films; some of the issues they have with the film; a larger discussion about stunt man/actor/director Hal Needham; the casting of Richard Jeckel – and a list of all the war films he was in including The Dirty Dozen; an interesting discussion of Panavision and the lenses they used on this production; the true life events that inspired this film – including details about General Fredricks (who earned 9 Purple Hearts), the special forces unit, how they trained, et. al.; a discussion about the life and career of director Andrew McLaglen; the WW2 films that were released at the time; how United Artist was a WW2 war picture friendly at the time and produced more than any other; a discussion about the life and career of star Cliff Robinson’s – including a wild story about being blacklisted over a “check cashing” scandal; a larger discussion about these type of the films and their lack of visual effects (for the most part); the real life missions that the actual devil’s brigade went on; the use of the widescreen frame in the film – which leads to a great discussion about the restoration of films on Blu-ray and how many of these editions probably looked better than their initial releases; a larger discussion throughout about the various actors that were cast in the film; and much more. Another winning commentary track from Mitchell and Rubin delves into the production, the creatives, and the realism within the film. The addition of Nathaniel Thompson only adds to the entertainment and information given.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Devil’s Brigade (3:47); Stalag 17 (2:08); The Bridges at Toko-Ri (2:00); The Counterfeit Traitor (3:23); The 7th Dawn (2:55); 633 Squadron (3:16); Masquerade (3:00); Hell is for Heroes (2:55); The Train (4:26); Beach Red (3:08); No Man is an Island (2:10); The Hell with Heroes (2:31);
The Final Thought
Kino delivers another great upgraded special edition for a classic Hollywood War Film. High Recommendations!
William Holden leads The Devil’s Brigade into WW2! Kino Lorber’s delivers a great upgraded Blu-ray Special Edition.
The Film
William Holden gets his own Dirty Dozen (it’s more like the Dirty Ten Dozen) including Richard Jeckel to boot. The Devil’s Brigade is a men-on-a-mission film that’s long on character and relatively light on action, which is the norm for these films but deals in a lot of clichés and archetypes without much adroitness.
Based on the true-life formation of the special forces, that’s the precursor of the Green Berets, that was nicknamed by the Axis militaries that were unfortunate enough to meet them. Major General Robert T. Frederick (William Holden) who was a Lt. Colonel at the time is given the task to put together an American and Canadian commando strike force to wreak havoc on the Nazis throughout Europe. Frederick accepts and gets a bunch of reprobate American Soldiers for all his troubles. Luckily, the Canadians are the best of the best led by Maj. Alan Crown (Cliff Robertson). If only they would get along. It will take both Federick and Crown working together to get the men to work as a cohesive whole. Only to face a suicide mission atop a mountain range occupied by Nazi cannons.
One expecting The Dirty Dozen or The Great Escape should temper their expectations. The Devil’s Brigade is on the level of something like Fury or A Bridge Too Far. The film is still entertaining and works better than lower-tiered “men on a mission” films but it doesn’t have the wealth of adroit characterizations and story that the top tier of the subgenre does like Guns of the Navarrone or even the cult classic Play Dirty. The problem is that it does what it does without much style or wit. Characters and plot do exactly what you expect like a finely tuned machine. Which isn’t a bad thing if those characters and plot devices are done with aplomb.
However, it must be said that both Robertson and Holden are terrific as the Canadian and American leaders (and the leads of the film). Their relationship and their work together is what holds the film together. Though credit must also be given to director Andrew McLaglen and cinematographer William H. Clothier whose use of the widescreen frame is marvelous, especially during the climatic battle scene.
The Devil’s Brigade is a perfect Saturday afternoon film. One that may lead you to watch one of the true greats of the subgenre.
The Transfer
This upgraded special edition’s image is always sharp and consistent, and free of any spots or blemishes. The grain structure is varied at points especially during the darker scenes or shot on location, though this is the consistency and nature of the photography of the area. The Devil’s Brigade is a wonderfully looking widescreen film and never doesn’t look wonderfully filmic in its presentation. The transfer is a beautiful representation of the theatrical image and looks like a freshly struct archival print keeping the “character” of the cinematography by William H. Clothier.
The Extras
They include the following;
The Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin hosted by Nathaniel Thompson from Mondo Digital begins with their qualifications and how this is a continued look at war films. Some of the details include their personal experiences with seeing the film for the first time; the critical response to the film – which was not favorable; the film being a true-to-life WW2 story; a discussion of the life and career of William Holden – including a discussion about his work in Military films; some of the issues they have with the film; a larger discussion about stunt man/actor/director Hal Needham; the casting of Richard Jeckel – and a list of all the war films he was in including The Dirty Dozen; an interesting discussion of Panavision and the lenses they used on this production; the true life events that inspired this film – including details about General Fredricks (who earned 9 Purple Hearts), the special forces unit, how they trained, et. al.; a discussion about the life and career of director Andrew McLaglen; the WW2 films that were released at the time; how United Artist was a WW2 war picture friendly at the time and produced more than any other; a discussion about the life and career of star Cliff Robinson’s – including a wild story about being blacklisted over a “check cashing” scandal; a larger discussion about these type of the films and their lack of visual effects (for the most part); the real life missions that the actual devil’s brigade went on; the use of the widescreen frame in the film – which leads to a great discussion about the restoration of films on Blu-ray and how many of these editions probably looked better than their initial releases; a larger discussion throughout about the various actors that were cast in the film; and much more. Another winning commentary track from Mitchell and Rubin delves into the production, the creatives, and the realism within the film. The addition of Nathaniel Thompson only adds to the entertainment and information given.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Devil’s Brigade (3:47); Stalag 17 (2:08); The Bridges at Toko-Ri (2:00); The Counterfeit Traitor (3:23); The 7th Dawn (2:55); 633 Squadron (3:16); Masquerade (3:00); Hell is for Heroes (2:55); The Train (4:26); Beach Red (3:08); No Man is an Island (2:10); The Hell with Heroes (2:31);
The Final Thought
Kino delivers another great upgraded special edition for a classic Hollywood War Film. High Recommendations!
Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray edition of The Devil’s Brigade is out now
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