Les commandos passent à l'attaque

Darby's Rangers -or The Young Invaders ,to give it the title under which it was shown in Great Britain - is a lengthy world war two movie about the formation of the US Rangers ,its initial training at the hands of the British in Scotland and its success in battle both in Africa and Europe .It also devotes some considerable time to the private lives of the troops especially there involvement with women On neither level is it particularly engrossing with the battle scenes clearly being staged on a studio set which renders them somewhat artificial looking and unconvincing while the platoon members are just not interesting enough to make me care greatly what happens to them The acting is routine Garner is under used and such young performers as Peter Brown and Ed Byrne lack the experience and charisma to hold the screen

Good to see the British accorded some respect in a US war movie but otherwise this is routine fare indeed

William Orlando Darby (James Garner) pushes to form the US Rangers modelled after the British commandos. Various soldiers are recruited to train in Scotland for the new formation led by Darby. Initially, the group is sent to fight in North Africa and then Italy.

I only recognize James Garner and he's the only compelling actor for me. The first half concentrates too much on the men's love lives although the bus meet-cute is plenty cute. None of the relationships matter that much. They are being too cute and trying too hard to be funny. The pratfalls and jokes fall flat. Some of the actors are a bit too stiff. The comedic tone rings old fashion. The material would be better served as a more serious darker drama. The new Lieutenant comes in too late and the girl is too melodramatic. I can do with less melodrama and more war action. It's surprising that Garner isn't given more to do. The fighting is mostly studio interior or backlot sets. There are some archival footages and bigger exterior sets. There is some dangerous running in front of tanks.

Recycling the well worn "Sands of Iwo Jima" formula of a disparate group of new recruits getting trained at boot camp, coming together as a team, and then taking to the battlefield, "Darby's Rangers" offers nothing new, but is entertaining for fans of these type of WWII films. It's a durable formula that's can work well (i.e. Clint Eastwood's "Heartbreak Ridge") or can be so bad that it becomes a parody of itself (i.e. John Wayne's "The Green Berets"). With a veteran film director at the helm, William Wellman, and a strong cast (James Garner, Jack Warden, Peter Brown, Stuart Whitman, Murray Hamilton, and David Janssen) you have the makings for solid entertainment, which is exactly what "Darby's Ranger" delivers with Garner leading his squad into North Africa and Italy for exciting WWII action. The downside to the film is that the portions of the story focused on Garner's command level politics and the infantrymen's liberty romances are less than interesting.

He was not impressed! And the guy I talked to was a U.S. Ranger who took part in assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, the main Italian landing, and finally at Anzio. (He was captured by the Germans at Anzio and ultimately escaped, making his way eastward to the Russian lines. But that is another story.) My friend was fairly critical of the action portrayed in the movie, despite the fact that another Ranger was the technical adviser.

As for the movie itself, it is only slightly above mediocre. Although I am a big fan of older black and white movies, I must say that the lack of color here is a negative. Also, based on memory, too many scenes were shot on a sound stage. A film noir is fine shot that way, but an A level war movie should have more impressive production values. After all, WWII was not fought in a blimp hanger.

Veteran Director Wellman guides the capable cast through all the usual war movie cliches and still manages to keep our interest. Scattered throughout the action are some nice cameos by then "up and coming" stars, and an especially nice bit done by Edd "Kooky" Brynes. This one is still fun.