Commando (1962 film)

Marcia o Crepa
	US release film poster
Directed by	Frank Wisbar
Produced by	Willy Zeyn
Written by	William Denby; Mino Guerrini; Milton Krims; Giuseppe Mangione; Frank Wisbar; Arturo Tofanelli (story)
Starring	Stewart Granger; Dorian Gray
Music by	Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Cinematography	Cecilio Paniagua
Edited by	Mario Serandrei
Production; company	Temp Film; FICIT; Galatea; Midega
Distributed by	Tempo Film (Italy); American International Pictures (USA)
Release date	1962 (Italy); 1963 (UK); 1964 (France, U.S.);
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Belgium; Spain; Italy; Germany
Language	English
Box office	977,460 admissions (France)[1]

Marcia o Crepa (March or Die) known as The Legion's Last Patrol in the UK and Commando in the US is a 1962 European (Italian, German, Spanish) co-production war film about the Algerian War of Independence.[2][3]

It was released in 1964 in the USA by American International Pictures on a double feature with Torpedo Bay/Beta Som.[4][5]

In the UK this film was shown at Odeon cinemas as part of a double feature with The Day of the Triffids.

Plot

French Foreign Legion Captain Le Blanc (Stewart Granger) leads a section of his Legion parachutists to capture an FLN guerilla leader. Along the way they are joined by a prostitute (Dorian Gray) and an Arab child. Their mission is a success but when their escape helicopter is shot down they have to fight their way back to the French lines.

Cast

Stewart Granger : capitaine Leblanc
Dorian Gray : Nora
Fausto Tozzi : Brascia
Riccardo Garrone : Paolo
Carlos Casaravilla : Ben Bled
Ivo Garrani : Colonel Dionne
Alfredo Mayo : Mayor
Pablito Alonso : Arab Kid
Hans von Borsody : Fritz
Maurizio Arena : Dolce Vita
Dietmar Schönherr : Petit Prince
Peter Carsten : Barbarossa
Leo Anchóriz : Garcia

Production

The theme music Concerto Disperato by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino became a top selling instrumental in Italy performed by Nini Rosso and in the UK with a cover version by Ken Thorne reaching #4.[6]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it "mediocre, its timely subject matter reduced to the level of a formula Western."[7]

References

Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
LEGION'S LAST PATROL, The "(Marcia o Crepa)" Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 30, Iss. 348, (Jan 1, 1963): 87.
The Long After-Life of Stewart Granger Clifford, Terry. Chicago Tribune 24 Mar 1968: e13.
http://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-23214/Commando_and_Torpedo_Bay.html
War Movies Scheduled Los Angeles Times (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]04 Mar 1964: C11.
Warwick, Neal, Brown, Tony & Kutner, Jon The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums 2004 Omnibus Press
Adventure Pictures Coupled on Program Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 13 Mar 1964: C15

External links

Commando on IMDb

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[box-1] Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story

[2] LEGION'S LAST PATROL, The "(Marcia o Crepa)" Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 30, Iss. 348, (Jan 1, 1963): 87.

[3] The Long After-Life of Stewart Granger Clifford, Terry. Chicago Tribune 24 Mar 1968: e13.

[4] ttp://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-23214/Commando_and_Torpedo_Bay.html

[5] War Movies Scheduled Los Angeles Times (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]04 Mar 1964: C11.

[6] Warwick, Neal, Brown, Tony & Kutner, Jon The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums 2004 Omnibus Press

[7] Adventure Pictures Coupled on Program Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 13 Mar 1964: C15