Devil's Brigade

Having said that... Most veterans of the Force do not like the film. The idiots with checkbooks would only back the film if it was "rousing" (read Hollywood treatment) rather than lovingly accurate.

The chief technical advisor was Lt. General Frederic (ret) himself... so the producers and director certainly had the facts to hand. Many of those facts and much of the history never made it onto the screen.

What don't the Forcemen like? Well, the Americans certainly had more than their share of guardhouse sweepings and tough characters sent their way by other commands (though those who could not learn to accept discipline and bond with others were rapidly washed out...) and excellent Canadians... but the "border warfare" premise is essentially false.

U.S. uniforms for all but the Americans got higher pay... (different pay days for each group, so always borrowing from each other) When the drek was chased off both nationalities settled in quite well with each other.

Kiska was almost bloodless (Canadian and American troops did accidentally shoot each other when the Japanese proved to have pulled out... but not the Force... their fire discipline was superb...) One part of the Force was prepared to make a parachute drop into action... The Force had the "friction" of battle without the losses... This honed them to a fine edge... and the film ignored the whole episode.

Their jump training was almost ignored (except for jump boots and jump wings shown on the screen) along with their demolition and amphibious training. Their loving relationship with Helena and its people was reduced in the film to a night of whoring, boozing and brawling.

In short, many vets of the Force did not recognize themselves in the film. Relatively few people knew about the Force, and those seeing the film would either think it total fiction or else have a skewed view of what Winston Churchill called "The finest fighting force of its size ever fielded by North America..."

When viewed as a movie, rather than as history... Well the cast is pretty good. Many cameos (not "bit parts") by fading stars such as Grechen Wyler and Dana Andrews... give it a certain class.

William Holden would have been perfect in the part... a dozen years earlier when he was doing Bridge on the River Kwai... Frederic was almost a "boy general" by the time he left the Force... Holden was a bit long in the tooth and tired... On the positive side, he conveys authority and was quite happy to get his hands dirty making the film.

Cliff Robertson is fine as Major Crown and most of the rest of the cast is good. Claude Akins is fine in his role as Rocky... but for all of his size, strength and toughness... his character is a waste... he gets captured on the earlier raid and rather than do what all good soldiers must in an assault... keep moving... he bounces around a critically wounded soldier, kills his prisoner and is absent from where he is needed. His love of Peacock is believable, but is mawkishly displayed on the screen.

So having said all of the above, why would *I* give the film a (qualified) rating of 4 stars (an unqualified five would go to Lawrence of Arabia...)? In part because of the subject matter... However much the Hollywood treatment and however mucked up the history... the Force was one of the most remarkable units ever fielded.

The director (Andrew V.) had some fine films to his credit, but too many of the other kind... to the point where some would call him a "hack director..." But it is obvious in The Devil's Brigade that he had a fondness for the unit and the men who served in it. The cliches and overly broad humor can't hide this.

Most of the cast (and assigned soldiers) give the impression that when the cameras stop rolling that they really felt like part of a team doing something special (even if a few of them refused to follow Holden into the pyrotechnic strewn fields...)

While the film could have been better... to truly tell the story of the First Special Service Force... a multi-part effort such as Band of Brothers would be required to do the subject (and the surviving Forcemen) justice...

I have served with Canadians in two wars... While there are some very real differences, at the "sharp end" the teamwork is outstanding... Never more true than with the 1st Special Service Force...