The Devil’s Brigade. It takes a few liberties with history, but ultimately, it’s about a two-country force.
The First Special Service Force, dubbed the “Devil’s Brigade” by the Germans, was real. It was a joint US-Canada force, comprised of both Americans and Canadians, with an American commander, and a Canadian as second-in command. They underwent training at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana, before being deployed overseas.
I won’t go into the historical inaccuracies of the film, but they’re minor compared to the movie’s main plot: here are two allies combined into one force, and they were deadly wherever they went. A film well worth checking out, I’d suggest.
Fun Fact: Alberta Highway 4 from Lethbridge to the border and Interstate 15 from the border to Helena have been designated as the First Special Service Force Memorial Highway.
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942). Dutch civilians help the crew of an RAF bomber make their way across Holland after they were shot down over Germany.
The story of a Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit throughout the war. Moments of sheer terror punctuated by butt-clenching tension. My favorite episode is the one where they call in a RAN officer to help them disarm a naval mine dropped by parachute…
Fat Man & Little Boy 1989 Paul Newman, Laura Dern, John Cusack
The development of the Manhattan Project in WWII. It required massive amounts of electricity and other resources. Then the decision to use the bombs was difficult.
Fairly accurate with some distortions of history.
Good movie
Pearl Harbor 2001 Ben Afflack, Kate Beckinsale
Good movie. They added a romance but otherwise it’s reasonably accurate.
The Longest Day. The story of D-Day in a sweeping epic shot in b&w, notably with German actors and directors for the portions focusing on the Germans. All-star cast, with many being WWII vets due to the movie being filmed less than 20 years after the fact, and some of the actors having actually participated in the real D-Day! And not without its moments of comedy.
Enigma (2001), a fairly good adaptation of Robert Harris’s novel about the codebreakers at Britain’s Bletchley Park. Despite its flaws, I think it’s better than 2014’s The Imitation Game.
Telemark (2015), a miniseries about the true-life commando operation to destroy Norway’s heavy water plant and prevent Germany from developing an atomic bomb. In terms of accuracy, it’s on a par with 1965’s The Heroes of Telemark on the same subject. Both are good movies, especially if you’re a fan of Kirk Douglas … or Anna Friel in horn-rimmed glasses and a period uniform.
The Train (1964). Patriotic Frenchman Burt Lancaster tries every trick in the book to stop a train carrying looted art from Paris to Germany ahead of the advancing Allies. Paul Scofeld (Sir Thomas Moore in A Man for All Seasons) is Burt’s German nemesis. Filmed in France, this is absolutely one of the best war movies of all time!
Von Ryan’s Express (1965), a ripping yarn about Allied POWs who hijack an Axis train in Italy to escape to Switzerland. Starring Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, and Edward Mulhare, this one is a real romp!
“Nazis… Mein Gott!”
Fun Fact: The leather flight jacket Sinatra wears as a downed pilot is the same one worn by Col. Hogan (Bob Crane) in the TV series Hogan’s Heroes.
633 Squadron (1964); Another ripping yarn about an RAF Mosquito squadron specially trained to bomb a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. Much of the Rebel attack on the Death Star in Star Wars was lifted from this movie’s suicide run up a Norwegian fjord.
The sequence in the middle of the movie, where a lone Mosquito makes a precision strike on an SS prison, is based on a real incident that freed a number of resistance fighters.
As a sort of companion piece, A Bridge Too Far. The story of Monty’s failed airborne attempt to punch a hole through the German front in Holland. Epic cast including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, James Caan, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier, Edward Fox, Denham Elliot …
The Guns of Navarone, from an Alistair MacLean novel. Another epic cast - David Niven, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quail, Richard Harris…
This is a great suggestion, and a great, great, great movie. Kind of forgotten now, which is heartbreaking, because it’s suspenseful and exciting and satisfying. Deserves rediscovery.
With a few exceptions, this thread has an understandable bias toward American perspectives in American-made movies, so here’s some other titles to widen the scope.
Skyggen i mit øje (Denmark, 2021). Literally translates as “Shadow in my Eye,” but released to Netflix with the English title “The Bombardment.” Tells the true story of a wartime incident in Copenhagen, in which the Allies attempted to bomb a Gestapo building but accidentally destroyed a nearby school. Harrowing and difficult but worthwhile.
Au revoir les enfants (France, 1967). Translates as “Goodbye children” but never released under that name; you’ll find it only with the French title. Focuses on the sheltering of Jews from Germans at a boarding school. Possibly one of the greatest movies ever made; certainly one of the best French films set during the war.
La Grande Vadrouille (France, 1966). Literally means “The Big Stroll” but released in English territories with the title “Don’t Look Now, We’re Being Shot At” to emphasize the fact that it’s a comedy. Very entertaining (it was the highest grossing movie in France for years, and an enduring much-watched favorite), and also very interesting to see how France used film to process the trauma of its occupation. Tells the story of an English bomber crew that gets lost and crashes in occupied Paris, and which then has to rely on the help of ordinary French citizens to escape German-controlled territory. A very broad comedy, where the French are plucky and courageous and the Germans are boors and buffoons. Most interesting for its insight into national mythmaking; every single French person the British airmen encounter is willing and happy to help resist the Germans (no Vichy loyalists here!).
Edit to add: Forgot to mention, I second the suggestion of Hope and Glory above. Excellent look at the hardship of civilian life in England under Germany’s constant aerial attack.
One of my favorites has always been Battleground. Filmed in 1949 it feels like one of the first modern war movies. It’s a very personal story of one squad in the middle of one of the most momentous battles in history but they are isolated and have no idea what is going on outside of their small area. Directed by William Wellman.
You could do a movie night double-feature with films actually made during the war.
As well as the splendid Went the Day Well, mentioned above, you could have In Which We Serve - Noel Coward’s wartime naval movie.
And the nice thing is you could round it out with some racist Bugs Bunny cartoons and a few informational shorts, of which there is an abundance on YouTube. Could be a timely reminder for your father not to go putting it about with good-time girls. Or perhaps a few pointers on hand-to-hand combat for those aggressive customs officials.
I believe I’ve seen the latter two on your list. In the first one, the Germans find the Jews when a rabbi blows a ram’s horn during a religious service, and Louis de Funès is the star of the second. Correct?
Another classic movie is 1945’s A Walk in the Sun, about a company of GIs tasked to blow up a bridge in Italy. Norman Lloyd (Dr Auschlander in TV’s St Elsewhere), who died a couple of years ago at the age of 106, has a small part as one of the soldiers. Footage toward the end, where the Americans storm a farmhouse occupied by Germans, was reused in at least one TV series (1962’s The Gallant Men)
If you’re going down this route, you have to include 1943’s Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, a Merry Melody produced by Bob Clampett. Not for the politically correct, it is nevertheless hysterically funny, and the talented artists who contributed to it were proud of their work. Just make sure you include a disclaimer on any “Coming Attractions” posters you put up.
