AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Steineded How sad is this?

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Malcolm Parker Mainly confined to a couple of sets, the success or failure of this film rests very heavily on the script and upon the ensemble cast. Most of the actors work well, Bonar Colleano and Lee Marvin almost raising this film to a level above the slightly interesting. Unfortunately, the script just isn't punchy enough and you wait for tense moments that never arrive. The guy who gets stranded has proved himself pretty useless. Our heroes, need to contrast dark and light traits in humanity. Do they follow orders and abandon the sap or do the decent thing, ignore the orders, risk life and limb and try and rescue a guy who many of them think isn't worth the effort. The idea is sound, but though much of the dialogue is interesting, for the most part there is a palpable lack of tension. Richard Kiley as Carter should play a critical role, but his lines are pretty lame and he is unconvincing. Verbal sparring between him and Lee Marvin is so one sided, you're never sure what Carter is thinking about. The ending is also lacklustre, almost as if there should have been another scene and they forgot to record it. Worth seeing for the performances of Lee Marvin and the sadly short-lived Bonar Colleano and for the curious day-dream sequences, but saving Private Ryan it ain't!

Michael O'Keefe This WW2 drama from Columbia Pictures deals with the tense inter-relations between eight weary soldiers stuck in a small worn torn Italian town. Seventeen days waiting it out jammed in a cellar while one of them is pinned down by machine gun fire behind enemy lines. Rain, Cracker Jacks and fruitcake...dreaming about girls...and more girls. The squad is given orders to pull out without going to rescue their pinned down buddy. Mortar and German gun fire bouncing off the rubble strewn streets. Soldiers are flesh and blood...men with ambition, opinions and dreams.Starring are: Lee Marvin, Bonar Colleano, Richard Kiley, George Cooper, James Griffith, Barney Phillips and Dickie Moore. And featured in dream sequences are Mary Castle, Angela Stevens, Sue Casey and Jill Jarmyn.

kapop69 Great acting. A real psychological portrayal of soldiers in WWII. Very honest and unglamorous considering the number of BS WWII mythology films in the '50s. Marvin and Kiley are great along with a bunch of guys (Colucci) that I'd never heard of. The fantasy sequences break up the tense yet tedious, claustrophobic atmosphere. Great B&W cinematography with excellent dramatic CUs. I'm not surprised given the human quality of this war movie that it was part of the Stanley Kramer production company. Save Smalls or eat his piece of cake!!!!!! Lee Marvin was one of the great American actors. What an ensemble in this film. All acting is top notch. the characters are all ones that we know–the ladies man, the stoic, the emotional and passionate one...great!

batjacole1 Based on a 1945 play by Harry Brown, this dreary movie moves between standard banter between men in a somewhat stressful situation (the bombed out rubble of a house in Italy) who are ordered out but are reluctant to leave a pinned down member of the platoon, and dream sequences that are painful, and populated by Rita Hayworth look-a-likes. While an excellent example of the continuing development of the persona of Lee Marvin, and containing one of last performances of Bonar Colleano, who would be killed in an auto accident a few years later, it is really a vehicle for several Hollywood character actors whose faces but not names come readily to mind (Arthur Franz, Richard Kiley (pre LaMancha), Barney Phillips and James Griffith). Not available on DVD or VHS, it surfaces occasionally on TV in connection with Lee Marvin retrospectives. That is the only reason to see this film.