In the summer of 1942, American Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick, a War Department staff officer with no prior combat or command experience, is summoned to Britain where he is selected by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten to raise a commando force composed of both American and Canadian personnel for operations in German-occupied Norway.
Back in the U.S., Frederick arrives at the derelict Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana where he receives his American troops — all of whom are jailbirds, ne'er-do-wells, and misfits. When the hand-picked elite Canadian contingent arrives there is immediate friction with the Americans and chaos ensues. By the time Frederick manages to overcome the national differences and mold the First Special Service Force into a highly trained commando unit, he is informed that the Allied High Command have had a change of heart and offered the Norwegian missions to British Armed Forces troops. Left without a role, the brigade is ordered to be disbanded and its soldiers reassigned. Frederick remains undeterred and manages to persuade Lieutenant General Mark Clark to give his men a chance to prove themselves with a new mission in Italy.....
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Screenplay by William Roberts
Based on The Devil's Brigade
1966 novel
by Robert H. Adleman and George Walton
Produced by David L. Wolper
Starring
William Holden
Cliff Robertson
Vince Edwards
Andrew Prine
Claude Akins
Richard Jaeckel
Jack Watson
Jeremy Slate
Richard Dawson
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited by William T. Cartwright
Music by Alex North
William Holden as Lt. Col./Col. Robert T. Frederick
Cliff Robertson as Maj. Alan Crown
Vince Edwards as Maj. Cliff Bricker
Andrew Prine as Pvt. Theodore Ransom
Jeremy Slate as Sgt. Patrick O'Neill
Claude Akins as Pvt./Cpl. Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman
Jack Watson as Cpl./Sgt. Peacock
Richard Jaeckel as Pvt./Cpl. Omar Greco
Bill Fletcher as Pvt. Billy 'Bronc' Guthrie
Richard Dawson as Pvt./Cpl. Hugh MacDonald
Tom Troupe as Pvt. Al Manella
Luke Askew as Pvt. Hubert Hixon
Jean-Paul Vignon as Pvt. Henri Laurent
Tom Stern as Capt. Cardwell, Garrison CO of Fort William Henry Harrison
Harry Carey Jr. as Capt. Rose
Michael Rennie as Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, Commander of the U.S. Fifth Army
Carroll O'Connor as Maj. Gen. Maxwell Hunter
Dana Andrews as Brig. Gen. Walter Naylor
Gretchen Wyler as the Lady of Joy
Patric Knowles as Adm Lord Mountbatten
Wilhelm Von Homburg as Fritz
James Craig as Maj. Gen. Knapp
Richard Simmons as Gen. Bixby
Norman Alden as the M.P. Lieutenant