The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission
Encyclopedia
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission is a 1987 made-for-TV film and is the second sequel
to the original The Dirty Dozen
. It features an all-new 'dirty dozen,' this time under the leadership of Major Wright (Telly Savalas
).
. While the partisans battle the occupying German soldiers in the streets, Major Wright enters a bordello in search of Benito Mussolini
. However, after shooting up a closet only to find a dead German officer, Wright is informed by one of the women that 'Il Duce' had already left town. Disappointed, Major Wright opens the window to the sound of the victorious partisans and lifts a glass of brandy to "Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Spencer Churchill."
Back in England, Major Wright is summoned to the U.S. Army Headquarters by General Worden (Ernest Borgnine
), and is informed that the Germans appear to have the capability to send long-range missiles filled with deadly nerve gas to America. General Worden then orders Major Wright to "find another dirty dozen" and take them deep into occupied France to the monastery at Saint-Michel, where six captured scientists are being forced by the Nazis under the direction of the SS Colonel Krieger (Wolf Kahler
) to produce the deadly gas, and destroy the containers of nerve gas and rescue the scientists.
The Dirty Dozen
Joe Stern - sentenced to death by hanging for drunkenly (Stern claims he wasn't drunk) killing an Englishmen in a bar; Stern is a Jewish refugee from Germany with a history of petty theft and gun smuggling. Joe Stern also isn't his real name, but his real name isn't important as "everyone who had it is probably dead."
Eric 'Swede' Wallan - sentenced to death by hanging; killed two British citizens who tried to rob him by crushing their skulls with his bare hands.
Ernesto Ferucci - sentenced to 20 years of hard labor; Ferucci is a 52-year old forger, as Wright calls him, "a one-man black market."
Ronnie and David Webber - both sentenced to 30 years of hard labor; the Webber brothers are ex-race car drivers turned 'auto thieves and killers.'
Maurice Fontenac - sentenced to death by hanging; raped and murdered a WAC; a Frenchmen whose ability to speak fluent French makes him indispensable to Major Wright and the mission despite his volatile and psychotic personality.
Martinez - sentenced to 50 years imprisonment; a bank robber and explosives expert.
The remaining five of the dozen are Francis Kelly, Ballews, Sturdivant, Chacon and Spencer, who, with the exception of Kelly, receive little-to-no screen time. A 13th member, Hallet, is recruited, but only 12 are to go on the mission. The choice of who goes back to prison is made easy when Hallet panics during a training exercise at the live ammunition course and is fatally wounded.
Training
This time around the dozen only have one week of training, and with the help of Sergeant Holt, Major Wright begins whipping his men into shape.
Meanwhile, in France, Colonel Krieger captures French Resistance leader Paul Verlaine and his British contact, who had parachuted in with news of the forthcoming mission. After Krieger has the two men executed, Pierre Claudel, a scientist at the monastery loyal to Vichy and the Nazis, identifies Verlaine as the man who has been seen at the monastery conversing with lead scientist, George Flamands. A suspicious Krieger orders increased security at the monastery.
Back in England, General Worden appears at the training site and reveals the intelligence leak and increased security to Major Wright, and informs him that the dozen will now enter France by sea instead of air, as all flights into that section of France were being heavily monitored.
As their training comes to an end, Major Wright throws a party for his men, giving them one last night of debauchery before embarking on their suicide mission.
The Mission
Upon coming ashore, the dirty dozen march to their rendezvous point in the French forest, where they meet their contact, Marie Verlaine, the daughter of Paul Verlaine, and her fellow resistance fighters. Marie informs Major Wright that the scientists' families have been brought to the monastery, thus complicating the rescue portion of the mission.
To avoid Krieger's patrols and checkpoints, Major Wright decides that they should travel by river, and the dozen attacks a German patrol boat, successfully taking control of the boat with only one casualty, Sturdivant. From here, the dozen travel down the river, eventually making their way to a Resistance farmhouse, where the men are allowed to rest, while Major Wright and Fontenac go to the monastery dressed as monks to meet with Flamands and inform him of their plans.
