The Devil's Brigade: The Film

The Devil's Brigade is a 1968 American DeLuxe Color war film filmed in Panavision, based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade.

The film recounts the formation, training, and first mission of the 1st Special Service Force, a joint American-Canadian commando unit, known as the Devil's Brigade. The film dramatizes the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing what had been an impregnable Nazi mountain stronghold, Monte la Difensa.

Plot

American Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick is summoned to Britain where he is authorized by Admiral Louis Mountbatten to raise a commando force comprising both American and Canadian personnel for operations in Norway.

Back in the U.S. Frederick receives his American troops — all are Army convicts. When the Canadian contingent arrives they immediately cause friction with the Americans and chaos ensues. By the time Frederick manages to overcome the national differences and to mold the First Special Service Force into a highly trained commando force, the Allied High Command have had a change of heart and offered the Norway missions to British troops. Left without a role, Frederick manages to persuade Lieutenant General Mark Clark in Italy to give his men a chance to prove themselves.

Clark asks Frederick for the 1st Special Service Force to reconnoiter a German garrison in an Italian town, but Colonel Frederick decides to go one better and capture the entire town. In the process, they earn the nickname "Die Teufelsbrigade" — The Devil's Brigade.

Convinced now of the ability of Frederick's men, General Clark gives them a task no other Allied troops have managed to accomplish — to capture Monte la Difensa. Facing severe obstacles, the Devil's Brigade attacks the undefended eastern side of the mountain by scaling a cliff the Germans believed could not be climbed. Reaching the top as a unit, they take the stronghold despite losses to the Force, allowing the Allies to continue their advance north into Italy.

Cast

William Holden as Lt. Col./Col. Robert T. Frederick

Cliff Robertson as Maj. Alan Crown

Vince Edwards as Maj. Cliff Bricker

Andrew Prine as Pvt. Theodore Ransom

Jeremy Slate as Sgt. Patrick O'Neill

Claude Akins as Pvt./Cpl. Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman

Jack Watson as Cpl./Sgt. Peacock

Richard Jaeckel as Pvt. Omar Greco

Bill Fletcher as Pvt. Billy 'Bronc' Guthrie

Richard Dawson as Pvt./Cpl. Hugh MacDonald

Tom Troupe as Pvt. Al Manella

Luke Askew as Pvt. Hubert Hixon

Jean-Paul Vignon as Pvt. Henri Laurent

Tom Stern as Capt. Cardwell, Garrison CO of Fort William Henry Harrison

Harry Carey Jr. as Capt. Rose

Michael Rennie as Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, Commander of the U.S. Fifth Army

Carroll O'Connor as Maj. Gen. Maxwell Hunter

Dana Andrews as Brig. Gen. Walter Naylor

Gretchen Wyler as the Lady of Joy

Patric Knowles as Adm Lord Mountbatten

Wilhelm Von Homburg as Fritz

James Craig as Maj. Gen. Knapp

Richard Simmons as Gen. Bixby

Norman Alden as the M.P. Lieutenant

Production

Wolper had purchased the film rights to Adleman and Walton's book, but found that no film studio would back him. The motion picture was filmed with the 19th Special Forces Group at Camp Williams, Utah, 20 miles south of Salt Lake City, with battle locations on Mount Jordan — just above Draper, Utah — and on location in Santa Elia Fiume Rapido, Italy. David L. Wolper realized it would be as cheap to shoot in an Italian village as building an Italian set in America. However, the birthday scene which appears to be in Italy was filmed at the National Guard Armory in Salt Lake, with Brigham Young University students as extras. This was a bit of a problem because the party scene required the "soldiers" to be drinking and smoking and BYU students don't. Smoke generators had to be used on that set as well as on the battle field. That was a time of civil unrest, and black activists complained about no black actors being in the film. There were no black actors hired because there were none in the unit. The U.S. Department of Defense provided 300 members of the Utah National Guard to play soldiers in the mass battle scenes filmed.

Wolper had the Brigade wear attractive but fictional red berets that appeared as well as on the film's posters and on the tie-in paperback cover of Adelman and Walton's book. At the end of the credits the copyright date reads MCMXLVIII, which is the Roman numeral rendition of 1948; the year of production of this film was actually 1968 (MCMLXVIII). During the film a map of Europe appears twice in Colonel Frederick's office, showing Europe after the war with West and East Germany and Poland with its post-World War II borders.

The cast of The Devil's Brigade included NFL running back Paul Hornung and World Middleweight Champion boxer Gene Fullmer in minor roles. They can be seen in the barroom brawl sequence, Hornung as a belligerent lumberjack and Fullmer as the bartender.

