This week’s contest for the CineTV.blog community is “heist” movies. I am not very keen on this type of movie as so many of them not only do the criminals pull off the heist, they get to keep the loot, which I find morally problematic as it teaches that “crime pays, quite well”. One exception to that conflict that I have seen is Frank Sinatra’s Ocean’s 11 (1960), where they manage to pull off the heist, but the loot is lost. But that is not the film I am writing about. The film I am chooising is a different kind of heist film: Kelly’s Heroes (1970).
Kelly's Heroes poster - IMDB
If you are scratching your head wondering how a war film also qualifies as a heist film, the plot revolves around a group of soldiers who learn that the Nazis have stashed a small fortune in gold bars 30 miles behind the lines, and Kelly (Clint Eastwood) is determined to go after it, taking his fellow soldiers, led by Big Joe (Telly Savalas) with him. If you haven’t figured out that the two top bills are top of the line actors, there are a lot of other familiar faces in the cast, including Donald Sutherland as Oddball, who leads a platoon of Sherman tanks, his main mechanic Moriarty (Gavin MacLeod), add to that list Don Rickles as Crapgame, a supply sergeant, Carrol O’Connor as their somewhat witless General. And the list goes on.
The group penetrating 30 miles behind enemy lines, in part thanks to Oddball bringing along a small army of troops who are now also after this fortune in gold, they manage to get to the town where the gold is located, and guarded by a platoon of SS infantry and a platoon of SS Tiger tanks. Kelly and company, having ditched the entourage that Oddball had recruited, now have to face those odds with 12 infantry and one Sherman tank. With $16 million dollars in gold at stake, they make a plan to relieve the Germans guarding of this treasure.
The story is brilliantly written by Troy Martin, and Brian Hutton helming the film as director, there are a lot of great action sequences as the story moves from the beginning when Kelly learns of the golden hoard from a German prisoner, getting the group through enemy territory to their destination, with a few desperate failures and other unexpected challenges like waltzing through a minefield along the way. Oh, and one thing I would have done differently is not walk through a field that has obviously been recently plowed. Just screams of being a bad idea. Which it was. A very bad idea for three of Kelly’s companions.
There is a lot to like about this heist movie, and, yes, it really is a heist movie, including taking a lot of loot from some very nasty people. That makes this film a win win and I can cheer them on. After all, the bad guys they are taking the gold from are, well, Nazis, making Kelly and company the Good Guys. Yes, even Oddball, as odd as he is, is a good guy. And who doesn’t like seeing Nazis getting their butts kicked? That makes this an easy film to cheer on the guys carrying out the heist.
Although I can’t tell you how many times I have seen Kelly’s Heroes over the years, it still holds up well after all these years as a unique blend of war and heist film genres. It is a fun film to watch, and I enjoyed giving it another run over the weekend.The theme song, “Burning Bridges” was one I used to know the lyrics to back in my youth as it is such a distinctive song.
If you have never seen Kelly’s Heroes, think about giving it a run as it is quite an enjoyable film. And please check out the CineTV blog and this week’s contest at: @cinetv/cinetv-contest-56-favorite-heist-movie
Thanks for stopping by.
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