Cross of Iron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cross of Iron | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
|
| Directed by | Sam Peckinpah |
| Produced by | Wolf C. Hartwig Arlene Sellers Alex Winitsky |
| Written by | Novel: Willi Heinrich Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein James Hamilton Walter Kelley |
| Starring | James Coburn Maximilian Schell James Mason David Warner Slavko Štimac Senta Berger |
| Music by | Ernest Gold Peter Thomas |
| Cinematography | John Coquillon |
| Editing by | Michael Ellis Murray Jordan Tony Lawson |
| Distributed by | Embassy Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  January 28, 1977 May 11, 1977 |
| Running time | 133 min |
| Country | United Kingdom West Germany |
| Language | English Russian French |
| Budget | $6,000,000 |
| Followed by | Breakthrough |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Cross of Iron is a 1977 war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, featuring James Coburn, James Mason, Maximilian Schell, and David Warner.
Set in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II, Cross of Iron is the story of the class conflict between a newly-arrived, aristocratic officer who covets the Iron Cross and a cynical, hardened infantry platoon leader in a Wehrmacht regiment during the German retreat from the Taman Peninsula on the Black Sea coast of the Soviet Union.
Cross of Iron is based upon the novel The Willing Flesh, by Willi Heinrich, published in 1956; it might be loosely based on the true story of Johann Schwerdfeger.[1] As typical of Sam Peckinpah's action films, much of this war movie's action is in slow motion, iterating the anti-war message.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Cross of Iron is the story of a Wehrmacht infantry platoon in the Kuban bridgehead, on the Eastern Front in 1943, led by Unteroffizier Steiner (James Coburn). The story begins as the Wehrmacht is enroute to the destiny foreshadowed by the film's opening montage of Adolf Hitler, the Hitler Youth, the Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. and their subsequent retreat, underscored by a variation of the traditional volkslied (folk song) Hänschen klein and the Horst-Wessel-Lied as the soundtrack.
While on a reconnaissance patrol during which the platoon captures a young Russian boy-soldier, a new aristocratic Prussian officer, Hauptmann Stransky (Maximilian Schell), is posted as the new battalion commander. Demonstrating cold-bloodedness, Stransky orders Steiner to shoot the prisoner, in strict observance of a standing order. When Steiner refuses, Stransky readies to shoot the boy himself, but at the last moment, Private Schnurrbart saves the boy by claiming he will do it himself, and walks away with the boy.
In conversation with the regimental commander, Oberst Brandt (James Mason), and his adjutant, Hauptmann Kiesel (David Warner), an unenthusiastic man sick of war, Stransky claims he applied for transfer from occupied France to frontline duty in Russia so that he can win the Iron Cross. Such a personally revealing statement surprises the listening officers on account of its naïveté.
Stransky is then introduced to the battle-weary Steiner upon his return. Steiner is highly regarded and decorated despite his rather contemptuous attitude.
During a Soviet attack, the newly-promoted Feldwebel Steiner is wounded and Leutnant Meyer (Igor Gallo) is killed while leading the defense. The young boy soldier is also killed by his own side as Steiner tries to release him. Steiner is sent to a military hospital to recover where he is haunted by the faces of the dead men and the boy, and has a romantic liaison with a nurse (Senta Berger). Upon returning to service, Steiner is informed that Stransky, who did not participate in the combat, is claiming to have led the base defense and therefore nominated himself for the Iron Cross. He named his adjutant, Leutnant Triebig, whom he blackmails, and Steiner as witnesses. Stransky hopes to persuade Steiner to corroborate his claim, by promising to financially aid him after the war. Triebig is a closet homosexual, and in his case he faces exposure and execution if he doesn't lie on Stransky's behalf.
Brandt then summons Steiner and questions him about Stransky's allegations in the hope that Steiner will expose Stransky's lies, but Steiner does not cooperate. When questioned why, he states that he hates all officers, even those as "enlightened" as Brandt and Kiesel, and requests a few days to give his answer.
