Desert Commandos

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.

I have to be honest and say that I don't generally have much interest in war films and thus my only reason for bothering with this film was due to the fact that it's directed by one of my favourite horror directors, the great Umberto Lenzi. Like most directors that made films in Italy during the sixties, seventies and eighties; Lenzi dipped his hand in many different genres and while he was always best at Polizi flicks and Giallo (in spite of being most famous for blood splattered cannibal and zombie films), Lenzi was clearly talented enough to make films outside of his 'comfort zone', and for a cheap World War 2 thriller; Desert Commandos is actually not too bad. The film takes place somewhere towards the end of World War 2 and focuses on a group of German commandos who parachute into the desert with a special mission. The group, dressed as British soldiers, must make their way to a secret meeting that is taking place between the allied 'Big three' - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - and eliminate the powerful trio.

The plot is fairly preposterous and obviously a work of fiction. As mentioned, I'm not a fan of war films in general; so I haven't seen many so I don't have a lot to compare this film to. Umberto Lenzi was obviously not too concerned with reality, and I found it odd how the group of fascist, racist Nazi's easily found help from an Arab woman in the desert. The film is different to most western war films in that our 'heroes' are actually German and the British and American troops are the antagonists. The first two thirds of the film are fairly interesting but never truly fascinating as all we really have to go on is the interaction between the various members of the group and as you can probably imagine considering the type of film that this is; none of them are particularly interesting. Still, there's a fair few action scenes to keep the action ticking over. The film tries to become a bit deeper in the final third and while this doesn't really come off; the final scenes are better than what went before it. I wouldn't really recommend this film as I'm sure there are better war films out there; but on the other hand, I'm sure there's worse too.

Italian director Umberto Lenzi, who went on to bring audiences across the globe epic schlock in "The Greatest Battle" and incredibly cheap thrills in "Bridge to Hell" begins his career in the war genre with a slam-bang suspense piece which proves to be, undoubtedly, one of the best war movies to come out of Italy in the 1960s.

The story is fresh and original, and presented with unique twists from beginning to end. Five German soldiers are parachuted into North Africa, and will trek to Casablanca to assassinate a conference of Churchill, Roosevelt and DeGaulle.

Lenzi's film is a true example of character-driven drama at its best. Ken Clark is Captain Schoeller, leader of the unit, and he's never less than totally convincing as a die-hard advocate of Hitler and Nazism. Horst Frank ("Thunder from the West") plays Lt. Wolf with gusto and conviction. Wolf's mother is American and his best friend is a Jew, so he and Schoeller don't see eye-to-eye. He and Schoeller clash over opposing ideals several times. Despite their dissension, both are dedicated soldiers who have a job to get done, and grudgingly work together to accomplish the mission. Lenzi never strays far from this central conflict of ideals, always keeping his message clearly in focus.

The supporting cast of familiar European actors is excellent all-around. Carlo Hintermann, Hardy Reychelt and Howard Ross round out the German team. Hintermann makes the most of his little role as a tough, dedicated German Sergeant, a career soldier who'll do what he's told when he's told, no questions asked. Jeanne Valerie and Fabienne Dali are two female characters, whose motives are never clearly defined until the film's third act – and that's when you realize whose side each is really on. Gianni Rizzo has a few brief scenes as a French informer, working with the Germans, and gets to do blast away at American soldiers with a machinegun in one of the film's nail-biting action scenes. Be sure to watch for Tom Felleghy ("The Greatest Battle"), John Stacy ("Battle of the Commandos"), and Franco Fantasia ("Adios, Sabata") in small, yet key roles as Allied officers.

Though the action-packed footage is scant, what's here is brilliantly edited and directed. The third act is tense and fast-paced, as the German "heroes" dodge bullets across rooftops and duck through alleyways as American MPs are in hot pursuit. The final infiltration of Churchill's banqueting hall is excellently set up, with frustratingly deliberate pacing, which will leave you on the edge of your seat. This climax ends abruptly with a great surprise, causing your jaw to drop as you wonder "What just happened…?" Two aspects of film-making that Lenzi and his crew seem to emphasize are the sets and landscapes. There is not one shot in this movie that looks out of place. When the German officers talk in headquarters, the interior looks like an office in a German headquarters. The film is set in the desert, and there are constant wide shots as actors speak and walk which reveal that these scenes were actually shot in the vast Egyptian sand dunes. The oasis of Kuffran looks especially bustling, and the essence of the atmosphere of Casablanca during wartime is superbly captured. During this time period, many directors fell back on shabby interiors and shot in outdoor locations which looked completely wrong. For example, "Commando Attack", also shot in 1967, was lensed in Spain and exteriors were passed off as "southern France", yet it's clearly visible the action was not occurring in the French countryside.

Finally, there are a number of other little details which contribute to this film's success: fine editing and camera-work give this movie a very professional look and feel; it always looks professional. Lenzi is just starting to develop his style, and his signature close-ups are used in moderation, but mean all the more when they are used. There are some great crane shots and wide shots used to establish the scope of the sets, most notably in the scenes set in Casablanca.

This is definitely a great film, with some strongly developed internal conflicts and fleshed-out characters. The quality of Lenzi's films would degenerate as the years passed, but "Desert Commando" is easily one of the best war films to come out of 1967, ranking right up there with "The Dirty Dozen".

7/10

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.

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.