Intrigue

A US Army lieutenant colonel is tasked with forming an elite commando-style unit from crack Canadian troops and the dregs of the US Army.

During World War II, a special fighting unit is formed that combines a crack Canadian Army unit and a conglomeration of U.S. Army misfits who had previously served time in military jails. After an initial period of conflict between the two groups, their enmity turns to respect and friendship, and the unit is sent Italy to attempt a dangerous mission that has heretofore been considered impossible to carry out.—Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>

A fictionalized account of the First Special Service Force, the joint Canadian-American World War II commando group under the command of Lt. Col. Robert T. Frederick. The Canadians are the best that the Canadian Army has to offer: spit and polish, multi-skilled, experienced soldiers. The Americans are the dregs of the U.S. Army: misfits and troublemakers lacking any kind of discipline. Over time, Frederick forges a unified, highly competent fighting force. Initially trained for a commando operation in Norway, Frederick has to move quickly to keep the unit together after the operation is canceled. They are sent to Italy where they distinguish themselves in battle.—garykmcd

1942. Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is tasked with forming and training, in a very short space of time, a commando-type unit for a special operation in Norway. This is the 1st Special Service Force. The unit will be a mixture of US and Canadian troops. The Canadian troops are elite hand-picked soldiers. Unfortunately, the US troops are from the polar opposite end of the spectrum: shirkers, criminals, and generally the individuals the US Army doesn't want. There is instant animosity between the Canadians and Americans. With time short and the two halves of his unit constantly at each other's throats, Colonel Frederick is facing an impossible task.—grantss

In the summer of 1942, American Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick (William Holden), a War Department staff officer with no prior combat or command experience, is summoned to Britain where he is selected by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten (Patric Knowles) to raise a commando force composed of both American and Canadian personnel for operations in German-occupied Norway. Robert had written a report criticizing this plan of Mountbatten and was summoned to explain his position. Mountbatten refuses to back down, even after Robert says that there is no extraction plan for the troops from Norway. Mountbatten assigns Robert to raise this brigade.

Back in the U.S., Frederick arrives at the derelict Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana where he receives his American troops - all of whom are jailbirds, never-do-wells, and misfits. When the hand-picked elite Canadian contingent arrives, there is immediate friction with the Americans and chaos ensues. Robert's team includes Maj. Cliff Bricker (Vince Edwards) (who joined the paratroopers as he hated to fly). The camp is in a dilapidated state and Robert says Cliff is the biggest hustler in the army and asks him to arrange all the supplies the camp needs. Capt. Cardwell (Tom Stern), is the Garrison CO of Fort William Henry Harrison

US troops include Pvt./Cpl. Omar Greco (Richard Jaeckel) (who thinks about escaping the camp), Pvt. Billy 'Bronc' Guthrie (Bill Fletcher), Pvt./Cpl. Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman (Claude Akins), Pvt. Theodore Ransom (Andrew Prine) (who went AWOL from his previous unit after he struck the CO after he serenaded his girlfriend. He walked into Fort Harrison voluntarily). Canadians are led by Maj. Alan Crown (Cliff Robertson), Cpl./Sgt. Peacock (Jack Watson), Pvt. Henri Laurent (Jean-Paul Vignon), Sgt. Patrick O'Neill (Jeremy Slate) (close combat specialist).

The rabble-rousing Americans needle the docile Canadians and try to provoke them. There is healthy competition between the Americans and the Canadians. Crown insists that Robert should take advantage of the Canadian combat experience, but Robert points out that Canadians lost at Dunkirk, and he is training the unit to win. Robert asks Crown to get O'Neill to beat the crap out of Rockwell in the mess hall in order to demonstrate the superior training and fighting abilities of the Canadians. O'Neill takes command of the hand-to-hand combat training for the brigade.

The brigade is trained to ski on the icy slopes near the camp. The Canadians are under strict order not to fight the Americans. The 2 units go to a bar, where the local lumberjacks' barge in and insult the Canadians. The Canadians give as much room to the locals as possible and are looking to avoid a fight. But when the lumberjacks hit Sgt Peacock, the Americans come to their aid and beat the locals in the bar brawl. This brings the 2 units closer together as one team. Robert is delighted to see the brigade coming together, but orders $1/month to deducted from each man's pay till the $3000 damage bill is repaid.

By the time Frederick manages to overcome the national differences and mold the First Special Service Force into a highly trained commando unit, he is informed that the Allied High Command have had a change of heart and offered the Norwegian missions to British troops. Left without a role, the brigade is ordered to be disbanded, and its soldiers reassigned. Frederick remains undeterred and manages to persuade Lieutenant General Mark Clark (Michael Rennie) (Commander of the U.S. Fifth Army) to give his men a chance to prove themselves with a new mission in Italy.

Clark's skeptical deputy commander, Major General Maxwell Hunter (Carroll O'Connor), orders the 1st Special Service Force to reconnoiter a German garrison in a well defended (and surrounded by mountains) Italian town, but Frederick goes one better and captures the entire town. He devises a plan to enter the town by trekking over a mountain and then entering the town by hiking 2 miles in ice cold water of the mountain river. Robert and his men enter the town by stealth and kill the German's one by one, even taking over their tanks, defending the city. Gradually, they take a large number of German soldiers as their prisoners. In the process, they earn the nickname "Die Teufelsbrigade" - The Devil's Brigade (given to them by the enemy CO). Robert earns the respect of his men, who celebrate his birthday in a grand style.

Convinced now of the ability of Frederick's men, Lieutenant General Clark promotes Frederick to full Colonel and gives them a task no other Allied troops have managed to accomplish - to capture Monte la Difensa. The town is a key point on the way to Rome. Allied armies have tried to take the town for 3 weeks, with heavy casualties, and failed each time. Facing severe obstacles, the Devil's Brigade attacks the undefended eastern side of the mountain by scaling a cliff the Germans believed could not be climbed. The Allied forces pound an artillery barrage from the front, diverting the German attention, allowing Robert's men to climb the cliff in 3 hrs. The cliff side of the plateau was poorly protected, and Robert's brigade was able to climb on top. Reaching the top as a unit (Germans were occupied with the artillery barrage from the front side), they take the stronghold despite considerable losses, allowing the Allies to continue their advance north into Italy. The Brigade continued to fight many more battles throughout Italy till Rome. They built a myth about themselves and too many good soldiers died to keep it true.