"Psst! Feind hört mit" meaning "Shh! Enemy is listening" appears in a scene on a wall.
Then it changes to incorrect "Psst! Feine hört mit".
Then it changes to the correct first version again.
My family is quite into WW2 movies so I've seen all the popular classics such as Saving Private Ryan etc. but also quite a few less mainstream ones.
I haven't seen this film since it first came out but it's remained with me ever since. The most haunting scene for me was when the Army deserter was being marched to his firing squad execution, through the snow as Sinatra sang "I'll be home for Christmas".
I did not know this movie, even never heard of it, until it was aired on France 3 channel, in 2006, and presented by the mighty Patrick Brion, the most famous movie buff and American movie industry specialist in France, with of course François Guerif and Bertrand Tavernier. Yes, this war film is for me one of the best ever, if not THE best.
I was a big big George Peppard fan when I was younger and recall seeing this movie because of Peppard.George Peppard was an MGM star carefully groomed by MGM for stardom.
57 years ago I saw this film and today when someone put on Sinatra singing "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" and the film came front and center into my consciousness. I was right in that scene.
I saw this movie in a late spot more than 15 years ago and I hung onto its title. I've been looking for a copy of it since.
Knowing now the history of Carl Foreman, it's easier to understand the motivation behind "The Victors", his powerful statement about both WWII and the cold war that culminates with the nihilistic deaths of an American and a Russian soldier in Berlin at the end of the film. But having seen this all-time great film as a 14-year-old in 1962, it had such a profound effect on my life and feelings about war and the real tragedies that abound in any war zone.
I saw this movie forty one years ago and the feelings it engendered have never left me, even if the details are dim. Back in the post world war II era and before Viet Nam created vast dissent in the US, war was presented as the patriotic undertaking of young men.
Primarily known for writing "High Noon" and for producing "The Guns of Navarone," Carl Foreman directed only a single film in his career, "The Victors." Foreman also produced and scripted the 1963 anti-war film, which was obviously a labor of love.