When his battalion is ordered to retreat, Stransky does not pass the order to Steiner's platoon, effectively abandoning Steiner and his men behind Soviet lines. Steiner's platoon fights their way through Soviet lines and eventually reach the German positions, sending a password by radio so they can cross no man's land.
Stransky, upon learning about Steiner's return, orders Triebig to have him killed. Triebig then orders Steiner's unit to be shot while approaching the German trenches resulting in almost all of them being killed. Only Steiner and a few others survive and Steiner kills Triebig and goes looking for Stransky. At this moment the Soviets launch a major assault on the German positions.
Steiner, upon finding Stransky, confronts him and contemplates shooting him, but instead when Stransky demands "Where is the rest of your platoon?" Steiner replies that "You are the rest of my platoon" and dares the officer to fight alongside him and prove his alleged valor. Stransky also contemplates shooting Steiner at the first opportunity, but he accepts Steiner's challenge. While they prepare for battle, Stransky, posturing as a seasoned warrior, almost immediately dissolves into a puddle of fear and incompetence as they approach the gunfire.
The film closes with a reprise of Hänschen klein as Stransky reveals his complete military inadequacies in contrast to Steiner's cool leadership: although not having yet encountered the enemy, Stransky has already emptied the magazine of his MP40. In his panic, Stransky shows that he doesn't know how to reload and pitifully begs Steiner for help. Steiner at first berates Stransky then begins to laugh hysterically.
The closing credits include a slide show of civilian war victims, and a final quote by Berthold Brecht from his play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui:
| “ | Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.[2] | ” |
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| James Coburn | Feldwebel Steiner |
| Maximilian Schell | Hauptmann Stransky |
| James Mason | Oberst Brandt |
| David Warner | Hauptmann Kiesel |
| Roger Fritz | Leutnant Triebig |
| Igor Galo | Leutnant Meyer |
| Klaus Löwitsch | Krüger |
| Vadim Glowna | Kern |
| Fred Stillkrauth | Schnurrbart |
| Dieter Schidor | Anselm |
| Burkhard Driest | Maag |
| Michael Nowka | Dietz |
| Arthur Brauss | Zoll |
| Senta Berger | Eva |
| Slavko Stimac | Russian Boy |
[edit] Production notes
Cross of Iron was a joint Anglo-German production between EMI Films and ITC Entertainment., London and Rapid Films GmbH, Munich.[3]
The movie is noted for featuring realistic WWII gear and equipment as props, for example, Soviet T-34/85 tanks (once used in the Yugoslav Army) and German machine-guns, side-cars and AT guns.
The movie spawned a sequel, Breakthrough, a film that was "financed for the most part by West Germans, but was directed by an American, Andrew V. McLagen who, like Peckinpah, is known for westerns. As a concession to American audiences, the setting for Breakthrough became the Western Front; Richard Burton plays Sgt Steiner who becomes involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and saves the life of an American officer played by Robert Mitchum".[4]
[edit] Critical views
The movie, Sam Peckinpah's only war film, "is a forgotten masterpiece that has never really managed to overcome its troubled production."[5] While Peckinpah had directed "many films about battles between groups of armed men...this was the first in which both sides wear uniforms."[6]
| “ | Told from the German viewpoint as the Wehrmacht's cream were being clobbered on the Russian front circa 1943, the production [from the book by Willi Heinrich] is well but conventionally cast, technically impressive, but ultimately violence-fixated.[7] | ” |
[edit] References
- ^ deutschesoldaten.com article
- ^ Bertolt Brecht – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. source Blockbuster Online - Cross of Iron
- ^ imdb.com article
- ^ Hyam, Ibid, p.193
- ^ Mayo, Mike. War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film (Visible Ink Press, 1999) ISBN 1578590892, p. 222
- ^ Hyams, Jay. War Movies (W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc., 1984) ISBN 083179304X p.192
- ^ Variety review, 1 January 1977. Accessed online 26 Dec 2006.
[edit] External links
- Cross of Iron at the Internet Movie Database
- Lyrics to "Hänschen klein" (in German)
- DVD details for Cross of Iron
|
|||||
