OSCARS '67: The Dirty Dozen
“You know what to do, free the French and kill the Germans!”
CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of war crimes, rape, murder, misogyny, violence toward women, hanging, WWII executions, war, mentions of racism.
We don’t watch a lot of war films here at Mac & Maud HQ, but as we worked through 1967, we couldn’t help but watch one of the most iconic action films of all time. It’s hard to enjoy this movie on its own merits, since so many other movies have used this premise since. At the time, though, this film was working on a much deeper and darker level, a re-examination of war and the men who fight it. By making the heroes of this film convicted war criminals, waiting for a hangman’s noose, the comedy and camaraderie of the men is meant to thrill and terrify us. At the time, this movie was a fairly shocking vision of war; now, it plays as a heist comedy turned deadly in the end. It might not hold up as well as it used to, but this movie still packs a punch. We’re watching The Dirty Dozen (1967) this week on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!
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Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.
Excerpt taken from "Main Title from 'The Dirty Dozen'," composed by Frank DeVol. Copyright 1967 MGM Records, a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Excerpts taken from the film The Dirty Dozen are © 1967 Turner Entertainment, Co and Warner Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Excerpt taken from “In Cold Blood,” composed and conducted by Quincy Jones. Copyright 1967 Colgems Records, Inc.