Soundtrack

Alex North composed the soundtrack of the film, re-purposing the theme from his rejected score to the pilot episode of The Rat Patrol. At the time of release only a cover version of the soundtrack album by Leroy Holmes was released by United Artists Records. The album was illustrated with the original Sandy Kossin artwork of the film and featured instrumental (with whistling) and a male chorus singing lyrics to North's title theme. The album also contained cover versions of other North themes from the film as well as 1940s popular music that appeared in the film.

In 2007 Film Score Monthly and Intrada released a limited CD edition of North's original soundtrack with Kossin's artwork including alternate versions of the title theme, North's own arrangements of four 1940s jazz popular tunes, two traditional Christmas carols, and the pipe band version of Scotland the Brave featuring in the film.

The pipes and drums featured in the production were the "Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band" who furnished their own instruments and uniforms for the film shoot. The band still exists today.

Reception

The film was the 4th most popular movie in general release in Britain in 1968, after The Jungle Book, Barbarella and Carry on Doctor.

To the veterans of the Force, the film was historically inaccurate. In a TV documentary Suicide Missions: The Black Devils, Force member Bill Story stated: "The Devil's Brigade was and is a very entertaining war movie. But as a piece of accurate history it's sheer nonsense. There was never an aspect of The Dirty Dozen. This was absolutely not true."

Anachronisms

The Canadian flag shown in the ceremony near the end of the film wasn't adopted until 1964. At the time depicted in the movie, Canada still used a "modified Union Jack" type of flag called the Red Ensign.

On Colonel Frederick's office map, Poland has its post-1945 borders and Germany is divided into the postwar East Germany and West Germany.

At the birthday party in Italy, they are drinking 1960s Miller High Life Beer cans.

During the reconnaissance flight over Santa Lia, two 1960s vehicles (silver/white trucks) can be seen in a courtyard, and there are TV antennae on several rooftops.

One of the planes seen in the film is a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, a post-World War II plane.

The leather gear used by the Brigade in the film (boots, pistol holsters, etc.) is black; black leather gear wasn't adopted by the U.S. Army until the late 1950s.

All of the American officers, when wearing neckties are wearing Army Green neckties. They should be wearing khaki ties. Army Green did not come along until well after World War II. The enlisted men are all wearing the proper ties.

The dollar bills used by the gamblers are clearly green-sealed Federal Reserve Notes from after 1963.

When the Canadian Unit is marching into the camp, the drummers in the Pipe Band are shown playing Rose Morris "Clansman" side drums. These were not manufactured until the early 1960s.

In the barroom brawl sequence beer signs are plainly visible on the walls. Some are neon, some are not, all are out of place for that era. Until the late 80s/early 90s Coors beer was only available in Colorado and select places west of there, not in Montana. Also, that particular neon sign was strictly 1960s and would have been totally out of place then as well. The Lucky Lager sign was likewise 1960s in design—even though the beer would have been available then.

The entire movie apparently takes place in 1942, but they invade Italy, which did not happen until September 1943.

Audio/Visual Unsynchronized

When the Canadians first arrive preceded by a pipe band, at one point the drummers cease drumming but the sound of drums continues on the soundtrack.

Character Error

At the beginning of the film Captain Cardwell draws a handgun and shoots a rattlesnake, then twirls the pistol before holstering it. An experienced gun-hand would never twirl a double action revolver for fear of an accidental discharge. However, the double action pull weight is about 14 pounds so it could be spun without causing a discharge.

Crew or Equipment Visible

On the 30 mile march when the men cross the river a camera crew on a dolly can be seen on the bridge at the left hand side for a few seconds.

Factual Errors

The U.S. enlisted personnel in the First Special Service Force were not criminals and the unwanted of other units. They were recruited from volunteers with "outdoors" backgrounds.

Although the crossed-arrows insignia worn in the film by the First Special Service Force were fact, the red berets were pure fiction. All members of the Force eventually wore U.S. Army dress uniforms with U.S. paratrooper boots and distinctive red, white, and blue braided shoulder loops, overseas cap piping, and parachute wing backings.

Although the Union Jack was the official flag of Canada prior to 1965, during World War II it was the Red Ensign that was the flag carried into battle by Canadian troops. Given the nature of the unit it is very likely that the Red Ensign would have been flown at this ceremony.

Major Crown informs Colonel Frederick that he and many of the Canadians fought at Dunkirk. In fact only one Canadian battalion of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment served in France (not the PPCLI as seen in the film.) It was part of the 2nd British Expeditionary Force and never reached as far east as Dunkirk but was evacuated in Operation Ariel through Brest. While it is possible Crown and a few men might have served directly with the British, the claim that many of the Canadians were at Dunkirk is improbable.

At the "graduation ceremony" the national flags used are the U.S. Flag and the British Union Jack. The Canadians would have used the "Red Ensign", a field of red with a Canadian shield, and the "Union Jack" (as Canada is a member of the Commonwealth) in the left corner.

The actual assault on Monte La Defensa took place at night in the dark, not in early morning daylight.