The Devil's Brigade

THE DEVIL'S BRIGADE is like a transcontinental airplane flight: long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of terror. It was accused of being a pale imitation of THE DIRTY DOZEN, which preceded it by a year, but the truth is that THE DIRTY DOZEN is a fiction while this is based on fact. Unfortunately, the script dredged up every cliche we've ever seen and heard in war movies since BIRTH OF A NATION. Holden runs a brigade made up of Americans and Canadians. His seconds-in-command are Robertson (Canada) and Edwards (US), and their job is to create a commando force that will attack large groups of Nazis in Scandinavia. The film devotes about 20 minutes to finding...