SimonJack
Other reviewers have noted some similarities of "Play Dirty" with the earlier blockbuster film, "The Dirty Dozen." I can see only two. Both films have military convicts make up a core group of combatants, and both have the word "dirty" in their titles. But for those, the two movies are vastly different. Perhaps the producers of this movie that premiered in January 1969 wanted to capitalize on the success of "The Dirty Dozen" that opened in June 1967. But the title for "Play Dirty" aptly fits the plot and script of this film. Most of the WW II movies I've seen about action in North Africa are of a gritty nature. The European theater obviously lent itself to war romances, dramas, espionage and thrillers as well as combat action. Not so, the war in Africa. It was gritty, with few places or instances or Allied nations with which to incorporate wartime diversions of love and drama. And, this film must be among the grittiest. Other reviewers describe the special unit that Michael Caine's character, Capt. Douglas, gets assigned to for a special mission. Of course, there were various small special operations by the Allies during the war. But did they have renegade bandit groups such as portrayed in this film that operated mostly on their own? Or any units made up of convicts? Given the total lack of discipline even among the officers here, I doubt very much that such a unit existed in the British Army. The special operations groups and others didn't use convicts and were highly disciplined. When this film came out, Caine had been a movie actor nearly 19 years. But it was only in the past four that he had starring roles. For the first 14 years of his career, he was in 40 films and played mostly bit parts, including many uncredited ones. But, his supporting role in the 1964 blockbuster, "Zulu," catapulted him in his film career. He soon was starring or co-starring in a variety of films including dramas, mysteries, comedies, romances and thrillers. This film is interesting in that Caine shares the spotlight with Nigel Davenport as Capt. Cyril Leech. In a few of his earlier films, Caine had bit parts in which Davenport had supporting roles. Caine and Davenport, and their relationship, are the substance of this movie. It's an interesting film with considerable desert action. The ending may surprise many, but I think it's perfect for this film. This is a good movie that should be in any serious war film collection. Here are some favorite lines. For more dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Brig. Blore, "Modern warfare has nothing whatsoever to do with the activities of Alexander the Great or Hannibal."Col. Masters, "It appears the Mujabra tribesmen have learned how to use the Brownie cameras I have supplied them with."Col. Masters, "War is a criminal enterprise. I fight it with criminals."Col. Masters, "Two men are going to stop Rommel. One of them is Adolf Hitler who cannot give him enough fuel, and the other is me, who's going to blow up the little he has."Brig. Blore, revising for himself what Col. Masters had said earlier, "Rommel's going to be defeated by two men. Adolph Hitler who can't give him enough fuel, and me, because I'm gonna blow up what little he has."Brig. Blore, "Oh, by the way, I'm sending a decoy group ahead of you. You know Masters' bunch?" Maj. Alan Watkin, "Not those gangsters, sir?" Brig. Blore, "Yes. They start off a day before you. Same route, same orders. If there's any trouble, let them catch it."Capt. Douglas, pointing to figures on a wall map, "Are those Rommel's positions, sir?" Col. Master, "No. Those are the positions of the Carthaginians in the year 215 B.C."Capt. Cyril Leech, "What's all this about?" Col. Master, "Brig. Blore is not very pleased with our record. He insists. We'll have to take him." Capt. Leech, "I'll take him." Col. Master, "If he doesn't come back alive, we're out of business." Capt. Leech, "Hmph. You're out of business." Col. Master, "You get well paid for these trips, don't you, Leech?" Capt. Leech, "Not really." Col. Master, "I'll give you a bonus if you get him back." Capt. Leech, "How much?" Col. Master, "Dead, nothing. Alive, 2,000 pounds." Capt. Leech, chuckling, "You just bought yourself an Englishman."
Capt. Douglas, turning off jeep ignition after the driver turns left, "I said we go to the right." Capt. Leech, from the back seat, "That road was mined by the Italians a week ago. They don't put it all on the map."
Capt. Douglas, "You play dirty, Capt. Leech." Capt. Leech, "The way to survive here is to watch, listen and say nothing. I play safe."Capt. Leech, "You want to forget the noble sentiments if you want to live." Capt. Douglas, "I'll manage." Capt. Leech, "Funny thing, survival."
MartinHafer
In many ways, "Play Dirty" is like taking "The Dirty Dozen" and merging it with the director's cut of "Lawrence of Arabia". The film is about a group of cutthroats and criminals who are on a mission behind enemy lines AND it has TONS and TONS of long and dry (no pun intended) desert scenes where very little is happening. Considering that these two other films were made before "Play Dirty" and are much better films, then you can guess some of my feelings about the film.The film begins with an officer and petroleum expert (Michael Caine) being forced to go on a crazy mission behind enemy lines in North Africa to destroy fuel depots during WWII. I say crazy because the other officer he'll be serving with is a real rogue--and was let out of prison for the mission. This guy has a group of equally nasty rogues who are all experts at playing dirty and NOT abiding by the rules of warfare and this includes dressing up as Italian soldiers.Too much of the film is spent on the team's trek across the desert...way too much. It makes for a terribly paced film and it only improves later in the film when they FINALLY make it to their objective. Additionally, unlike "The Dirty Dozen", most of the rogues (with the exception of their leader, played by Nigel Davenport) have no real personalities and are nothing like the cast of "The Dirty Dozen". They are just faceless scum. The ending is decent because it is very different--otherwise, I thought the film amazingly dull.Best moment of the film--when Davenport says "I didn't like the tea". Worst moment--when EVERYONE stood near the guy as he disarmed a German booby trap! Why, in the name of all that is holy, didn't they take cover...FAR away from the guy with the pliers disarming the bomb?! And, why didn't anyone tell the two gay guys that the place was booby trapped so they wouldn't blow themselves up?! Also, although it worked out well in the end, there is an attempted rape in the film that is pretty disturbing--particularly for folks in the audience who have themselves been victims, so be forewarned.By the way, if you care, a lot of the equipment in the film is neither German nor Italian. This is no surprise, as little of it survived the war. The German halftrack vehicles, for instance, are American M3 models.
secondtake
Play Dirty (1969)You almost have to see this anarchic, nasty, selfish, brutal WWII movie as a comment on Vietnam, and on war. It's 1969. At first you think Michael Caine, for all his talent, is miscast, but the odd displacement of his character among a lot of very hardened, serious men is part of what works.This is not like any WWII you've seen. It's an odd mixture of hardship, tedium, humor, and straight up masculine grit. It's set in the Sahara, so dunes and sand and dry nasty weather rules. There is a mission at hand, and these men have to be unorthodox and ruthless to succeed. But there are long stretches of just traveling and conquering the desert, of going day after day through storms and lack of storms. There is also fighting amongst the men, a somewhat horrifying (and unnecessary) attempted rape, some bloody carnage of natives, and of Germans, a long twenty minutes of Fitzcarraldo heroics with some cables, and so on.But in the end, it really does capture something essential of war, including the nonsense of some of it, and the lack of rules, and the lack of personal safety that comes from chaos, and the difficulty of companionship and trust.
