The Devil's Brigade (1968) on Netflix
Approved19682h 10mActionDramaWar
Lt. Col. Robert T. Frederick, who has never seen combat, is chosen to raise a joint American-Canadian commando unit. His American recruits are misfits, and the elite Canadians clash with them.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.7/107,058 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes57%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the summer of 1942, Lt. Col. Robert T. Frederick, a War Department staff officer who has never held a combat command, is summoned to Britain. Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten picks him to raise a commando unit of American and Canadian soldiers for a mission in occupied Norway. Frederick's American troops gather at Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana: jailbirds, troublemakers and misfits. The hand-picked Canadian elite arrive, and friction between the two groups follows. Frederick sets out to break down the national rivalries and turn the men into a trained commando force. The Norwegian assignment goes instead to British troops, and the unit is ordered disbanded. Frederick appeals to Lieutenant General Mark Clark for a chance to prove the men in Italy.
Cast
- Bill Fletcheras Pvt. Bronc Guthrie
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Devil's Brigade (1968)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Wolper later wrote that Holden was very cooperative during the shoot in Utah, drinking only wine, but that in Italy his drinking got out of control. Wolper had to call on the assistance of a woman in Paris who had dealt with Holden before and who helped him finish the film on schedule.
- McLaglen said United Artists loved the finished cut he showed them, but the producer screened the movie at his house for a solid week to a hundred people who all had ideas. Without McLaglen having any input or the last say, they cut the movie, and it was not nearly as good as it could have been.
- Wolper had the Brigade wear attractive but fictional red berets, which turned up on the film's posters as well and on the tie-in paperback cover of Adelman and Walton's book.
- Alex North composed the score by re-purposing the theme from his own rejected score for the pilot episode of The Rat Patrol.
