Anzio (film)
Anzio | |
---|---|
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
Countries | Italy, United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,400,000 (US, Canada)[1] |
Anzio (Italian: Lo sbarco di Anzio), also known as The Battle for Anzio (UK title), is a 1968
The film stars
In the English-language version, Italians speak their native language. German military commanders speak English.
Plot
After meeting American general Jack Lesley, war correspondent Dick Ennis is assigned to accompany
Ennis is with the Rangers who are ambushed at the Battle of Cisterna. Ennis radios the news of the disaster back to Lesley at the beachhead calling it another costly failure in judgment by the brass. The men take shelter in a house occupied by three Italian women. A German patrol arrives at the house only to be slaughtered by the Americans. Ennis asks what makes one human being willingly kill another. Corporal Jack Rabinoff replies that he loves it, and that combat and war allow him to live more than anyone else.
Having almost reached friendly lines, most of the men, including Rabinoff, are killed in a shootout with a group of German snipers. It is during this shootout that Ennis is finally forced to kill one of the Germans with Rabinoff's gun. Only Ennis, Technical Sergeant Stimmler, and Private Movie make it back and deliver intelligence about the Germans' new defense line. Ennis learns that the too-cautious General Lesley had been relieved of command of the Allied forces at Anzio. Thanks to behind-the-enemy-lines information provided by Ennis the beachhead at Anzio is broken, and General Carson and the
Cast
- Robert Mitchum as Dick Ennis, war correspondent
- Peter Falk as Corporal Jack Rabinoff
- Robert Ryan as Lieutenant General Carson
- Earl Holliman as Technical Sergeant Abe Stimmler
- Mark Damon as Private Wally Richardson
- Arthur Kennedyas Major General Jack Lesley
- Wolfgang Preiss as Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring
- Reni Santoni as Private Movie
- Joseph Walsh as Private Doyle
- Thomas Hunter as Private Andy
- Giancarlo Giannini as Private Cellini
- Wayde Preston as Colonel Hendricks
- Arthur Franz as Major General Luke Howard
- Anthony Steel as Major-General Marsh
- Patrick Magee as Major-General Starkey
- Venantino Venantini as Captain Burns
Response
The film opened to mixed reviews in the US; many felt it did not work as well as Dmytryk's early war films. The New York Times film review was generally dismissive, and described the film as "a very ordinary war movie with an epic title, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the Italian producer... who thinks big but often produces small".[2] In contrast, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert had a more favourable opinion of the film, described it as "a good war movie and even an intelligent one".[3]
Production
Peter Falk thought that the script he read was clichéd and wanted off the film. At the last minute, Dino De Laurentiis put Falk's name above the title billing and gave him his choice of writer for his character's dialogue. Falk stayed and wrote his lines himself.[4] The production saw De Laurentiis bring in for the first time another actor who made a debut, Giancarlo Giannini, who would later do international films and would work with director Lina Wertmüller.
Rabinoff is based on a real
See also
References
- ^ "Big Rental Films of 1968", Variety, p. 15, 8 January 1969. Please note this figure is a rental accruing to distributors.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (July 25, 1968). "Anzio (1968) Standard War Fare". The New York Times.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (June 27, 1968). "Anzio". Sun Times.
- ^ Falk, Peter (2006), Just One Thing: Stories of My Life, DaCapo Press.
- ^ Adelman, Robert H; Walton, George H (2004), "The Devil's Brigade" revised, United States Naval Institute Press.
- ^ Tomblin, Barbara Brooks (2004), With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean 1942–1945, University Press of Kentucky, p. 397.
External links
- Anzio at IMDb
- Anzio at Rotten Tomatoes
- Anzio at the TCM Movie Database
- Anzio at AllMovie
- Anzio at the American Film Institute Catalog
- You tube (trailer).
- Connolly, W (May 2009), "Thomas Hunter on Anzio", Blogger (interview).