Later that night, Wright and Fontenac re-enter the monastery to trigger the attack from the inside, while the others infiltrate the monastery compound. Wright and Fontenac are followed by the SS sergeant from the gate after the sergeant became suspicious when Fontenac called him by his rank. After being confronted, the major shoots the sergeant and the gunfire starts the attack proper.
While the dozen battle the German troops in the monastery's courtyard, Major Wright destroys the communications center, Stern makes his way into the basement and Fontenac opens the back door allowing Marie, Swede, Martinez and the Resistance men in with the explosives. Wright then heads back out into the courtyard, where, he, Sergeant Holt, the Webber brothers, and Kelly secure the area as Marie and Martinez set the incendiary fuses, accidentally igniting the chemicals, which eventually causes an explosion.
As the multiple groups meet up, Ferucci is wounded in the shoulder. The group then proceeds to the scientists' living quarters, where they find not only the scientists and their wives, but their children as well. The group is also notified that Flamands and his wife have been taken to a Wagner recital at a villa as guests of a German general. Major Wright decides to take everyone with them, and that he and Stern must head to the villa to rescue the Flamands. The scientists and their families are boarded into a truck and head to the spot where a British plane is to pick everyone up. Major Wright sends this truck on a back road while sending two decoy trucks driven by Martinez, Ballews and the Webber brothers on the main roads.
Major Wright and Stern, posing as German officers, enter the villa and remove Flamands and his wife despite being confronted by Pierre Claudel (who was quickly subdued by George Flamands), and in a German staff car head to the rendezvous point.
German patrols stop the two decoy trucks and destroy them, killing the drivers. Realizing they have been tricked, Krieger and his men race to the area where the plane has landed and begin firing upon it, as the scientists and their families are being loaded. Fontenac is wounded, and after telling Major Wright that it "doesn't look like I'll make it home," sacrifices himself by manning a machine gun and drawing the fire of the approaching patrols, giving the plane enough time to be boarded and take-off despite coming under heavy fire. The weary soldiers, and the scientists and their families all breathe heavy sighs of relief as the plane embarks on its trip back to England.
Besides Major Wright and Sergeant Holt, the surviving members of the 'dirty dozen' include Joe Stern, Eric 'Swede' Wallan, Ernesto Ferucci and Francis Kelly, who earn their freedom.
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the original The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
. It features an all-new 'dirty dozen,' this time under the leadership of Major Wright (Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
).
Plot
Learning of a Nazi plot to attack Washington, D.C. with a deadly nerve gas, Major Wright leads twelve convicts on a suicide mission deep into occupied France to destroy the secret factory where the poison is made.Synopsis
The film opens with Major Wright fighting alongside Italian partisans in a town near TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. While the partisans battle the occupying German soldiers in the streets, Major Wright enters a bordello in search of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. However, after shooting up a closet only to find a dead German officer, Wright is informed by one of the women that 'Il Duce' had already left town. Disappointed, Major Wright opens the window to the sound of the victorious partisans and lifts a glass of brandy to "Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Spencer Churchill."
Back in England, Major Wright is summoned to the U.S. Army Headquarters by General Worden (Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
), and is informed that the Germans appear to have the capability to send long-range missiles filled with deadly nerve gas to America. General Worden then orders Major Wright to "find another dirty dozen" and take them deep into occupied France to the monastery at Saint-Michel, where six captured scientists are being forced by the Nazis under the direction of the SS Colonel Krieger (Wolf Kahler
Wolf Kahler
Wolf Kahler is a German actor.Born in Kiel, since 1975 he has appeared in many US and UK television and film productions. Due to his height - he is 6 feet 2 inches tall - sharp features, blond hair and blue eyes he is often cast in roles as Nazis or other unsympathetic German characters...
) to produce the deadly gas, and destroy the containers of nerve gas and rescue the scientists.
The Dirty Dozen
Joe Stern - sentenced to death by hanging for drunkenly (Stern claims he wasn't drunk) killing an Englishmen in a bar; Stern is a Jewish refugee from Germany with a history of petty theft and gun smuggling. Joe Stern also isn't his real name, but his real name isn't important as "everyone who had it is probably dead."
