The Devil's Brigade (1968)

A Lieutenant Colonel (William Holden) has the daunting task of melding a renegade group of American and Canadian recruits into a crack team of commando warriors. Based on the novel by Rober H. Adleman and Col. George Walton (a member of the original Devil's Brigade) and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (SHENANDOAH). Based on the creation of the 1st Special Service Force, a joint American-Canadian commando unit (it's Hollywood, so it's historically inaccurate). The effort seems like two different movies. The first half which I found terrible is a by the numbers story of misfits (the Americans) and a disciplined troop of soldiers (the Canadians) fighting each other before coming together as a team. It's crammed with ghastly cliches and dialogue. The second half which is set in Italy is much better. It's an exciting story of soldiers overcoming the impossible odds and taking over key strongholds from the Germans. The film came out shortly after the similar themed THE DIRTY DOZEN which was a big hit, so it suffered at the box office as an also ran. The massive cast includes Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, Dana Andrews, Michael Rennie, Carroll O'Connor, Richard Jaeckel, Patrick Knowles, James Craig, Richard Dawson, Jeremy Slate, Claude Akins, Gretchen Wyler and Alix Talton.