Desert Commandos

Five German commandos are parachuted into the Sahara desert, and must make their way to Casablanca, where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin are holding a top-secret meeting. Then, they must kill them! This film is quite bizarre; but it contains alot of action-packed scenes and some good suspense. Worth a good viewing.

Sometimes tense Euro-war movie in a similar vein to "The Guns of Navarone" has brawny Ken Clark (familiar from the Peplum genre) leading four of the Nazi's finest into North Africa where they attempt an audacious plan to assassinate not one, but three Allied Forces leaders, namely Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt present in Casablanca for a summit. As it turns out, they'll have to settle for De Gaulle substituting for Stalin, nevertheless their epic hunt behind enemy lines is an expansive mission leading them to the brink, encountering cross and double cross around every corner.

Solid cast includes Horst Frank as an American-born Nazi commando, whose commitment to the Feuhrer wanes in the face of the desperate mission and 'immoral' sacrifices taken to improve its chance of success, future Italian leading man Howard Ross in a small role, and pleasantly, gender balance achieved with beauties Jeanne Valeri playing an Arab guide, and Fabienne Dali as a turncoat who may or may not be in cahoots with the Allies.

Italian horror master Umberto Lenzi is better known for his Cannibal capers, but demonstrates a universal talent in bringing together this B-Italian action film with moderate suspense, light humour and at least some semblance of depth in characterisations despite the clichés. Probably not for the average GI Joe, but if you're comfortable with Euro style then you should enjoy this mission to Morocco.

Umberto Lenzi's DIRTY DOZEN-style WW2 movie DESERT COMMANDOS follows a squad of Nazi soldiers who are tasked with being dropped behind enemy lines and assassinating the three Allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin who are due to meet in secret. That sounds pretty interesting, and makes this seem like a precursor to the Jack Higgins adaptation THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, but in reality DESERT COMMANDOS is nothing more than a bog standard desert-trotting B-movie with references to better films like ICE COLD IN ALEX. The cast is headed by the unremarkable Ken Clark, and the only one who makes a mark is Horst Frank as the most fleshed out of the group. The film moves along with a mix of genre elements, but none of the action is outstanding and the only suspense is generated at the admittedly exciting climax.

This is an interesting plot, done only a few times, in which we follow the Axis invaders behind Allied lines ("The 49th Parallel", "Das Boot" are probably the two definitive classics of this sort).

5 German commandos go on a far fetched plot to assassinate the Allied supreme leaders. To its credit, the officer in charge admits it is half cocked, and only agrees to allow the 5 to go because it doesn't interfere with any other plans. Realistic? Probably not, but probably more realistic than people today realize.

Ken Clark, who is famous for the super cheese scene of being the blonde muscle man embracing the scantily clad blonde in one hand and packing a pistol in the other in "Attack of the Giant Leeches", goes to portraying a very believable bad guy. This was very typical of the evil Nazi. His cruelty and savagery come across in a convincing way in mixing with a civilized world. Very similar to the evil leader in "The 49th Parallel" in being a three dimensional and credible bad guy.

The second in command is also believable, and quite credible for the time, as a German officer who is not a Nazi. The film serves much as a vehicle for this character to develop. In fact, even the other 3 Germans develop some character in their limited lines. While serving as an action desert film, it also gives some good characters. We probably would've liked to see more of them.

And just about everything that happens, plot twists and characters who die, go totally against the grain for the late 1960s and early 1970s. We know, of course, the mission will fail, but we are surprised to see how some of this comes about.

This may classify as just short of a hidden gem.

Splendid plot idea, but a little more work on it might have made the difference: some scenes are just too simplistic; when they enter the house of the French officer's mistress, it doesn't ring "true". The desert scenes are nice but a little more camera and light work might have made them beautiful. WW II movie directors who use modern hardware are killing me: for obvious financial reasons, he probably rented the equipment on the site from the Moroccan army: the aircraft, a Max Holste Broussard, was designed in the fifties; there wasn't a single WWII vintage tank: they were either Creusot-Loire AMX-13 or Panhard armored vehicles, designed in the fifties. It's a pity.