Eric 'Swede' Wallan - sentenced to death by hanging; killed two British citizens who tried to rob him by crushing their skulls with his bare hands.
Ernesto Ferucci - sentenced to 20 years of hard labor; Ferucci is a 52-year old forger, as Wright calls him, "a one-man black market."
Ronnie and David Webber - both sentenced to 30 years of hard labor; the Webber brothers are ex-race car drivers turned 'auto thieves and killers.'
Maurice Fontenac - sentenced to death by hanging; raped and murdered a WAC; a Frenchmen whose ability to speak fluent French makes him indispensable to Major Wright and the mission despite his volatile and psychotic personality.
Martinez - sentenced to 50 years imprisonment; a bank robber and explosives expert.
The remaining five of the dozen are Francis Kelly, Ballews, Sturdivant, Chacon and Spencer, who, with the exception of Kelly, receive little-to-no screen time. A 13th member, Hallet, is recruited, but only 12 are to go on the mission. The choice of who goes back to prison is made easy when Hallet panics during a training exercise at the live ammunition course and is fatally wounded.
Training
This time around the dozen only have one week of training, and with the help of Sergeant Holt, Major Wright begins whipping his men into shape.
Meanwhile, in France, Colonel Krieger captures French Resistance leader Paul Verlaine and his British contact, who had parachuted in with news of the forthcoming mission. After Krieger has the two men executed, Pierre Claudel, a scientist at the monastery loyal to Vichy and the Nazis, identifies Verlaine as the man who has been seen at the monastery conversing with lead scientist, George Flamands. A suspicious Krieger orders increased security at the monastery.
Back in England, General Worden appears at the training site and reveals the intelligence leak and increased security to Major Wright, and informs him that the dozen will now enter France by sea instead of air, as all flights into that section of France were being heavily monitored.
As their training comes to an end, Major Wright throws a party for his men, giving them one last night of debauchery before embarking on their suicide mission.
The Mission
Upon coming ashore, the dirty dozen march to their rendezvous point in the French forest, where they meet their contact, Marie Verlaine, the daughter of Paul Verlaine, and her fellow resistance fighters. Marie informs Major Wright that the scientists' families have been brought to the monastery, thus complicating the rescue portion of the mission.
To avoid Krieger's patrols and checkpoints, Major Wright decides that they should travel by river, and the dozen attacks a German patrol boat, successfully taking control of the boat with only one casualty, Sturdivant. From here, the dozen travel down the river, eventually making their way to a Resistance farmhouse, where the men are allowed to rest, while Major Wright and Fontenac go to the monastery dressed as monks to meet with Flamands and inform him of their plans.
Later that night, Wright and Fontenac re-enter the monastery to trigger the attack from the inside, while the others infiltrate the monastery compound. Wright and Fontenac are followed by the SS sergeant from the gate after the sergeant became suspicious when Fontenac called him by his rank. After being confronted, the major shoots the sergeant and the gunfire starts the attack proper.
While the dozen battle the German troops in the monastery's courtyard, Major Wright destroys the communications center, Stern makes his way into the basement and Fontenac opens the back door allowing Marie, Swede, Martinez and the Resistance men in with the explosives. Wright then heads back out into the courtyard, where, he, Sergeant Holt, the Webber brothers, and Kelly secure the area as Marie and Martinez set the incendiary fuses, accidentally igniting the chemicals, which eventually causes an explosion.
As the multiple groups meet up, Ferucci is wounded in the shoulder. The group then proceeds to the scientists' living quarters, where they find not only the scientists and their wives, but their children as well. The group is also notified that Flamands and his wife have been taken to a Wagner recital at a villa as guests of a German general. Major Wright decides to take everyone with them, and that he and Stern must head to the villa to rescue the Flamands. The scientists and their families are boarded into a truck and head to the spot where a British plane is to pick everyone up. Major Wright sends this truck on a back road while sending two decoy trucks driven by Martinez, Ballews and the Webber brothers on the main roads.
Major Wright and Stern, posing as German officers, enter the villa and remove Flamands and his wife despite being confronted by Pierre Claudel (who was quickly subdued by George Flamands), and in a German staff car head to the rendezvous point.
