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YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL is an unusual American adventure film with a European feel. The story is heavily indebted to the usual spaghetti westerns made during the era, with a couple of ne'er-do-well characters getting caught up in a good cause and gradually realising that more is at stake than making money. This time around, the characters have to guard a gold shipment from various renegade factions, leading to plenty of stock action scenes and gung-ho adventure staples.

The film wins plaudits for casting a couple of decent actors as the leads; there's Charles Bronson, acting all tough and stoic as usual, while Tony Curtis in contrast brings plenty of laid-back charm to his character role. The supporting cast is largely made up of ethnic Turks, although eagle-eyed viewers may spot CAPTAIN KRONOS himself, Horst Janson, in a minor role. YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL is a relatively fast paced and action-packed adventure film, but I felt oddly unconnected to it throughout, like I didn't really give two hoots about what was going on; it's not one I enjoyed.

You Can't Win 'Em All (AKA: Soldiers of Fortune/The Dubious Patriots) is directed by Peter Collinson and written by Leo Gordon. It stars Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Michele Mercier, Fikret Hakan, Leo Gordon and Salih Guney. Music is by Bert Kaempfert and cinematography by Kenneth Higgins.

1922 and the Greco-Turkish War is coming to a close, and two soldiers of fortune meet and find themselves on a deadly mission that will either make them rich, get them killed or something else entirely…

Marauding machismo under the burning Turkey sun, You Can't Win 'Em All is good on intentions and two fisted action quotas. That the script is poor is a shame, because although it's hardly grade "A" as an actioner, it is a whole bunch of fun and Curtis and Bronson are great company to be in.

Collinson constructs the action in a competent manner as he fills out the plot with gunfire, explosions, barroom brawls, biplane attacks, speeding train, foxy women and a picturesque location. Bronson gets to flex his muscles while Curtis deals out the quips, and the narrative has the two men spun into a world of double crosses, bluffs and dubious motives. Their chemistry is solid, they make for a good buddy-buddy pairing.

Weak on the page for sure, but enough guts, gusto and grins to ensure it's worth spending the time with. 6.5/10

In my quest of tracking down starring Charles Bronson features; "You Can't Win 'Em All" aka "Soldiers of Fortune" was one of the hardest to come by. In which is a bit a surprise, because it's rather an entertainingly sturdy old-fashion boy's own adventure with feverish plotting, buoyant performances and striking scenic locations on show. Think of another Bronson feature "Villa Rides" made two years before it, as the story is kind of similar but set in a different time, different place.

It's 1922 and two former U.S army soldiers Adam Dyer and Josh Corey meet under unusual circumstances, where these rivals join together as a group of mercenaries in Turkey. They're hired by a local governor for a mission through the Mediterranean, which includes transporting his three daughters and a gold shipment. This leads to a lot of devious developments occurring on the war-torn journey.

Charles Bronson and Tony Curtis simply clicked together as the two soldiers of fortune. Curtis' happy-go-lucky approach matched up well with Bronson's laconically calculated manner. Both provided many amusingly perceptive quips, as they try to out wit each other. The snappy script keeps the sharp humour and comic elements on the cards. This along side the illustratively sun-baked Turkey backdrop with its local flavour and revolutionary wars gave British director Peter Collinson an excitingly colourful frame to work with. His uniformed handling is lively, tough and sprawling in its made-up spectacles. Random opportunities knock for the characters to take up and so does the rough and tumble action. It's punchy with enough bangs for you buck, as the madcap narrative moves at a locomotive pace. Bert Kaempfert's flighty music score is a majestically sounding arrangement that suit's the film's epic framework and exotic locations. The cast also features the likes of Leo Gordon (who also penned the film's screenplay), Patrick Magee, Horst Janson, Tony Bonner and extremely beautiful Michèle Mercier.

"You Can't Win 'Em All" is an agreeably fitting and strong-willed adventure comedy escapism.

This is a competent adventure movie pairing, of all people, Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson. It's setting is an obscure one for Americans: Turkey in its days of revolutionary war following the defeat and collapse of the Ottoman Dynasty in World War I. Bronson and his band of mercs have tommy guns but don't get to use them as much as you might expect. On no best-of list, but this movie is a bit better than it had to be, and worth a look.

Not many people know that Hollywood actor Leo Gordon was also a noteworthy screenwriter. In point of fact Mr. Gordon wrote the script for this motion picture called " You Can't win them all. " He tells the the story of two traveling mercenaries Adam Dyer (Tony Curtis and Josh Corey (Charles Bronson) who arrive in Turkey in 1922. It was a turbulent time and the government was in the mists of a civil war. Our heroes arrive and sensing an opportunity to get rich, join which ever side will pay the most. This includes hiring on to guard a valuable shipment which includes members of a royal family, bars of gold and several million dollars worth of jewels. Throughout this movie which is filled with action, physical confrontations and exciting drama, our heroes try to stay one step ahead of they who would keep them from their treasure, only to realize it's not that easy. Michèle Mercier plays, Aila, a woman dedicated to the cause and proves a worthy adversary and ally for a Turkish General who is played by Patrick Magee. Leo Gordon who plays Bolek is in the film, but has a very brief role, still, with guns blazing, he does make his character exciting. Despite the movie's inability to make it at the box office, it has become a Classic in it's own right. Recommended. ****