Kelly's Heroes (1970)

[Neville]

A childhood favourite, and watched again this afternoon. I can think of a thousand reasons why it shouldn't work, but it does. At 140' it seems imposible it won't be boring, but the narration is always moving, in some direction or the other.

An early Eastwood in a comedic role? Yes, and he pulls it off quite well (watch his expressions while interrogating a german officer at the beginning of the movie). A war film with satire aspirations where the main fun is seing things go boom? True, but the tone seems expertly placed. Amazing as it is, there is a meeting point between Reader's Digest war stories and not too subtly poking fun at the absurdity of the whole thing.

And yes, there are still lots of things going boom to keep anybody entertainned, and there's also a scene-stealing Donald Sutherland role appearing just at the right places.

[peter johnson]

I used to think that the tanks used by the Germans here were real Tiger tanks, but someone on this board corrected me years ago that these were/are in fact Russian T-34s made up to look like Tigers.  I was so disappointed . . .
Yes, I like this picture too, very much.  A lot of people went to see it thinking that it would be another MASH when it first came out, re. Donald Sutherland/war movie.  I think there was some backlash toward it as a result, as it's a much more straightforward "war" story.
Don Rickles covered in poo and wearing a toilet seat is always a fun image . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

[Neville]

Can't see why you were disappointed to learn that anecdote about the tanks. It's not that important, and seing all the WWII hardware in display in some scenes, it's obvious the production designers tried as hard as they could to keep things accurate.

And yes, I also thought the toilet bit was fun, but one of the things that make the movie work for me is that, despite some generous stretchs (the tanks levelling a German outpost with country music blazing through their speakers), the movie is never a straight war movie nor a straight comedy. As I said, the tone is dead on.

[odinn7]

This is a great movie...one of my favorite "war" movies and I could certainly watch it many times over. Donald Sutherland as Oddball is the best..."Always with the negative waves..."

[Shadowphile]

And good old captain Stubing himself as Moriarty, the source of all those negative waves....

Who can forget the scene with Carroll 'Archie' O'Connor listening to the attack on the radio, cheering and yelling advice as it if was a football game....

[peter johnson]

Re. My disappointment in learning they weren't real Tigers:
     I'm sure that anyone who spends any time at all watching WW2 movies is generally fed up with the business of using American Wildcats with red circles painted on the wings for Japanese Zeros, any German uniform with a swastika on it to indicate German troops, whether they be SS or Luftwaffe or whatever, bad guns, inappropriate & not time-specific props of all kinds, etc. etc.
     Lawd in hebbin, even the much vaunted "Patton" had American M-40 tanks trundling about with Wehrmacht crosses on them subbing for the German Panzers, etc. etc.
     The only war movie I've ever seen that got it 100% accurate as far as uniforms & equipment went was/is Milos Forman's "Slaughterhouse Five", from the Vonnegut book.
     So when I saw the distressed armour on the black tanks guarding the gold in "Kelly's", I got very excited and happy -- somehow someone had found real Tiger tanks that actually looked like ones on the Western Front in 1944!!  Yes, Neville, you are correct -- they did bother to make them look very real indeed -- which is exactly why I was disappointed to find out that -- Awww!:  It's just another example of the movie-makers' craft . . .  darn . . . I thought they were real . . .
     Yeah, sort of a kid at Easter thing --
peter crane/denny johnson

[Scott]

Really enjoyed KELLY'S HEROES (1970) as A&E use to play it a lot in the 90's which is when I first saw it. The movie THREE KINGS (1999) is kinda the same movie. I like both films. These films are like bank heist films only during war time. In KELLY'S HEROES I love how the German in the tank gets a piece of the action. Great idea. Great cast.

[The Burgomaster]

Actually, KELLY'S HEROES and WHERE EAGLES DARE make a great Clint Eastwood WWII double feature.

[Neville]

True. And they both were made by the same director, some Brian Hutton.

[AndyC]

Yeah, heist pictures are great. Combine a heist picture and a war picture, with equal parts adventure and slightly twisted comedy, and you can't beat it. Especially with the great ensemble cast. That is one of the reasons I love the war movies of that time -- the casts they put together. You'd never see so many good actors in a movie like that today.

The chemistry between characters like Oddball and Crapgame and Big Joe, the decent supporting characters, the memorable lines, the touch of satire, the running gags, and the serious adventure all make this a favourite that I've watched over and over. Even the Mike Curb theme song grows on you after a while.

[Flangepart]

Love this flick.
Yeah, i wish they were real Tiger 1's, but hey, it beats them trying to pass off a Sherman as a tiger! The need to run the motors is real, as the Tigers engins were realy persnickity.
And Rickles is fun. Was this his first Color film role? I know he was in "Run silent, Run Deep."

[BoyScoutKevin]

Don Rickles' first color film role was some ten years before this. 1960's "The Rat Race" w/ Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, and Jack Oakie.

[Mofo Rising]

I think if I was 13 in 1970, I would proclaim this movie as the best movie ever made. In fact, I'm fairly certain that both Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were 13 in 1970, and that's why they made INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and THREE KINGS.

There is a lot to love about this movie. I actually found myself continually surprised about just how big this movie was. Every single set in this movie seems designed to be exploded in the biggest fashion possible. Big sets, lots of extras, this is not small-budget stuff.

I love the cat-and-mouse tank battle at the end. I love even more with how the end of the battle with the final Tiger tank turns out.

Sure, Donald Sutherland's hippy character is out of place, but it's a great character. KELLY'S HEROES is great fun.

[Trevor]

Friends all tried to warn me
But I held my head up high
All the time they warned me
But I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me
But I guess I didn't care
I turned my back and
Left them standing there

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Joey tried to help me find a job
A while ago
When I finally got it I didn't want to go
The party Mary gave for me
When I just walked away
Now there's nothing left for me to say

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Years have passed and I keep thinking
What a fool I've been
I look back into the past and
Think of way back then
I know that I lost everything I thought that I could win
I guess I should have listened to my friends

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore

Burning bridges lost forevermore

I'm humming this tune now: usually it's my undies that hum  but now it's me.  Great film and it's amazing what you can do if you have what seems like the entire Yugoslav army at your disposal.

[The Burgomaster]

I'm humming this tune now: usually it's my undies that hum  but now it's me.  Great film and it's amazing what you can do if you have what seems like the entire Yugoslav army at your disposal.

I have this on my iPod and it's one of the songs in my "favorites" play list!