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
Len Lesser	...	Platoon Sgt. Bellamy (42nd Engineers)
David Hurst	...	Col. Dunkhepf
Fred Pearlman	...	Pvt. Mitchell
Michael Clark	...	Pvt. Grace
George Fargo	...	Pvt. Penn
Dee Pollock	...	Pvt. Jonesey
George Savalas	...	1st Sgt. Mulligan (artillerly unit)
John G. Heller	...	German lieutenant (as John Heller)
Shepherd Sanders	...	Turk (tank crewman)
Karl-Otto Alberty	...	German tank commander (as Karl Otto Alberty)
Ross Elliott	...	Booker
Phil Adams	...	Third Tank Commander
Hugo De Vernier	...	French mayor
Frank J. Garlotta	...	Tanker
Harry Goines	...	Supply sergeant
David Gross	...	German captain
Sandy Kevin	...	Second Tank Commander
James McHale	...	Guest
Robert MacNamara	...	Roach (as Robert McNamara)
Read Morgan	...	U.S. lieutenant
Tom Signorelli	...	Bonsor
Donald Waugh	...	Roamer
Vincent Maracecchi	...	Old man in town
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Picerni	...	M.P. Sergeant (scenes deleted)
John Landis	...	Sister Rosa Stigmata (uncredited)
Joe Mantell	...	General's Aid (uncredited)
Lee Miller	...	Soldier #1 (uncredited)
Tony Wheeler	...	Gen. Colt's driver (corporal) (uncredited)

Directed by
Brian G. Hutton

Writing credits
Troy Kennedy-Martin		(written by) (as Troy Kennedy Martin)

Produced by
Sidney Beckerman	....	producer
Gabriel Katzka	....	producer
Irving L. Leonard	....	associate producer
Harold Loeb	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Gabriel Figueroa		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Jympson

Production Design by
John Barry		(as Jonathan Barry)
Aleksandar Milovic		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Veljko Despotovic		(uncredited)
Vladislav Lasic		(uncredited)
Miodrag Miric		(uncredited)
Milan Todorovic		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Mike Ford

Makeup Department
Trevor Crole-Rees	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Terry Lens	....	production manager
Basil Somner	....	in charge of production
Milenko Stankovic	....	production manager: Yugoslavia

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John C. Chulay	....	assistant director
Andrew Marton	....	second unit director
Stevo Petrovic	....	assistant director: Yugoslavia
Raymond Becket	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Jak King	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
John Landis	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mickey Lennon	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	sound editor
Cyril Swern	....	sound
Harry W. Tetrick	....	sound

Special Effects by
Karl Baumgartner	....	special effects (as Karli Baumgartner)

Stunts
Alf Joint	....	stunt coordinator
Phil Adams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Dunne	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Eddon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alf Joint	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Leech	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Lodge	....	stunts (uncredited)
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Slavoljub Plavsic-Zvonce	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Dennis Fraser	....	camera coordinator
H.A.R. Thomson	....	camera operator: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anna Maria Feo	....	wardrobe (as Anna Maria Fea)

Editorial Department
Alan Strachan	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Alexander Gerry	....	technical advisor (as Major Alexander A.G. Gerry)
Gladys Goldsmith	....	continuity
George Davis	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Dusan Dimitrijevic	....	assistant chef: second unit (uncredited)
Lorraine Fennell	....	production coordinator (uncredited)
John Landis	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Avala Film
• Katzka-Loeb
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• DVD Magic (Russia) (DVD)
• Filmipaja (1970) (Finland) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1998) (Finland) (TV)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1970) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1970) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Nelonen (2000) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrews (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tuck (2004) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies

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

Classic and Great

This movie is simply great. The guy who wrote the other review is flat wrong. He contests that anyone no from the era won't like it. I was born in 1982, and it's in my top 5. It has one of the best casts around, with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, and Carroll O' Connor. It has action and humor, what more could you want. It is a great film, hands down. Do yourself a favor and view its splendor. The Mike Curb song is great and catchy, the editing is on par with any other movie, and the plot, although improbable, is entertaining. All told, it gets a 9.5/10.