Kelly's Heroes (1970)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Brian G. Hutton

Writer:

Troy Kennedy-Martin (written by)

Release Date:

23 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | War

Tagline:

Never have so few taken so many for so much.

Plot:

A group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Colonel | Lieutenant | Behind Enemy Lines | Tank

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Pvt. Kelly
Telly Savalas	...	MSgt. Big Joe
Don Rickles	...	SSgt. Crapgame
Carroll O'Connor	...	Maj. Gen. Colt
Donald Sutherland	...	Sgt. Oddball (tank commander)
Gavin MacLeod	...	Moriarty (tank crewman)
Hal Buckley	...	Capt. Maitland
Stuart Margolin	...	Pvt. Little Joe
Jeff Morris	...	Pvt. Cowboy
Richard Davalos	...	Pvt. Gutowski
Perry Lopez	...	Pvt. Petuko
Tom Troupe	...	Cpl. Job
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Pvt. Willard (as Dean Stanton)
Dick Balduzzi	...	Pvt. Fisher
Gene Collins	...	Pvt. Babra

Also Known As:

Ratnici (Yugoslavia: Serbian title)
The Warriors (USA) (working title)
El botín de los valientes (Argentina) (Chile) (Mexico) (TV title) (Peru) [es]
De l'or pour les braves (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Stoßtrupp Gold (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Çilgin savasçilar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Camarazii lui Kelly (Romania) [ro]
I guerrieri (Italy) [it]
Iroes me vromika heria (Greece) [el]
Kelijevi heroji (Serbia) (cable TV title) [sr]
Kelly hösei (Hungary) [hu]
Kellyn sankarit (Finland) [fi]
Kellys helte (Denmark) [da]
Kellys hjältar (Sweden) [sv]
Los violentos de Kelly (Spain) [es]
Os guerreiros Pilantras (Brazil) [pt]
Vromikoi iroes (Greece) (reissue title) [el]

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

Yugoslavia | USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | UK:A (original rating) | Spain:13 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | New Zealand:PG | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1970) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Yugoslavia

Company:

Avala Film

Trivia:

Director Brian G. Hutton was forced to make a number of cuts to suit the then MGM boss James T. Aubrey.

Goofs:

Continuity: The scene where the squad attacks the Germans at the mine field Kelly is carrying an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun that is different shot to shot. One has rear sight guards and the other doesn't

Quotes:

Pvt. Cowboy: God almighty, you guys smell like you fell into a dung heap!
Crapgame: Kinda makes ya homesick, don't it?
Pvt. Willard: [to Pvt. Cowboy] You know it does, kinda ,don't it old buddy?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Apocalypse Now (1979)

Soundtrack:

All For The Love Of Sunshine

Great Fun!

Interesting enough, reading through the comments on this film, I noted only one detractor, some sorehead from Canada who completely missed the point of the film. No, Sr. Canadiense. This is not a serious film about WW2. Read some of the excellent commentaries here about the social and temporal context of this film, i.e., the height of the Vietnamese war. Yes, Sutherland, your fellow countryman, was an active anti-war protester and fully embraced the anachronistic hippie role. The mad-cap story which tweaks the nose of the "establishment," in this case, the military establishment, is plausible when you let go of the blood, guts and glory of the war film genre. And, it is a damn funny film. Eastwood is at his clenched jaw, cynical best; Savalas is great as the Sergeant big-guy; Carrol O'Conner is riotious as the general; Rickles is, well, Rickles. But, Sutherland steals the show. The scenes where they tanks come out blasting the Germans to the tune of twangy Country-Western music is hilarious. Sutherland's out-of-time-sync "...no negative vibes... hey, man...yeah, baby..." is side-splitting. The final confrontation scene between the three striding up to the German tank commander, with Sutherland loosening his side arm, ala Clint Eastwood in Fist full of Dollars is a riot. This film is full of funny stuff. And, you can see it again and again and find new business to laugh about. Buffs will delight at seeing Harry Dean Stanton in a pre-Repo Man role and Richard Davalos who played James Dean's doomed brother Aron in East of Eden. This is a great piece of satire that was overlooked, cast aside and has still survived to the delight of those of us who enjoy it again and again. But, hey, don't just take my word for it. Of the 30 or so commentaries here-- and do read them, as there are some excellent ones-- only one was a detractor.