Customer Reviews

Anzio

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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 the Salerno beach-head is another example of an Allied debacle).
The German forces are depicted as a worthy, well-equipped, veteran opponent.
There are some problems with the plot and the characters. For example, only one minute of footage is dedicated to the eventual break-out from the Anzio beach-head by the Allied forces. Also, Peter Falk is completely unbelievable as an elite Canadian Commando ("The Black Devils").
Finally, the firefight between the survivors of the American Rangers against 4 German snipers would have been a no-contest in reality. The Germans would have shot every man dead (i.e. Falk, Mitchum, Holliman,...) within a range of at least 100 meters.
All flaws put aside, ANZIO is still an enjoyable movie to watch because of the beautiful Italian locations, the excellent cinematography, and the decent acting from Mitchum and others.

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. I suspect this happened more often than not whenever ameteur American troops had to face the Wehrmacht in anything resembling even-odds. Robert Mitchum is his usual out-spoken self, while Peter Faulk is an amusing low-life GI character. The rest of the cast is adequate, if your standard GI fare. The real strength of the movie is showing how the Americans missed a gold chance at Anzio. General Lucas was certainly a hesitant commander in an American army that was normally made up of blood and guts types. No doubt he did not press hard enough in the early stages of the landings, and for a change we can see the Americans being faulted with lack of drive, instead of this role being often shoved onto the British.

The Rangers getting shot-up at Cisterna is well done. The German tanks are not accurate, looking like the usual modern American stuff pressed into Wehrmacht service, but at least with the camoflauge they look somewhat convincing. The Sniper scene towards the end is probably the best action sequence in the entire movie. Here you get to see how a squad of GIs take on elite snipers.

While the acting and plot are par, the movie overall conveys some grim realities of war and shows what a difficult time the Allies had in Italy. The scenes with Kesselring are brief, but show the contrast between efficient, professional German leadership, and the clumsy, rough and ready manner of the Americans. Deffinitely a worthwhile movie which creates a convincing atmosphere and has pretty good music as well. Compared to something like Devil's Briagde or Dirty Dozen which were made in the same period its down-right brilliant!

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 good movie. As it is, several versions of the movie were produced for American, Italian and general European audiences. ANZIO has potential. Loosely based on the 1944 Allied landings at Anzio-Nettuno, the film strays into the traditional Italian lament that the Italians are the victims of Axis and Allies alike. Not surprising as the movie is a product of veteran Hollywood director Edward Dmytryk (Back to Bataan, The Caine Mutiny) and Italian mega producer Dino De Laurentiis. Indeed, a good portion of the movie was shot on De Laurentiis' estate. Included are a superb cast who unfortunately flounder with a bad script. Indeed, Robert Mitchum's biography notes that there was hardly a script at all. Robert Mitchum leads the cast playing the role of an internationally reknown war correspondent who is driven to determine why men go to war. Mitchum's character, Dick Ennis, attaches himself to an infantry squad that finds itself cut off behind enemy lines. The Additionally in the film are a pre-Columbo Peter Falk, post western film star Earl Holiman, Robert Ryan, and Arthur Kennedy. Also look for young Reni Santoni who would later make a name for himself as Clint Eastwood's partner in DIRTY HARRY. Wolfgang Preiss does a splendid job, albeit in the few minutes alotted to him, portraying German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. The film does have its moments. The landings at Anzio are faithfully recreated with the assistance of footage from contemporary US amphibious landing manuevers -- not unlike the similar footage secured by Daryl Zanuck for THE LONGEST DAY. The ambush of US Rangers at Cisterna is also pretty spectacular. As with most De Laurentiis films, look for a big production with cast of thousands. If you are a collector of war films, then the DVD version of this film -- complete in wide screen -- should find its way into your collection, but you should also read a good book on the subject before accepting this film as history.

With the current crop of recent WWII films being pumped out of Hollywood, ANZIO remains often over-looked by many yet remains a classic. As a former Hollywood production assistant and professional film enthusiast, I have written many articles concerning the work of various actors. ANZIO, starring Mitchum and Peter Falk, features the underrated Earl Holliman. Holliman,still alive and well, is best remembered for his role in the 1970s POLICE WOMAN television series with Angie Dickinson. Holliman fans can also see more of his fine work in THE RAINMAKER(Burt Lancaster) GIANT(James Dean) and THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER(John Wayne) and the recent DVD release of another fine war film set during the Korean War, THE BRIGDES OF TOKO RI which placed Earl Holliman alongside the great William Holden. ANZIO was one of the better war films of the late 1960s with a well-written screenplay. This film reminds you that writing and acting was plenty to entertain the audience long before computer generated battle scenes existed.

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. It's much better than I expected. The sound qaulity on the English version is average mono, and sounds a lot better with the French audio track. Restored theatrical trailers for several other similar films are included on both sides of the disc. The movie itself is an average WWII film from the late 1960s, but appears a lot better on this great DVD than on TV and video releases.

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 and Wolfgang Preiss, it has a phony feel that goes beyond the historical innacuracies and the annoying tendency of late 1960s war movies to outfit all sides with the same kind of tanks, painted different colors. The film is sluggishly paced, overly preachy -- I know it was Vietnam-era, but not all generals are fools and sociopaths -- and battle scenes are few and far between. What should be the big moment, where the Germans ambush and annihilate the 1st and 3rd U.S. Ranger battalions, is ineptly directed. The film is not really about Anzio at all: it is about Mitchum's disillusioned war-correspondent and a misfit crew of GIs who have to make it back to American lines following the disaster. The only good combat sequence is at the end when Mitchum, Falk and company tackle three German snipers, but by then it is too late. Mitchum was in a lot of good WWII films, but baby, this ain't one of 'em.

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. In this film facts get turned around but the basic story is intriguing. A rather stoic Robert Mitchum plays a pacifist battle-hardened war correspondent who must come to grips with his own convictions. Under Edward Dmytryk's direction Mitchum's character seems to have more military smarts than the professionals do, thus making his character a bit of a conundrum. That's what makes this film so interesting. Peter Falk, Earl Holliman and Reni Santoni are good as the stereotypical GIs that Mitchum goes out on patrol and has to fight his way back with. Riz Ortolani created a good suspenseful score and there are some really good action sequences. The good cast, which is a great asset, includes Robert Ryan, Arthur Kennedy, Patrick Magee and Mark Damon.