Play Dirty (1968)
Play Dirty (1968)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC | 7.4Gb
Audio: #1 English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps, #2 French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps, #3 Spanish AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: English, Spanish
01:58:00 | UK | Adventure, Drama, War
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC | 7.4Gb
Audio: #1 English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps, #2 French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps, #3 Spanish AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: English, Spanish
01:58:00 | UK | Adventure, Drama, War
Its cynical and bleak portrayal of men in war is only matched by its lack of notoriety which is a shame considering how powerful the films message is. Admittedly Caine is a little wooden as the straight laced British Officer, but it is the much less known Nigel Davenport who steals the show as the hard bitten second in command. The films cynicism is the sum of it's ending which is suitably negative but still unsuspected. With all the flag waving war films out there its good to see the odd one which suggests the end never justifies the means.
Director: Andre De Toth
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews, Patrick Jordan, Daniel Pilon, Martin Burland, George McKeenan, Bridget Espeet, Bernard Archard, Aly Ben Ayed, Enrique Avila, Mohsen Ben Abdallah, Mohamed Kouka, Takis Emmanuel, Scott Miller, Michael Stevens, Anthony Stamboulieh, Jose Halufi, Vivian Pickles, Stanley Caine, Jeremy Child, Dennis Brennan, Rafael Albaicin
Play Dirty (1968)
Play Dirty (1968)
Play Dirty started as a story by George Marton, inspired by a real life incident. Twelve Palestinians sent to blow up German fuel dumps during the Second World War, but were later betrayed by the British. The story was adapted into a screenplay by Lotte Colin and Melvyn Bragg. Producer Harry Saltzman already had Caine under contract and selected him to play reluctant soldier Captain Douglas. American actor Warren Beatty expressed in the other leading role, the guerrilla warrior Cyril Leech. After he pulled out Richard Harris was hired to play Caine’s antagonist. French director Rene Clement was chosen to shoot the gritty war drama, filmed on location in the south of Spain. Earlier plans to film in Israel were abandoned after insurance problems.
British actor Nigel Davenport was approached by Saltzman for the supporting role of Colonel Masters. In an exclusive interview for this book, Davenport recalled the troubled making of Play Dirty in early 1968: ‘Richard Harris was becoming a pop star, having recorded ‘MacArthur Park’ [a Top 5 hit single in 1968] and also been in the film musical Camelot. Because Harris never showed up for days on end, we shot all the scenes that could be shot without him. He arrived looking like a sort of pop-star, which was not really suitable for the subject. There were all sorts of to-ings and fro-ings. He finally left, as which point Harry Saltzman said to me, “Do you want to plan the part?” I said, “Sure.” He said, “Okay, we’ll have dinner later on, but now I’ve got to go and fire the director!”’
Nigel Green was brought in to take over the role of Masters and Davenport became Leech. Veteran director Andre de Toth was already on set as executive producer, so Saltzman had him take over helming the picture. Almost all the material already filmed had to be reshot with the revised cast.
In 1969 Caine told Films and Filming magazine about the troubled production: ‘I will never make another film in Spain, the conditions are so bad. I’ve got it in my contract from now on. Andre de Toth made an extremely good job of a very difficult situation. The script was never right, and a lot of it was done at the last minute, but it’s one of those things where I still think it’s a valid picture. No one was ever satisfied with the ending.’
Play Dirty is arguably the Get Carter of Michael Caine’s war films. Grim and gritty, the story is superficially similar to the likes of The Dirty Dozen (1967). But the movie’s relentlessly downbeat tone and abrupt, bleak ending mark it out as more than just an action romp. The idea that war is hell is hardly new but here the point is made with enough humour and excitement to maintain your interest. The script requires Caine to play the more passive role, while Davenport steals the show as the murderous, mercenary Leech. It is no surprise Play Dirty struggled to find an audience in the late 1960s, but this is a picture overdue for reassessment. Well worth a look, if you can find it.
~ David Bishop
IMDb
Play Dirty (1968)
Play Dirty (1968)
