Like other ITC action films such as The Eagle Has Landed and Green Ice this is frustrating because it could easily have been so much better if just tighter and more focused. There is a strong action movie inside here waiting to get out. But it's flabby.
Lew Grade pointed out the first eighty minutes were a mixture of genres and the last forty minutes were solid action and he was dead right. I wonder if that first half is that way in order to give actors bits to do.
The filmmakers aren't skilled enough to juggle all the protagonists - Roger Moore's good German, Telly Savalas' resistance leader, Elliot Gould's USO guy.
It lacks a clear goal. At least Eagle it was easy - trying to kidnap Hitler. Here all the goals collide - making money, POWS escaping, helping knock out a V2 rocket. It needed to be simple - just stealing the treasure.They could have had different motives but keep it focused on the one macguffin.
The action stuff is good - there's a superb motorbike chase through the back alleys - the scenery is gorgeous. The cast is full of actors I like and they felt well-ish cast - Gould is perhaps allowed to mug a bit too much as a USO performer, I went with Moore as a German and Savalas and Niven were definitely ideal. Claudia Cardinale is wasted. Stefanie Powers is a lot of fun as a flirt. The William Holden Stalag 17 cameo is funny. Sonny Bono and particularly Richard Roundtree felt wasted.
The movie lacks a strong villain when it needed one. It also doesn't have a strong sense of place - I mean the resistance seems to have it over the Germans far too easily. Too many characters with too many agendas.
Dammit, it's frustrating. Just keep it simple, guys.
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