Verstecktes Ziel

World War II is over, and the Allies set about cleaning up and helping rebuild Europe. The Allies' most famous battle leader, General George S. Patton, continues to alienate the Russians and doesn't like attending to civil formalities of state. So, he gets canned by Eisenhower and is ordered back to the States. But during all this time, some $250 million in Third Reich gold had been discovered and then went missing. Patton launches his own effort to find the thieves and retrieve the gold.

This story line has all the makings of a good action-thriller, and "Brass Target" doesn't disappoint. It has a solid plot – with much conjecture and fiction built around and woven through the real details of Patton's last months. The script is very good for a cast that delivers. There's just enough intrigue to keep us guessing from one scene to the next, as culprits come to light one by one. But amidst this, the one big theme develops – with the hiring of a top assassin to eliminate Patton. There's much more to this, and part of the intrigue for the viewer is wondering what next step in his plan the assassin will lay out and expose to the audience.

George Kennedy is excellent as Patton, and Robert Vaughn turns in a first-rate performance in his role. John Cassavetes does justice as the top intelligence officer digging into the theft. Sophia Loren and Patrick McGoohan give very good performances. And the consummate cool and calculating Max von Sydow excels in the type of role he has played before.

Some comments I've seen about the film are disparaging because of the fictitious plot. But that's precisely what makes it a movie different from the account of Patton's accidental death otherwise. If people don't like fiction in film, they can avoid movies purposely built around fictitious aspects. Come to think of it, they should probably stop watching all movies. But the rest of us can sit back and really enjoy films like this.

If you take Brass Target as a re-imagination of the situation in post-WWII Europe, similar to "Inglorious Basterds"©, this movie is easier to accept. However, any similarity to "Inglorious Basterds"© ends there. I feel this is a film made due to contractual obligations and maintaining SAG membership. The only reason I ever watched this film is because I was an extra in it, and even actually appear on screen for a second. Other than that, I MAY have been tempted to watch it once by some of the names, in particular Patrick McGoohan and George Kennedy, but other than my own one second of film glory, I wouldn't own it. The plot is completely implausible. I feel the actors make the best of it out of sheer professional pride. Here's a trivia point for you IMDb© keepers out there: Many of the extras are actually U.S. Army personnel recruited from troops serving in Munich at the time the movie was shot.

Brass Target has as its plot premise the fact that George S. Patton's automobile accident which left him paralyzed with a broken neck that eventually killed him was really an assassination. For the more traditional view I suggest you see Patton: The Last Days which starred the most famous Patton of all George C. Scott.

250 million dollars in gold bullion from the Third Reich is robbed and the perpetrators are a group of OSS men headed by Robert Vaughn. These guys were doing this sort of stuff during the war and apparently saw no reason that they shouldn't pull one last job with a heist that would certainly insure them a comfortable old age. The problem is that a whole train load of GIs are killed in a tunnel during the heist.

Which brings in John Cassavetes late of the OSS who was the author of a heist plan that was a dead ringer for what the robbers used. Which gives Cassavetes a good head start in an investigation, but not exactly a smoking gun.

After George S. Patton played here by George Kennedy is called out by the Russians for his laxity, that's something no one can accuse Patton of. He takes personal charge of the investigation and puts himself in an assassin's cross hairs.

I think a lot of good players got wasted here in a film that didn't make sense many times. You have to fill in a lot of gaps. Sophia Loren is in the film, top billed in a supporting role that doesn't make any sense. Max Von Sydow is the professional hit man that Vaughn and company hire sight unseen though on strong recommendation. Von Sydow was interesting and clever and is the best one in the film.

This is one urban legend that truly is a legend. As a film Brass Target is hardly legendary.

In this one, george kennedy is patton. Some other big names here... sophia loren and john cassavetes! Robert vaughan, patrick mcgoohan, max von sydow. After world war two, the shipment of gold the nazis had amassed is ordered back to frankfurt. But a corrupt group of united states military officials decide to take the gold and knock off patton. Can they take him out before the investigation uncovers the details of the heist? And how does mara fit in ? How much does she know? Directed by john hough. Novel by fred nolan. It's pretty good. Not the tightest script, but we get the idea. Patton died in december of 1945, and the gold was never recovered, according to the film itself.

I remember watching this as a kid when it first came out. And it stuck in my mind. More than 40 years later, I still remember the intricacy of the assassination plot against Patton. "Just make it look like an accident, 007" - well, this scenario does just that. Max von Sydow was in his prime as an unassuming hit man, who could wear any disguise and pull it off spectacularly. That it still sticks to my mind 40 years later is a testament to how impressed I was with the movie.