THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967)

Great Britain, 1944.  A US Major (Lee Marvin) is given orders to select twelve men from the local military prison, train them, then go on a suicide mission behind enemy lines to kill as many German officers as possible.  This will create disruption in the chain of command right before the D-Day invasion.  The men who survive the mission will be pardoned.

Watching THE DIRTY DOZEN today, it's dated as fuck, but still entertaining.  The story was definitely cool and the action scenes were reminiscent the covers the the men's adventure magazines of the 1950's, but I was mainly fascinated by the all-star cast!  I mean, this thing is pack from floor to ceiling with big names.  Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine...pretty much every scene had somebody awesome in it.

I also found the film to be interesting from a historical perspective.  I'd love to know more about it.  For example: I'm curious how many films previous to TDD showed American soldiers so gleefully killing not only Nazi officers and soldiers, but also the women with them?  Did the subversive feel of the film have something to do with the Vietnam War?

Younger audiences would probably find the whole thing boring, but it's definitely worth a viewing for fans of (older) WWII movies and movie nerds.

Side note: IMDb lists Dick Miller as "MP at Hanging (uncredited)", but I couldn't find him.

Part 2 - The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission
Part 3 - The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission
Part 4 - The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission

EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973)

Now here's an interesting movie.  Released for the 10-year anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, EXECUTIVE ACTION tells the story, from the conspirators point of view, of the justifications and preparations for JFK's murder.  When it was released (Nov. 7, 1973) there was such a backlash that it was quickly pulled from the theaters.  After that it sat unwatched for a number of years before finally being released on VHS in the 80's.

The presentation style is pretty neat because it smoothly blends together old news footage and photographs with acted out scenes.  When the film starts, we're brought into a secret meeting of some government, intelligence and industrial string-pullers talking about the evils of the Kennedys and how if they're not stopped now the entire country is screwed.  Two assassination teams (three shooters each) are put into training.  Now all they have to do is find a fall guy.  Lee Harvey Oswald is selected and a body double is assigned to go around Dallas making memorable impressions of himself at places like a gun store and a shooting range.  Finally the fateful day comes and things go off without a hitch.

I have no opinion on the Kennedy assassination, but this film is thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.  Quick pace, fascinating subject material, great acting by an outstanding cast.  Even four plus decades after it's release, EXECUTIVE ACTION still has the power to get your brain to thinking.  Recommended.