Die Sieger

It's been many years since I've seen this picture, but there are scenes and sequences which I will never forget.

Essentially, the film tells how war, any war, ultimately de-humanizes everyone it touches. Some survive. Some don't. Others are permanently scarred. Through the cracks in the rubble, human goodness and feeling sometimes emerges, but the overall cost is unbearably heavy.

Particularly powerful are sequences where George Hamilton returns to the European city to visit the girl he'd fallen in love with, not expecting to find what he finds has happened to her; George Peppard visiting "old sarge" in the hospital, also to be surprised; the ugly face of racial violence within the armed forces.

Episodic, yes, even maddeningly so, as the film loosely follows a group of sometimes unconnected soldiers and what happens to them and others--but still, THE VICTORS haunts and reminds us that war is the last acceptable choice of human activities.

I saw this movie many years ago, and still remember it. I'd like to see it on video. The movie has a surreal feel to it.... but, I imagine that anyone actually involved in the madness of fighting a modern war feels the surrealness of the movie a very faint immitation of the surrealness of war. The typical movie presents a view of an event, and one has the feeling that all that is significant about the event has been recorded and presented in the movie, but in "The Victors" it is clear that what is being presented is just a peek at reality .. the whole story is unknown, unknowable.... Just as in life we usually feel as if we understand what's going on around us and are acting in a perfectly rational manner, when in fact we are each very small players on a stage and we are being blown about like leaves by forces we don't even know exist.

One of the most extraordinarily intelligent films ever made, this epic from Carl Foreman (High Noon, Bridge Over River Kwai, Guns of Navarone) follows the fortunes of an American platoon during WWII.

Plenty of well-known stars (Peppard, Fonda, Finney) shine in solid performances while the B&W film compliments the moody cinematography.

It's not anti-war - more a study of friendship, love and prejudice intensified under stress (Casualties of War indeed). Episodes of deep pathos contrast with intermittent feelgood factors - although some of the intended irony is a little heavy (primarily because it was aimed at the American viewer).

Unlike Private Ryan and similar Yank-only trash, it is one of the few WWII films to actively feature the participation of other allied nations, notably France, Russia and India, and the effects on the civilians of Belgium, England, Italy and Germany.

My favourite scene is when the character played by George Peppard is waiting for a bus in the pouring rain while on leave in England. A working class family invite him into their home until the bus arrives and their hospitality is such that he comfortably falls asleep on a chair by the fire. On finally catching the bus he discovers the family have placed a 10 shilling note in his top pocket. I think this is one of the most touching moments in the history of film.

In the most famous scene the platoon are ordered to witness a deserter executed by firing squad somewhere in a snowy landscape of France, while over-running from earlier newsreel footage, the soundtrack is playing 'Have yourself a Merry Little Xmas'. Very moving.

America should be proud of this one.

Kevin Molloy TV Producer London, England

What ever happened to this wonderful movie? When I was at the University of Oregon in the late 60s and early 70s it was shown on local t.v. in Eugene several times. I have not seen it since but it has lingered in my memory. What a great film.

One scene that has stayed with me all these years is the one with the dog. A new recruit shows up and joins a group of tired and war-weary vets. The new recruit has a young puppy and wants to bring it along. The puppy is cute and because I had watched a ton of American war films I thought that everyone would embrace the dog, make it their mascot and have a merry time as they wasted Krauts in the Hurtgen Forrest but the vets will not allow the dog to join them. What the vets know and the new guy doesn't is that they are headed for a place where only those with a hard heart survive. The Hurtgun is no place for pups or children. Only a certain type of individual could possibly survive there. You can see it in the vets that they would like to indulge the new guy and his dog, but they know better. They make the recruit leave the dog as they board the truck headed for the front. The puppy starts following the truck as it pulls away and the innocent new guy gets all excited and calls to him as it trails the truck. A vet pulls out his M-1 and shots the dog dead. Another vet turns to the new guy who is stunned in disbelief and says "it took a soldier to do that".

This movie, this scene and this line have stayed in my mind and its been over 30 years since last I've seen it.

Carl Foreman's "The Victors" is extraordinary for two reasons:

1) it emphasizes the characters over the action

2) while being a "spot the star" flick, this is a film made up of smaller stars.

Among the "smaller" stars in this, we have Vince Edwards, George Hamilton, Albert Finney, Peter Fonda, Eli Wallach and George Peppard. Perhaps they are not as big as the ones who appeared in the popular war epics of the time, but I think it benefits from this approach. The film is a bunch of low-key stories strung together by the war and these low-key actors are perfect for this approach.

There are action scenes. It wouldn't be a war film without them. But after a while, I got tired of action scene after action scene and I appreciated a film that let us get to know these soldiers and how they felt about the war and life. It predates Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" by about 33 years, but it's just as effective.

Carl Foreman was famously blacklisted during the 1950s and only now is his work appreciated. His credits include "The Bridge Over The River Kwai" and "The Guns of Navarone" and in this, his directorial debut, he demonstrates the skill and drama of the earlier pictures along with the character studies. The result: a richly textured film, one of 1963's best. If only more people knew about it. Columbia, if you're reading this, release it on tape and DVD NOW!

**** out of 4 stars