by Ted Davis
Directed by: Sam Peckinpah
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Director Sam Peckinpah’s timing is way off in this very silly and overwrought WWII saga, his worst movie, which has as much relation to the events of that war as a random episode of Hogan’s Heroes. The story follows a group of German soldiers as they struggle to survive on the Russian Front. Both James Coburn as Sergeant Steiner and James Mason as Colonel Brandt maintain some remnants of dignity throughout, a commendable achievement given the dialogue and situations. The same cannot be said for Maximillian Schell, who embarrasses himself as the eyeball-rolling villain Captain Stransky.
Purr Blur: At the beginning of a particularly brutal and senseless vignette, a female Russian soldier carries a white and orange kitten up a flight of stairs in an occupied farmhouse.
Final Mewsings: Considering the overwhelming carnage elsewhere, it’s a miracle the kitten wasn’t slaughtered.
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