Was there a WWII film called Vainglorious Bastards that came out in the '60s or '70s?
No, but there was one called The Inglorious Bastards, from which Inglourious Basterds gets its title.
Talk about your faulty memory! I could have sworn there was a film called Vainglorious Bastards, and thinking at the time that it was a weird title. Maybe I just misheard the title of the 1978 film. But I was so sure of it!
I just watched the movie recently. It has nothing to do with the new QT movie other than the name. It’s an Italian ripoff of the Dirty Dozen. It’s not horrible, but it isn’t very good.
Supposedly it was marketed in the US as a blaxploitation film, since it starred Fred Williamson. Tagline: “If you’re a Kraut, he’ll take you out!”
QT saw the movie as a kid and was taken by the title. Apparently whenever he and his friends were doing something they’d call themselves inglorious bastards.
It’s been reissued on DVD to sop up any Tarantino publicity spills. It’s definitely lowbrow, but enormously entertaining. It’s a Spaghetti War Movie: Like your standard Spaghetti Western, it’s an over-the-top testosterone-soaked adventure flick with more bad guys than good guys; cheap, dusty cinematography; and of course the clumsy dubbing is de rigeur. For fans of that distinctively 70s-style exploitation picture, put it at the top of your rental list.