Comando suicida

A great fast paced action yarn. This film stars Telly Savalas as a man who lives the high life, but soon becomes pressed for cash. He gets word from an ex German soldier, (played by James Mason) about missing gold; lost since the war. Savalas forms a small group of people to hunt for this lost gold. The films age shows when the characters make a dangerous attempt to cross between both areas of Berlin. This film serves as an excellent time capsule film, made during Savalas's Kojak fame.

I, accidently, came upon this film on the Starz Mystery Channel while channel surfing yesterday. I'm so very glad that I did. I found it to be a fast paced, suspenseful, sometimes humorous, caper "flick". IMHO, the entire cast of International actors is excellent. Telly Savalas and Robert Culp do a great job as two American WW2 military veterans who join forces with an ex German officer, nicely played by James Mason, to spearhead an attempt to retrieve $6 million in gold ingots hidden beneath a German air raid shelter during the war. To do so they must manage to get a German war criminal out of a top security prison where he is the only prisoner. Then, after getting the needed information concerning the whereabouts of the gold from him, they must get him back into his cell as if nothing had ever happened. Aldo Ray does a great job as the head noncom of the US contingent guarding the prisoner who, fortunately, is an old war buddy of Savalas and, for a price, agrees to aid in the caper. As the plot twists unfold, the suspense builds to a very satisfying conclusion. Near the end of the film there is a great scene of an exchange between Savalas as a bogus Army Major and the US Colonel who is in charge of the prison whenever the Americans are on watch. The conversation between Savalas and the Colonel is wonderful. The Colonel is extremely hostile but Savalas bluffs him with a classic conversational style containing a not too subtle threat to inform the proper authorities of the Colonel's non-cooperation. I found those few minutes to be priceless. For the most part, I found this movie to be free of the cliches that normally are found in a caper film. Also, the conclusion of the film is different than that of most other films of this type. If you watch this film I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

This gangster movie in cold war-Berlin really has a fast paced and clever plot. You can enjoy this pre-mission impossible film although not all the tricks of uncomparable Telly are believable. Great acting and tight dialogues make this a fine film-evening from start to end.

I had first watched this on local TV as a kid: I'm a sucker for caper films (in fact, I've about six more, albeit very minor, such titles lined-up for viewing) and, therefore, I grabbed the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with it after all these years (even if it came via an Italian-dubbed version).

Anyway, it may be because I hadn't caught a film in this vein for quite some time – but I really enjoyed this! A very typical outing from the 1970s – international production and cast, location shooting, throwaway soundtrack – and, thankfully, one whose mind is simply set on providing easy-going entertainment: often, the central premise in this type of film gets lost amid fastidious technique and other showy trimmings – conversely, here we get an ingeniously-plotted (if, admittedly, improbable) heist that one's able to follow thus generating the requisite amount of suspense and surprise (via a plethora of entertaining twists).

The narrative is set in motion by ex-Nazi Concentration Camp Commandant James Mason(!) paying a visit to one of his former prisoners, ex-American Major Telly Savalas, presenting him with a scheme to retrieve a cache' of gold that once belonged to the Fuehrer himself (hence the film's subsequent retitling as HITLER'S GOLD); the catch is that the only one still alive who knows its whereabouts is a Nazi war criminal undergoing life imprisonment in a West German fortress! Thankfully, though, Savalas happens to be chummy with one of the American sergeants on duty there (Aldo Ray) – and he brings along for the ride explosives expert Robert Culp. Along the way, they recruit a whole slew of other associates (from one of the soldiers in charge of the original transportation to a female nurse – who eventually hitches up with Culp – to a homosexual doctor – played by Adrian Hoven – to a Russian officer based in East Germany – where, it transpires, the gold is located) which makes one wonder just how much they'd actually be making individually of the proposed loot of $6 million!

The elaborate plan involves the ex-Nazi official being drugged and replaced by Hoven for a day – while our heroes, having turned a vacated building into a simulacra of the Nazi headquarters circa 1944 (complete with the ex-driver now impersonating Hitler!), try to nudge his memory bank about the coveted gold cache'. As I said, the turn-of-events see them crossing over to East Germany dressed as American officers and, with the help of the afore-mentioned Russian, they evacuate the building which now stands on the site where the gold is hidden so that they work at their leisure to recover it. Unsurprisingly, with so much money at stake and so many fingers in the proverbial pot, the number is reduced when the German soldier loses his nerve and the Russian becomes too greedy for his own good. At long last, the Nazi is placed back in his cell and the gang can take a deep sigh of relief; again, typical of the time in which the film was made, they manage to get away with it…

Gripping, packed with incident but essentially light-hearted (with the actors clearly enjoying themselves) and good to look at (the cinematography is by the renowned – and Sam Peckinpah regular – John Coquillon), the film emerges as the perfect anti-dote to one's dreary work routine and the equally inconvenient summer heat.

Riddled with bills, con artist Harry Morgan (Telly) cooks up caper with his "associates," in this dated, yet enjoyable flick. The turns and twists of the plot are not exactly breathtaking, but it's just plain good fun. It involves a plot to hatch out of prison an aging Nazi, who knows the location of a hidden stash of gold, and then put him back before the prison officials are any wiser. The plot complications arise from there, to bribery of certain US military types to bribery of certain Soviet military types(!). Eeghads! Now, don't you know Telly has a "full plate" with this movie?!

It actually comes off as pretty slick, humorous and at times, surreal. It is also a testament of the affection that many in Europe had for Mr. Savalas, whom when I lived there, was widely evident. With a strong, supporting, international cast; including James Mason, Robert Culp, Gunter Meisner and Aldo Ray, INSIDE OUT is quite enjoyable.