Anzio (1968)

Directors: Edward Dmytryk & Duilio Coletti

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Peter Falk, Robert Ryan, Earl Holliman, Mark Damon, Arthur Kennedy, Reni Santoni, Joseph Walsh

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Where the end of World War II began.

Plot: One of WWIIs bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead. Four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march to Rome.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Man, what a wasted opportunity. Robert Mitchum saunters through the entire picture. I don't think that man could run with his pants on fire and that's essentially how the picture moves, too. It's almost kind of pointless. You'd think that a movie about a real event where 767 men went into battle and only 6 returned that it would be infinitely more exciting than this picture. The Italian landscape was welcome but it's pretty bad when about all I can think of that's positive is that. Then there's Peter Falk. He's fantastic and the only real reason I'd advise anyone to see it. He's always fun but he does have a couple of scenes that feel like filler and add nothing to the story except giving us an extra few minutes with the only cool guy in the picture. I normally like Riz Ortolani's music but this score seems out of place as if it were written for another film. And that theme song at the beginning sung by Jack Jones has got to go.

That pretty much sums up ANZIO - misplaced elements that belong in any number of movies except this one. It's a real bummer when a movie about so many people who lost their lives turns out like this.