German patrols stop the two decoy trucks and destroy them, killing the drivers. Realizing they have been tricked, Krieger and his men race to the area where the plane has landed and begin firing upon it, as the scientists and their families are being loaded. Fontenac is wounded, and after telling Major Wright that it "doesn't look like I'll make it home," sacrifices himself by manning a machine gun and drawing the fire of the approaching patrols, giving the plane enough time to be boarded and take-off despite coming under heavy fire. The weary soldiers, and the scientists and their families all breathe heavy sighs of relief as the plane embarks on its trip back to England.
Besides Major Wright and Sergeant Holt, the surviving members of the 'dirty dozen' include Joe Stern, Eric 'Swede' Wallan, Ernesto Ferucci and Francis Kelly, who earn their freedom.
Cast
- Telly SavalasTelly SavalasAristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
as Major Wright - Ernest BorgnineErnest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
as General Worden - Vince EdwardsVince EdwardsVince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
as Sergeant Holt - Bo SvensonBo SvensonBo Svenson is a Swedish-born American actor, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.-Early life:...
as Maurice Fontenac - Vince Van Patten as Ronnie Webber
- James Van Patten as David Webber
- Randall 'Tex' Cobb as Eric 'Swede' Wallan
- Gary GrahamGary GrahamGary Graham is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series Alien Nation , which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon , Alien Nation: Body and Soul , Alien Nation: Millennium , Alien Nation: The...
as Joe Stern - Wolf KahlerWolf KahlerWolf Kahler is a German actor.Born in Kiel, since 1975 he has appeared in many US and UK television and film productions. Due to his height - he is 6 feet 2 inches tall - sharp features, blond hair and blue eyes he is often cast in roles as Nazis or other unsympathetic German characters...
as SS Colonel Krieger - Thom MathewsThom MathewsThom Mathews in Los Angeles, California is an actor who is perhaps best known for his appearance in the horror films Return of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.-Career:...
as Francis Kelly - Emmanuelle Meyssignac as Marie Verlaine
- Paul PicerniPaul Picerni-Life and career:Picerni was born in New York City, New York. He was an Eagle Scout who joined the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he served as a B-24 Liberator bombardier in the China-Burma-India Theater. He flew 25 combat missions with the 493rd Bomb Squadron of the 7th...
as Ernesto Ferucci - Branko Blace as Martinez
- Bernard Woringer as George Flamands
- David HorovitchDavid HorovitchDavid Horovitch is an English actor best known for playing the character of Inspector Slack in Miss Marple.-Life and career:...
as Pierre Claudel - Pavle Balenovic as Ballews
- Matko Raguz as Sturdivant
- Mario Barbaric as Chacon
- Milan Ristic as Spencer
- Sam Douglas as Hallet
- Milenko Pavlov as German general (uncredited)
Trivia
- There are many similarities between The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission and The Dirty DozenThe Dirty DozenThe Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
, including the presence of the sergeant (in this case, Holt) on the mission;, a dumb, but big-hearted GI who killed someone with their bare hands, and is challenged by the major, but quickly disarmed during training; a big party with female company just before the mission; and numerous instances of similar dialogue.
- The only Dirty Dozen movie that doesn't have an African-American as one of the Dirty Dozen.
- Wolf KahlerWolf KahlerWolf Kahler is a German actor.Born in Kiel, since 1975 he has appeared in many US and UK television and film productions. Due to his height - he is 6 feet 2 inches tall - sharp features, blond hair and blue eyes he is often cast in roles as Nazis or other unsympathetic German characters...
, who appeared in The Dirty Dozen: The Next MissionThe Dirty Dozen: The Next MissionThe Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission is a made-for-TV film and sequel to the original Dirty Dozen. It reunited Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Jaeckel 18 years after the original hit war film. Marvin returns to lead an all-new dirty dozen on a mission to assassinate an SS General played by...
as SS General Dietrich, appears as SS Colonel Krieger in The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission.
- Filmed in SloveniaSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Croatia, which were then part of YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.