Anzio

 

 

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Anzio is a decent war movie, filled with exciting battles and a platoon's cat-n-mouse struggle to avoid the enemy long enough to find their way back to their own lines. Robert Mitchum plays a news correspondent who's assigned to cover the invasion of Anzio by a company of U.S. Rangers. When their company is ambushed by the Germans, him and a small handfull of soldiers (Peter Falk and Earl Holliman co-star) escape the trap, but then face having to find their way back to safety through miles of enemy territory. A fairly standard World War II movie based on the actual Anzio battle itself, but more or less using it as a back drop for the fictionalized battle hilighted in the film. There's a totally silly scene with Robert Falk and three local lovelies in the back of an ambulance that should have hit the editing room floor. And Mitchum himself hams it up a bit while denouncing the war in a flag waving manner. But overall Anzio is a fun movie, especially for war movie lovers. Popcorn anyone?

You're in trouble when you begin loathing a movie during the opening credits. A jeep drops off the a dusty uniformed Robert Mitchum and the camera follows him up a flight of stairs and past a couple of security check points, through some large palace rooms. There are gigantic paintings on the wall, the wealth of ancient Italy. We follow him into the first scene of the movie, the opening oh-oh.
A sizable crowd of American GIs, with a few stray prostitutes here and there, are in a huge hall of the palace. One soldier hangs from a monster chandelier, while the other soldiers taunt, hoot and throw oranges and such at him. Apparently he's trying to break a "How long can you stay on the chandelier" record. A herd of "elite Canadian Rangers" enter, shepherded by Corporal Peter Falk, and naturally the veggie throwing thugs attack them. Well, boys will be boys, and I suppose trashing an ancient palace can and should be written off to youthful exuberance.
Meanwhile, disillusioned journalist Robert Mitchum, kind of the anti-Ernie Pyle in this one, drags a long necked bottle of wine and the cynical sergeant Earl Holliman and makes for the balcony for a moment of intense character exposition. It looks like they're in a room with a blue mountain scene painted on the tapestry. I swear I saw Mitchum's shadow on the mountain behind him. Then battered Corporal Peter Falk enters the balcony, and you see by a reverse shot that they're supposed to be outdoors. Maybe it worked better on the big screen.
The movie is about American's invasion of Anzio as seen through the eyes of a pacifist journalist. The landing is unopposed, and Mitchum requisitions a jeep and, along with Falk, discover that the road to Rome, the ultimate destination, is open. Rome can be in Allied hands in a few days, if they move fast enough.
Allied high command decides to dig in instead, which allows the German's the time to create a Caesar Line to oppose advance. Some time later Holliman's battalion, with the un-armed Mitchum along for the story, advances cautiously towards Rome, led by ranger Falk.
It's too late, of course, (damn timid high command), and most of the battalion is killed or captured. A handful of them make it and they escape their valley of death by the clever clearing of a mine field.
Frankly, the script is a mess. There are references made to Salerno, where the invasion was hampered by precipitate action - the fools rushed in when they should have dug in. At Anzio the fools SHOULD have rushed in, but they dug in instead. The fog of war being what it is, my sympathy is with the high command in this movie, but I guess that's beside the point. ANZIO was made we questioned authority as a matter of course, especially military authority.
The best war movies rush forward. ANZIO meanders and makes some odd stops on its way to the battlefield. Take, for instance, the strange scene of Peter Falk teaching the prostitutes to sing "Bye, Bye, Blackbird." It takes way too long, it has nothing to do with the story proper, and it ambiguously establishes his character. It looks like an ad-lib job and should never have been shot in the first place.
A couple of the action scenes that take place behind the enemy line work pretty well, especially when the survivors come across the white dog and later when they encounter a snipers' nest.
I'm a big fan of Robert Mitchum, and I think he's effective as the weary iconoclast. Holliman and the other soldiers are okay in roles that don't demand a whole lot from them. Falk's improvisational style is way out of place here. The movie grinds to a halt every the camera centers on him.
The ending, the liberation of Rome, is tacked on at the end. The real end of the movie is the moment Mitchum discovers the answer to his question, "Why do we fight and kill each other?" The answer is pretty thin and unsatisfying, perfectly in keeping with the rest of the movie.

Anzio is an uneven war movie that still manages to keep the viewer interested. Starring Robert Mitchum as war correspondent Dick Ennis, Anzio tells the story of seven survivors of a botched mission behind enemy lines and their attempt to get back to the American beachhead. There is a lot of anti-war sentiment here which in some places is a little unnecessary. Ennis' whole point of staying in a combat situation is to find out why men fight, why there are wars.

Anzio has an excellent supporting cast with Peter Falk as Corporal Rabinoff, a Special Forces guide, Arthur Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Earl Holliman, Reni Santoni(Poppi from Seinfeld), and Mark Damon. The movie is entertaining although it is slow-moving in some parts. There are only a few action scenes, but they are all done pretty well, especially the skirmish between the survivors and a group of German snipers. One bizarre scene with Peter Falk singing Bye, Bye Blackbird with three prostitutes.

The widescreen presentation of the movie is much better than previously seen. The DVD offers four trailers including The Guns of Navarone, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Lawrence of Arabia. Multiple options for spoken languages. Good purchase although much more could have been done with the DVD.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Movie, Bad History
This is probably the worst movie Robert Mitchum ever made. Aside from the usual Hollywood anti-war cliches, it offers a silly plot, a script full of loose ends and improbable... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
This is a movie that most WWII film buffs will enjoy.
For once, American forces are exposed as being ill-led and vulnerable during at least one major conflict (The battle at... Read more

Published on Jan 6 2003 by Peter E. Mcreynolds

4.0 out of 5 stars Anzio, Better Than Some
Anzio is a decent WW2 movie as far as this genre goes. For a change we see the Allies, and in this case, the elite Rangers getting wiped out at Cisterna by the Germans. Read more

Published on Dec 13 2002 by Roger Kennedy

3.0 out of 5 stars Italian Lament with Hollywood Directing
If ANZIO were recut from the original negative, had new sound effects and included a reworked score by John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith it would have the potential for becoming a... Read more

Published on Aug 18 2002 by Kevin R. Austra

4.0 out of 5 stars ANZIO a must for Earl Holliman fans!
With the current crop of recent WWII films being pumped out of Hollywood, ANZIO remains often over-looked by many yet remains a classic. Read more

Published on Jun 22 2002 by Brett Warnelis

4.0 out of 5 stars DVD is superb!
This DVD release of ANZIO is superior to the VHS prints. The picture quality on the Letterbox side is incredible, and the pan and scan transfer is also very nice. Read more

Published on Mar 1 2002 by Benjamin E. Cressy

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Bother
The 1944 Allied landings at Anzio were more or less a mistake, and so would be buying this film. Although it has a solid cast and some nice moments with Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk... Read more

Published on Jan 7 2002 by M. G Watson

4.0 out of 5 stars Historically Inaccurate but Entertaining
The Allied landing at Anzio was not unopposed. Allied forces were bogged down in trench fighting for almost three weeks before they could move inland against the Germans. Read more

Published on July 5 2001 by gobirds2

4.0 out of 5 stars Historically Inaccurate but Entertaining
The Allied landing at Anzio was not unopposed. Allied forces were bogged down in trench fighting for almost three weeks before they could move inland against the Germans. Read more

Published on July 3 2001 by gobirds2

3.0 out of 5 stars Robert Mitchum Goes To War Without A Rifle
This war picture stands out from the rest with its unusual characters and odd dialogue. Robert Mitchum has a role almost unkown to World War II films, that of a pacifist war... Read more

Published on Jan 14 2001 by John Lease

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