Review of Devil`s Brigade, The

Introduction

I spent a bit of time de-constructing this movie; objectively analysing it`s constituent parts. The results weren`t pretty. The cliché-ometer hit previously un-chartered highs, the screenplay corny, the narrative unlikely, the acting turgid and wooden. Not pretty at all.

So how come I enjoyed the damn movie so much? It goes against all intelligent, critical reasoning! I know that I enjoyed it because I was interrupted halfway through and couldn`t wait to get back to it. I think the answer is, quite simply, that some films are just like that. They work despite the sum of their flawed parts.

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (The Wild Geese, Chisum), `The Devil`s Brigade` is supposedly an account of the very first `Special Services Force` to be deployed in WWII. Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick, played with poe-faced seriousness by William Holden, is an American soldier brought in by Lord Mountbatten to create a crack team of special commandos. Using some weird reverse psychology (that pays off), he chooses to mix some American wasters, ex-cons and wide-boys with `model` soldiers from Canada. The groups don`t hit it off until they unite in a bar room brawl against some anti-social Lumberjacks. From this point in, the two teams unite, dropping all animosity, and they transmogrify into the perfect fighting machine. A social experiment that really worked!

Following the success of `The Dirty Dozen` from the previous year, this does share some principal themes, but it also strikes out on it`s own to create a pretty unique tale. The team here also approach each mission with evangelical vigour and there`s much to keep you entertained.

The cast is pretty impressive too - with Richard Jaeckel (Dirty Dozen), Carroll O`Connor (Archie Bunker from TV`s `All in the Family` in a serious role here), Claude Atkins (Rio Bravo), and Ridiard Dawson (best known for TV`s `Hogan`s Heroes`).

I won`t spoil the movie, though the results are said to be historically accurate which will give you plenty of pause for thought, suffice it to say that, without some imaginative scripting, not all the cast would have made it into a sequel. Nuff said!

Video

The film has a very nice visual quality, a slightly subdued version of the 1950`s - 1960`s vibrant Technicolor glory years, yet still brighter and less `real` than the gritty, grainy colour that was going to be a feature of so many movies of this genre during the 1970`s. A quality that makes everything look slightly better than real-life without descending to `Brigadoon`. It`s a worthy enough transfer too, though not without the occasional un-repaired frame damage.

Audio

Released here in it`s original Mono, this has clearly been treated to some serious compression that has helped clean up the sound but has left it curiously dry, which for a film made for the cavernous cinemas of the day is a little jarring. There is a fine score here which studiously mixes the yankee-doodle dandy of the USA with the bagpipe fanfare of the Canadian Scots.

Features

A fine selection of alternate audio tracks, always good for a comedic relief if you`re bored and don`t know the language - and obviously widens the market for the disc. There`s an original trailer which is fun but I`d advise viewing this after you`ve watched the movie as it certainly errs on the `spoiler` end of the trailer spectrum! There are a couple of scenes in the trailer that never made the final cut of the movie, which is curious too.

Conclusion

A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable wartime romp that, despite it`s plentiful failings on nearly every count, still captivates and entertains. Not a film that bears up well under close critical scrutiny but recommended for sheer escapist entertainment. A plentiful and renowned cast, with an impossibly unlikely narrative (despite being loosely based on fact) that unfolds with great excitement, `The Devil`s Brigade` is just plain old-fashioned entertainment. And there`s nothing wrong with that!