Anzio (film)
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| Anzio | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Duilio Coletti Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
| Written by | Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (book) Duilio Coletti H. A. L. Craig Frank L. Felitta Giuseppe Mangione |
| Starring | Robert Mitchum Peter Falk |
| Editing by | Peter Taylor |
| Release date(s) | July 24, 1968 (US) |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | USA Italy |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Anzio, also known as Lo Sbarco di Anzio or The Battle of Anzio, is a 1968 war film about Operation Shingle, the 1944 Allied seaborne assault on the Italian port of Anzio in World War II. The film was adapted from the book Anzio by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, who had been the BBC war correspondent at the battle.
The film starred Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk, and a variety of international film stars. The all-star cast mostly portrayed fictitious characters based on actual participants in the battle. The one exception was Wolfgang Preiss, who played Field Marshall Albert Kesselring. This was a U.S./Italian co-production made in Italy with an Italian film crew; however, none of the major stars were Italian, nor were there any major Italian characters.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
After meeting a general, war correspondent Dick Ennis (Robert Mitchum) is assigned to accompany US Army Rangers for the upcoming attempt to outflank the tough enemy defenses. The amphibious landing is unopposed, but the American general is too cautious, preferring to fortify his beachhead before advancing inland. Ennis and a Ranger in a jeep discover there are few Germans present between the beachhead and Rome, but his information is ignored. As a result, the German commander, Kesselring, has time to gather his forces and launch an effective counterattack.
Ennis is with the Rangers when they are ambushed at the Battle of Cisterna. From there, the film departs from being a view of all sides and levels of the campaign to a story of a handful of survivors making their way back through enemy lines. During the film, Ennis seeks an answer to the question of what makes one human being willingly kill another. Corporal Jack Rabinoff (Peter Falk) replies that he loves it, and his lifestyle makes him live more than anyone else. Rabinoff is based on a real First Special Service Force soldier Jake Wallenstein, who ran an illegal brothel of Italian prostitutes in a stolen ambulance.[1] Most of the men, including Rabinoff, are killed. In reality, Rabinoff was killed by shrapnel at Port Cros during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France.[2] Ennis survives to publicly question the competence of the Allied commander.
[edit] Cast
- Robert Mitchum as Dick Ennis, war correspondent (based on Ernie Pyle)
- Peter Falk as Corporal Jack Rabinoff (based on Sgt Jake Walkmeister)
- Robert Ryan as General Carson (based on Mark Clark)
- Earl Holliman as Platoon Sgt. Abe Stimmler
- Mark Damon as Wally Richardson
- Arthur Kennedy as Major General Jack Lesley (based on John P. Lucas)
- Reni Santoni as Pvt. Movie
- Joseph Walsh as Doyle
- Thomas Hunter as Pvt. Andy
- Giancarlo Giannini as Pvt. Cellini
- Wayde Preston as Colonel Hendricks (based on William O. Darby)
- Arthur Franz as General Howard (based on Lucian Truscott)
- Anthony Steel as General Marsh
- Patrick Magee as General Starkey
[edit] Response
The New York Times film review of 25 July 1968 was generally dismissive, and describes 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".[3] 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".[4]
[edit] Production
Riz Ortolani scored the film with a ballad sung beneath the credits by Jack Jones. Luigi Scaccianoce was the production designer.
[edit] References
- ^ Adelman, Robert H. & Walton, George H. The Devil's Brigade revised United States Naval Institute Press 2004
- ^ p.397 Tomblin, Barbara Brooks With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean 1942-1945 2004 University Press of Kentucky
- ^ Vincent Canby (July 25, 1968). Anzio (1968) Standard War Fare. New York Times.
- ^ Roger Ebert (June 27, 1968). Anzio. rogerebert.com.
