Kelly's Heroes

Kelly's Heroes

Director: Brian G. Hutton

Year: 1970

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland

     When I think of Kelly's Heroes, I think of two things: First, I realize that Clint Eastwood, given the length of his career, has done a handful of war movies at best. It's a type of film you don't see him in very often, so it's a nice to see him doing his thing in a World War II setting. The other though that comes to mind is the word "unexpected", and I'll explain why. 

     Kelly's Heroes may be a war movie, but the entire plot of the film revolves around a gold heist in a German-occupied town. You heard me right. It's a heist film set in World War II. Surprisingly, the film's premise works. Eastwood plays the titular character, Pvt. Kelly who has a trouble past with the army (it's later discovered that he was busted to private because of a failed assault) and learns from a captured German commander that there is a bank vault filled with millions of dollars worth of gold. He decided to plan a mission to take the gold for himself. The actions would require going AWOL, and Kelly slowly convinces many others to join the heist, even his tough-as-nails commanding officer (who was ready to court-martial him) played Telly Savalas.

     Eastwood does the thing he does best, which is playing badassery only Clint Eastwood knows how. His tough exterior and somewhat rebellious nature creates interesting screen chemistry with Telly Savalas' character, "Big Joe", his superior. The two characters are complete opposites from each other, with Big Joe being by the book and a rule follower, and Private Kelly pretty much living by his own rules and standards. The cast is rounded out by Don Rickles (whom you may know as Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story films) as "Hustler", the sarcastic supply sergeant, and Donald Sutherland as "Oddball", the incredibly laid-back, hippie-like Sherman tank commander. The four actors create an even balance of comedy and seriousness, and when the two personalities clash, it's really entertaining.

     There's really not much more to say about this one, other than it's entertaining and never has a dull scene. Every line of dialogue keeps you hooked as you want to know what happens to these characters, whether it's Big Joe getting annoyed with his foolhardy platoon, or wondering if Oddball will ever follow through on his part, the film keeps you hooked. The AWOL'd platoon even gets chased by their commanding general, who interprets their actions as a patriotic assault, and scrambles to put a stop to it, not knowing their true intentions. The film does end on a humorous not, which is very odd for a film starring Clint Eastwood, but worth checking out.