Cast a Giant Shadow [DVD]

This movie has a star studded cast. Kirk Douglas in the starring role, Topol as an Arab Sheik, Yul Brenner as an Israeli Soldier, John Wayne as an unnamed General (but we all know it is Patton), and Frank Sinatra as Corporal Pasaic, a WWII pilot from New Jersey. There are others in this movie that were great but I don't have the room to type them all in.Kirk Douglas plays a WWII Colonel, in the now ended war. He was a lawyer attached to the Judge Advocates office and never saw action on the front. So, he cons his way onto a plane bound for France on D-day, Liberates Dachau Concentration camp, and gets chewed out by John Wayne. Meanwhile in Israel, they are trying to become an independent state, still bringing in victims from the camps, or better yet sneaking them in since the British would not let them in, and training them to fight the Arabs. They send an Israeli soldier (there were no ranks at that time), to convince Col. Marcus (Douglas) to come help them fight. At first he refuses, but in the end he goes.He wants to play soldier but all the leaders of Israel want is his knowledge on coordinating a military campaign. "Frankly no one else wanted the job" says Jacob Zion (Ben Gurion), played by Lou Adler.The movie shows Kirk going from a secular, I don't want to be a Jew to becoming a true Israeli General the first in 2000 years, Joshua being the first. He brought together the Irgun (an Israeli terrorist group, so called because they attacked the British), The Palmach, and the Haganah. Today we know them as the Israeli Defense Force. He became one of the first Heroes of the war for independence.Of all the WWII movies, this one stands out as one of the best. Kirk Douglas is great in this movie, he plays his part so well that he brings Col. Marcus alive. All these actors are a blend that can't be repeated. It shows the determination by men of character willing to put their lives on the line to help a nation of people who were being systematically slaughtered. Even showing the liberation of Dachau was done in a tasteful manner, if that can be possible considering what they found. The cameras on John Wayne's face said it all.It was a difficult time for the Jewish people then and there were not many countries who would stand by her, but the few that did gave them reason to fight, and Col. Marcus gave them the Army to do it with. It shows how even many Arabs wanted things to change and knew that the Jewish people would make the desert bloom and many fought with them and for them. Topol depicts such an Arab with humor, yet with strength.If you like history in movie form, then this one has plenty of that! It is realistic in that they use Hebrew where needed to bring in the realism. The bus turns into a sort of tank and so on. I don't want to spoil this for others, so I will stop here just saying: This is such a wonderful movie, shows the determination of a people struggling to find a place in this world where they could be safe. Shows a Colonel who is struggling with his own identity saying: "I was angry since they circumcised me without my permission."Take time to watch this movie, you won't regret it.

During Desert Storm I was on TDY as an instructor to the Saudi Army for refurbished M60A3s. One night I was trotting around the base near Khamis Mushayt doing my PT thing when I heard the universal STOP noise, ch'chink, chink. Unlike Kirk Douglas' character I immediately stopped with my hands up. I fished out my ID with one hand and gave it to him. He was impressed; 'Georgi Bush'! good good!. He had an FAL, I had a PT suit, dunno who was skeereder but he let me go on my way and didn't stop me anymore for the 4 months we were there, so mission accomplished, of sorts...

Reports of he recent (October 2013) visit of Sarah Netanyahu to West Point to place flowers at the grave of Colonel Mickey Marcus has caused a renewed interest in his biography. A 1924 graduate of West Point, Col Marcus was a boxing champion as a cadet and attended law school after graduation. Called to active duty as war clouds loomed, he established the Army Ranger School in 1942, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day in 1944, and following the war managed the Nurenburg war crimes trial of Nazi leaders. In 1947 he volunteered to serve as an adviser to the Israeli armed forces, and in 1948 became the first General in the modern Israeli Army - now the IDF. This biopic, adapted from the 1962 book of the same name, stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Marcus, and does an excellent job of depicting Col Marcus's experience in Israel and with the Israelis beginning in 1947. A sub-plot is developed around a rumored romantic relationship between Colonel Marcus and an Israeli war widow, played by Senta Berger, an unnecessary "Hollywood" embellishment of an otherwise factual account, presented with excellent production values and polished performances from a stellar cast, also including Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickenson.Faced with the likelihood of annihilation in 1948, Israel was able to survive a military onslaught by hostile neighbors and achieve nationhood and national security thanks to the military leadership of Col Marcus and the bravery of the Israeli men and women who served in the armed forces. Compared to many other films made in the 60s this biopic has aged well - and given wide distribution in the 21st Century as Israel once again faces the threat of annihilation, it might inspire a new generation of US warfighters to offer their services to America's strongest ally in the Middle East in an hour of need.

