MartinHafer I was surprised to learn that "The Devil's Brigade" is actually based on a true story and it's not some "Dirty Dozen" knockoff. During WWII, there really was a special forces unit made up of American and Canadian soldiers and this film is a slightly fictionalized version of their formation and successes.The film begins with the Colonel (William Holden) being given command of a new special forces unit. When he arrives at the camp, it's derelict--a mess. Well, when the soldiers arrive, they are no better--a group of misfits dumped on his from various American units. In contrast, the Canadian soldiers who soon arrive are among the elite--and they couldn't seem any more different. Can Holden somehow make these very disparate groups of men a working and effective combat team? To help him are the Majors (Cliff Robertson and Vince Edwards), but their task seems impossible.While there are some comparisons to "The Dirty Dozen", "The Devil's Brigade" is far less exciting and enjoyable--probably because truth is often less entertaining than fantasy--and "The Dirty Dozen" is pure fantasy. Regardless, the film is well made and enjoyable and a nice testament to the men who risked their lives with the unit.

JohnHowardReid Allegedly based on a true story, this is a moderately entertaining war film that would be twice as exciting at half the length. In fact, the real-life characters presented here are actually rather superficial and unappealing. They never arouse much audience interest because many of the characters exist as mere ciphers. Despite its present length, the film bears evidence of cutting. Possibly the rejected footage filled out and rounded the characters, so that they had some semblance of reality. But this material has presumably been jettisoned in favor of three big action sequences, namely the fight with the lumberjacks, the round-up of German prisoners, and the final climactic battle. These are extremely well staged although many viewers will find the battle scenes too realistically gory. Earlier on, however, there is an amusing sequence when the hand-to-hand combat instructor arrives at camp. Nevertheless, by and large, the screenplay loses most of its opportunities for dramatic suspense. Why not allow at least one of the trainees to escape from the camp? Loose direction doesn't help either and some of the special effects are faulty. Within the limitations of the screenplay, the performances are good, particularly Holden and Akins. Patric Knowles, superbly made up, is fleetingly glimpsed as Lord Mountbatten. Michael Rennie, Dana Andrews and James Craig are understandably perfunctory in two-second bits. Harry Carey Jr, who seems to turn up in many McLaglen films, has nothing to do but march around in the background of two or three shots. In fact the main trouble is that just none of the characters are developed. In common with most of the other credits, Clothier's color and 'Scope photography is competent but undistinguished.

Shannon Mullis-Long When it comes to the sentiment that it is a wonderful tribute to those in the Devil's Brigade I have to take my grandfather's opinion... "All a bunch of Hollywood BS" The reason for this is he was part of this elite unit.He never talked about his time in this unit but only one time... when he was interviewed by the paper about the release of this movie. He was lucky to survive as this unit had the highest casualties and was severely wounded just shy of the liberation of Italy. He has been gone now for almost 20 years (Oct. 1992) and when I miss him the most I put this movie on, it may be almost all fictional but at least I take comfort in the fact I have something of him to keep me from missing him too much and gives me a sense of pride he was part of this unit and fought for our freedom. Also they were trained as paratroopers as comment above, but after his time in Devil's Brigade he would never ever step foot on a plane again.

ma-cortes This is a rugged WWII actioner concerning an unexperienced Lt Colonel (William Holden) , he's assigned by Lord Mountbatten (Patrick Knowles) to train a group of American misfits and Canadian soldiers . The Americans are an oddball/rag-tag/motley gang (a largely cast formed by Claude Akins , Luke Askew, Andrew Prine , Tom Stern, Richard Dawson..) , under command a Major (Vince Edwards) . While the Canadians who appear in a spectacular parade under Scottish bagpipes music , are disciplined and commanded by a Major (Clift Robertson) and a corporal (Jack Watson), but a new sergeant (Jeremy Slate) has joined the ranks of the brigade for training in combat . The commando is denominated the Devil's Brigade (and actually existed) . The team is trained in Fort William , a barren place to take on the Nazis in Scandinavia . But the mission in Norway is suspended , as they are sent on yet another new mission by the staff command (Generals : Dana Andrews , Michel Rennie , Carrol O'Connor) . Later its cancellation they must participate in two suicidal missions , the first to wipe an Italian little town and after an assault over a strong position located on the Alps . The "Black Devils" was the nickname of the 1st Special Service Force, The Devil's Brigade (also called The Black Devil's and The Black Devils Brigade), a joint American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942 . This flag-waving film packs frantic thrills , perilous adventures, humor , relentless feats and buck-loads of explosive action and violence . The noisy action is uniformly well-made , especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring final scenes on the impregnable mountain . Serious and rough William Holden is good as leader of the motley pack together thwart the the Nazi schemes , as well as the largely secondary cast with special mention to Claude Akins and Jack Watson who finish developing a sincere friendship . Atmospheric and martial musical score by Alex North (Spartacus) and appropriate cinematography by William H Clothier (John Ford's usual cameraman) . This is is a wartime typical vehicle and a stand-out into the warlike commando genre , which also belongs : 'Dirty dozen' (Robert Aldrich) , 'Where eagles dare' (Brian G. Hutton) and 'Kelly's heroes' (Hutton). The motion picture was well realized by Andrew V McLagen , son of Victor McLagen . He's a warlike expert , such as proved in several films (Return to Kwai , Wild Geese , Dirtdozen: the next mission , Sea wolves , Breakthrough).