Cast a Giant Shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow
Directed by Melville Shavelson
Produced by Melville Shavelson
Written by Ted Berkman (book)
Melville Shavelson (screenplay)
Starring Kirk Douglas
Senta Berger
Stathis Giallelis
James Donald
Yul Brynner
Frank Sinatra
John Wayne
Angie Dickinson
Chaim Topol
Michael Hordern
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography Aldo Tonti
Edited by Bert Bates
Gene Ruggiero
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
 March 30, 1966
Running time
 146 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3.5 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1]

Cast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big-budget action film[2] based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus, and stars Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson.[3] Melville Shavelson adapted, produced and directed.[4] The film is a fictionalized account of the experiences of a real-life Jewish-American military officer, Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus, who commanded units of the fledgling Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Plot

Marcus is an Army Reserve Colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, who was recently released from active duty and is now working in New York City. He is approached by a Haganah agent, Major Safir, who requests his assistance in preparing Israeli troops to defend the newly declared State against an invasion by its Arab neighbors.

Marcus is refused permission by the Pentagon to go, unless he travels as a civilian. The Haganah gives him a false passport with the alias "Michael Stone". As "Michael Stone", he arrives in Israel to be met by a Haganah member, Magda Simon.

Marcus, who parachuted into occupied France during World War II and helped to organize the relief mission for one of the first Nazi concentration camps liberated by American troops, is initially viewed with suspicion by some Haganah soldiers. But after he leads a commando raid on an Arab arms dump and assists in a landing of illegal refugees, he is more accepted. After preparing training manuals for the troops, he returns to New York, where his wife has suffered a miscarriage.

Now, restless and, despite his wife's pleadings, he does return to Israel and is given command of the Jerusalem front with the rank of 'Aluf' (General), a rank not used since biblical days. He sets to work, recognising that, while the men under his command do not have proper training or weapons or even a system of ranks, they do have spirit and determination. He organises the construction of the "Burma Road", bypassing Latrun, to enable convoys to reach besieged Jerusalem, where the population is on the verge of starvation.

Many of the soldiers under his command are newly arrived in Israel, determined and enthusiastic but untrained. Dubbing them 'the schnooks', Marcus is inspired by them to discover that he is proud to be a Jew. But, just before the convoy of trucks to Jerusalem starts out, he is shot and killed by a lone sentry who does not speak English - the last casualty before the United Nations impose a truce. The coffin containing his body is carried by an honor guard of the soldiers he trained and inspired.

Cast

Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner on set

Cameo roles (listed as Special Appearances Cast) include:

  • John Wayne as 'the General', Marcus's commanding officer in the Second World War and now a senior general officer at the Pentagon, who initially refused him permission to go, but later supports him.
  • Yul Brynner as Asher, a Haganah commander.
  • Frank Sinatra as Vince Talmadge, an expatriate American pilot who takes part in what becomes a suicide mission to bomb Arab positions.

Production notes

The film includes a toast scene where John Wayne says L’chaim. Footage from this film was later used in a Coors Light commercial.

Reception

The New York Times criticized the film, specifically the directing, calling it a "confusing, often superficial biography that leans a good deal on comic or extremely salty dialogues and effects."[5]

In 2006, Andrew Wolf from the New York Sun praised the filmmakers for the pro-Jewishness of the film, something he believes could not be done in modern Hollywood. However he referred to it as an "awful film," from a technical standpoint and heavily criticized the fictitious love interest subplot.[6]

It was released on DVD in early 2000s but went out of print. It was Re-released on DVD, and the 1st time on Blu-ray August 26, 2014.

Giving it a mild recommendation, DVD Talk said "the cast does work that is better than the script they've been provided."[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p 8
  2. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (September 2008). "Cast A Giant Shadow - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes". The New York Times. Retrieved September 26. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ↑ "Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) Overview". TMC: Turner Classic Movies. September 2008. Retrieved September 26. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ↑ "Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) movie review". The New York Times. March 31, 1966.
  5. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E02E1DC123DE23BA15752C3A9659C946791D6CF
  6. ↑ http://www.nysun.com/opinion/film-they-could-not-make-today/29360/
  7. ↑ https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/64914/cast-a-giant-shadow-blu-ray-1966/

Further reading

  • Shavelson, Melville. How to Make a Jewish Movie, 1971. ( ISBN 0-491-00156-8).
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