Kirk Douglas is in the title role with an all-star cast. He plays an American Army Colonel with operations & logistics experience. The time is 1948 and the United Nations is about to recognize Israel as a nation. This of course causes friction among the British, who at the time control Palestine. Then there are the Palestinians who don't want to lose control over the Holy Land. War breaks out between Palestinians and Jews. The future Israelis fight, but lack training and experience. They turn to Colonel Mick (played by Douglas), asking for him to help train the new Israeli Army.Mick is with his young beautiful wife played by the lovely Angie Dickinson. They live in New York and she desperately wants to start a family. With her husband having returned overseas from WWII, the last thing she wants is for him to go to Palestine and start fighting in another war. Mick leaves, promising to return soon enough. He is soon caught up in the emotional turmoil over what the Jews are trying to accomplish. He also becomes very close to Senta Berger, a married Jew who threatens to compromise his marriage. Mick meets the Israeli Army's leader, played by Yul Brynner. Things are bleak for the new Jewish Army, but Mick believes in their passion and will to survive.Supporting cast includes Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Jeremy Kemp, and many more. It's a historically correct film over the birth of the Israeli nation and the men and women who built it. I enjoyed it!

Best actors of all time

Quite an odd film, the way the story is told and unfolds.An interesting look at the beginnings of a new state in '48. From the POV of an American WWII vet, who happens to be Jewish, is presued by a desperate group of Guerrilla fighters for his military strategic prowess. Reluctantly accepting the mission, against the orders of his immediate superior officer, a 3 star General, he takes flight into the plight of a beleigured fledgling nation of immigrant refugees, under constant local attack and the dwaing power and presence of the British Empire.The cast of Hollywood elite actors is very impressive. The plot points and flow of the story arc is not! It is so poorly handled, laid out and executed that it shows through, badly.It's as if the preproduction team had never read the book of "does and don'ts in story structure - 101". They seemed to have just gone ahead anyway and hoped they could "fix it in post [production]". This is often a bad idea, but doubly so during the moviemaking days of late 50s early 60s.The story roughly flows with a form of intregue (inciting incident) that sets into play a call for action. This takes a long time to realise. So much so that there is a distinctive loss of impulse and a sense the film isn't what it's set up to be. Eventually we get there, the call to action is, erm, actioned; and away we go.Once we all know what the stakes are, who's involved and why, the ball rolls along wonderfully. A fabulous display of commradery and a splend mixed of male & female, armed combatants, joyfully defending the convoys of passengers and goods as they travel under constant attack from port to cities and towns. Everyone was in this together for the benefit of everyone. To build a home in a stretch of desert that was unrelentingly harsh and hostile.Thus was born the state of Israel. Through blood, sweat and tears. Through courage, determination and necessity.There is a fantastic recreation in such exacting detail of the institutional gathering if the 1st Knesset. The 1st recital of "Hatikvah", the Song of Hope as the National Anthem, and results of the UN votes to accept Israel as an independent state.Joyful and full of hope for their, now, globally accepted new state, Israelis go out to celebrate as any nation would. However, as threatend and promised, the Arab nations surrounding Israel, set into motion both airborne, rocket, tank and troop attacks upon the poorly armed civilians and groups of millitia.Our hero jumps into organised caos once again and sets into motion the brilliant strategy of "make it up as you go along" with everything they've got. This includes dropping fizzy water dispensers, on advancing Egyptian troops from their one and only light training aircraft, courtacy of the the Brits.The human sacrifice is extensive. The impact on moral utterly devastatng, but still they fight on. Cutting roads through and up high rocky terrain to bring food supplies to cut off areas under seiged, under fire and under norished. Through grit and grind they plough their way through. The losses are heavy, the rewards are great. But they won their way through.All in all this is a somewhat fictional story based on the actual accounts of the forming of the State of Israel. But it's more than that. The main players are easily recognised by their uncanny resemblance to the historic figures, even if their names have been changed.This is also a pet project for Kirk Douglas. He brought in the big names of Hollywood to give it credance; Wayne, Brynner, Sinatra, Topol, Dickinson, Holden, Jackson, Kemp, Cuthbertson, Palmer, Senta Berger from Austria and even a very young Michael Douglas in an uncreadited role.Much as this is a hugely significant event in modern history and filmicly comes both before, during and after the equally fictional movie account of the "Exodus" affair (with the backdrop of the same actual events),it really rambles along with unnecessary lingering love interest for lengthy lulls that do nothing to emphasise the emotional cost upon members of key character's families, often kept on the sidelines of grander events. This then makes for difficult editing to bring about a good flow of what is quite a complex story. Too many jumps, stops and starts to hold ones focus (as I have said) on the main thrust and arc of the story. (Hence only 4 ⭐)However, it's a worthy film that had to be made and story told along with a worthy filmscore by Elmer Bernstein.

a classic film

Probably the best dramatized historical film I have ever seen.

I can thoroughly recommend the Region 1, Kino Lorber edition of this DVD. The film is great and the picture quality is sparklingly clear with good colour. A superior product to the MGM, UK region 2 version.

Enjoyed this film because of the contents and a it was an old film there was no bad language and blasphemies and also as an old film the film makers did not find it necessary to drown out all the speaking with loud 'mood' music