Bitter Victory
| Bitter Victory | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster |
|
| Directed by | Nicholas Ray |
| Produced by | Paul Graetz |
| Written by | René Hardy (novel and screenplay) Paul Gallico (adaptation) Gavin Lambert (screenplay) Nicholas Ray (screenplay) Vladimir Pozner (uncredited) |
| Starring | Richard Burton Curd Jürgens Ruth Roman |
| Music by | Maurice Leroux |
| Cinematography | Michel Kelber |
| Editing by | Léonide Azar |
| Studio | Transcontinental Films Robert Laffont Productions Company |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Country | France United States |
| Language | English |
Bitter Victory (French title Amère victoire) is a 1957 black and white French-American international co-production film shot in CinemaScope, directed by Nicholas Ray.
Set in World War II, it stars Richard Burton and Curd Jürgens as Allied officers sent out on a commando raid in North Africa. Ruth Roman plays the former lover of one and the wife of the other. It was based on the novel of the same name by René Hardy.
[edit] Plot
During the Western Desert Campaign of World War II, two officers are interviewed to command a dangerous commando mission far behind enemy lines. South African Major Brand is an experienced professional soldier but does not speak Arabic and has only a limited knowledge of the area in Libya in which the patrol is to operate. Welsh Captain Leith is the opposite; an amateur volunteer with extensive knowledge of the area who knows a local guide and speaks fluent Arabic as well. It is decided that both officers will go, but with Major Brand in command.
Major Brand's wife Jane is an RAF Flight Lieutenant who enlisted to be near her husband. When Brand invites Leith to dinner with his wife, he picks up the fact that the two had previously had an affair before she married Brand.
The unit parachutes behind enemy lines with the mission of attacking a German headquarters and bringing back secret plans from a safe to be opened by Wilkins, an experienced safecracker. Dressed as local civilians, Brand shakes in fright when he has to knife a German sentry; the deed is done by Leith.
The mission is completed successfully with only one death and one man wounded. The patrol ambushes a German detachment, capturing a German colonel Leith knows was responsible for the secret information. Leith remains behind with the wounded who he kills rather than let fall into enemy hands to be tortured for information.
The patrol is supposed to escape on camels, but they discover the men left with them have been murdered and looted of the camels and their weapons. During the long march back, Brand's animosity towards Leith grows, not only due to the affair with his wife, but Brand fears Leith will reveal Brand as a coward to headquarters and destroy his career.
[edit] Cast
- Richard Burton as Captain Leith
- Curd Jürgens as Major Brand (as Curt Jurgens)
- Ruth Roman as Jane Brand
- Raymond Pellegrin as Mekrane
- Anthony Bushell as General Patterson
- Alfred Burke as Lieutenant Colonel Callander
- Sean Kelly as Lieutenant Barton
- Ramón de Larrocha as Lieutenant Sanders (as Ramon de Larrocha)
- Christopher Lee as Sergeant Barney
- Ronan O'Casey as Sergeant Dunnigan
- Fred Matter as Colonel Lutze
- Raoul Delfosse as Lieutenant Kassel
- Andrew Crawford as Private Roberts
- Nigel Green as Lance Corporal Wilkins
- Harry Landis as Private Browning
[edit] External links
- Bitter Victory at the Internet Movie Database
- Bitter Victory at the TCM Movie Database
- Bitter Victory at AllRovi
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
This article about a war film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
