Film & TV on DVD - John Doe Film News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

Action War Thriller - Film & TV on DVD

Play Dirty (1969) - Footage Included

play dirty, michael caine, ande de toth, war film, mercenaries, dvd

Play Dirty - Available on DVD in the U.S.

Director: Andre De Toth
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews, Patrick Jordan

play dirty, michael caine, nigel green, nigel davenport, ande de toth, war film, mercenaries, dvd

A selection of shots from Play Dirty.

Seldom given the adoration for his gritty, no excuses style of brutal cinema that spanned genres, the eye patched Director Andre De Toth will forever be recognized for his efforts on the House of Wax. The explosive WWII, men on a mission action film Play Dirty was actually his final completed feature film, but to watch it you would never guess from the way it harnesses the cruel realities of survival in combat.

Released two years after The Dirty Dozen the film, based on the novel by George Marton was unfairly deemed a knock off upon release. Admittedly the premise of a squad of criminals hired as mercenaries sent on a suicide mission is a similarity but even when its themes echo Alderich’s classic, De Toth’s compelling staging, British casting and sheer gusto make it a standalone gem.

Right from the opening frames (See clip below) it is evident we are in for a treat. An army jeep careens across the endless African desert at speed. A radio in the back blares French songstress Lili Marlene as Captain Cyril Leech (Nigel Davenport) leaps dunes, surging forward over harsh stony terrain. Weather beaten, obviously exhausted he carries a dead passenger beside him.

Returning to an isolated British outpost, he is nonchalant despite the fact he is the sole survivor of a bloody assignment that saw the rest of his team killed.

Barely given time to rest Leech’s superior, Colonel Masters (Nigel Green) tells him that his next job is an important mission to penetrate behind Rommel’s lines and destroy a critical fuel depot. The only stipulation is that a British Officer with knowledge of petrol depots must lead.

A reluctant Captain Douglas, (Michael Caine) an executive for British petroleum on loan to the army is stationed in North Africa. Recruited despite protest, soon the rag tag crew of miscreant criminals is surging through the harsh environment. Facing insurmountable obstacles that test their wills and corrupt any semblance of morality, war is a dirty game and self preservation dictates behavior.

Michael Caine packing gung ho artilery.

Play Dirty banner with Andre De Toth

John Doe says:
Sand blasted performances, attentive camerawork and thoughtfully staged action scenes all lift Play Dirty to an above average station. That the ending serves as a punctuation mark to the films themes just serves to strengthen the impact.

Director Andre De Toth (Crime Wave, Day of the Outlaw) is not interested in empty thrills. The psychological shrapnel of the battle field is what intrigue’s. De Toth’s Sherman tank plowing through a reinforced concrete wall attitude makes this macho adventure lug a rucksack of substance. There is fun to be had in the boys own way, but the harrowing and filthy tarnish of truth flanks any romantic ideals of war.

The mercinaries caught in a sand storm.

Triggers are pulled at the first sign of danger, lives taken within the blink of an eye. The carcasses of fallen soldiers then picked upon like vultures looking for valuables. The inclusion of a pair of Middle Eastern guides/translators that happen to be homosexual may operate in stereotype, but for the time is certainly a bold inclusion. The pair commenting on the complex bonds of men in extreme positions. Loyalty is a necessity, not a choice. Idealism will get you killed and mercy threatens the entire squad. The barbarism of men in the field a constant, the capturing of a female nurse inevitably awakens base level primal behavior.

There is a military like strategy to some of the extensive, dialogue free scenes of destruction that rivet as they unfold. Edward Scaife’s (The Dirty Dozen, Khartoum) well positioned cinematography uses long shots that fill the screen with a minimal of movement. When the camera is in motion it creates a momentum that lets the coverage become visceral. The impressive pyrotechnics in the final act are given abundant force through Scaife’s work.

The use of music in the film also serves a very crucial narrative point. Highlighting the power of cultural associations that can convince of nationality without exchange as Italian, French and German tunes shroud the team’s identity.

Released the same year as The Italian Job,Michael Caine is in top form as the outclassed outsider. As the story progresses his characters ingenuity saves lives and earns respect. Onscreen he mixes English cool into a ball of frustration for the first third of the running time and slowly injects confidence as events prove his metal.

Michael Caine and Nigel davenport face off

Despite Caine’s top billing it’s actually the versatile Nigel Davenport (Without A Clue, A Man For All Seasons) who stands tall front and centre. As the rugged Captain Leech he relishes in the arrogant, single mindedness of the part and exploits every opportunity to add dimension.

Nigel Green (The Ipcress File, Zulu), Harry Andrews (Battle of Britain, Too Late the Hero) Patrick Jordan (The Frightened City, Too Late the Hero) and the rest of the cast all maintain the authenticity of the Officers and the down and dirty mercs.

Produced by Harry Saltzman (James Bond, The Ipcress File) the film is not so much ahead of its time as right on the cutting edge of a revolutionary era. The Wild Bunch was released the same year, Bonnie and Clyde had come out a couple of years prior and Play Dirty also succeeds in subverting the genre film. For John Doe this was a quality deglamorized war story that was happy to muck around in the diseased pool of humanity slain and at the same time entertain with testosterone fueled bravado.

The Jeep in the desert opening scene from Play Dirty