CHURCHILL'S LEOPARDS (1970)
DIRECTOR:
Maurizio Pradeaux
CAST:
Richard Harrison, Pilar Velasquez, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Antonio Casas, Klaus Kinski, Frank Brana, Claudio Biava, Massimo Righi, Helga Line, Herb Andress, Geoffredo Unger.
REVIEW:
One of the most average Italian war movies to emerge in the genre. A great cast and some decent photography highlight this otherwise mediocre entry.
The plot is pretty straightforward and familiar: A British commando team heads into France to blow up a German-held dam, while a British agent infiltrates the German garrison to give inside help. The twist is the British officer is replacing his twin German brother (!)
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart ("Battle Force"), one of my favorite Eurowar co-stars, makes a pretty bland lead. He doesn't get to do too much, unfortunately. He is reduced to uttering boring dialog and leaves most of the real acting up to Richard Harrison ("Thirty Six Hours of Hell"), who plays both a German officer and his British twin. Klaus Kinski ("The Liberators") has his usual glorified cameo role as a German officer, though his role lacks any of the weirdness which usually accompanies his part. He is a straightforward, evil SS type and nothing more. Unfortunately, he sports a dubbed English accent rather than a typically nasty, thick German voice. Pilar Velasquez ("His Name was Holy Ghost") is the French resistance woman in love with Harrison. Finally, Antonio Casas ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") has a glorified cameo as the genius leader of the French partisans. In support, Frank Brana ("The War Devils") plays a French partisan, and Claudio Biava ("Battle of the Damned") has a juicy role of a skeptical British commando. Look fast for Herb Andress ("The Rangers") as a German officer, and Geoffredo Unger ("Hornets' Nest") as a British commando. The familiar name of Massimo Righi is also credited, but I have no idea who the heck this guy is. HELP!
The whole course of the film is weighed down by some low production values that can easily kill a film. First of all, Vassili Koducharov's familiar score from "Heroes in Hell", "Thirty Six Hours of Hell" and "The Rangers" is used once again. This piece of music is trash, and I don't get why so many films use it. The special effects are pretty bad, and one dam destruction sequence ranks as one of the worst miniature effects in film history. The movie is set in France in 1944, but looks like it was shot in an Italian rock quarry - maybe on some of the same locations as the earlier action flick Five for Hell.
On the plus side, the cast all do excellently and seem to be having fun with their parts. The script is excellent, with an unexpected conclusion for one of the main characters. Maurizio Pradeaux keeps the action flowing whenever possible. When nobody is getting shot on screen, people are moving about and so is the camera. Close-ups, pans and zoom-ins rule for the duration of the movie. The final combat scene is excellently-shot and tightly edited, with some fine suspenseful moments.
Churchill's Leopards is a pretty average commando movie, with a good cast and fine camerawork but little else of value. It's an entertaining 90 minute piece, but no classic.
SGT. SLAUGHTER'S RATING:
3 Bullets
