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Cross of Iron is a 1977 drama war film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Coburn, James Mason, Maximilian Schell, and David Warner. As with most of Peckinpah's films, the on-screen action includes a substantial amount of very realistic combat utilizing his characteristic slow motion gunshot scenes. Image File history File links Cross_Iron. ...
David Samuel Sam Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director who achieved iconic status following the release of his 1969 Western epic The Wild Bunch. ...
Wolfgang C. Hartwig (1921 - ), born in Düsseldorf, Germany, sometimes credited as: Wolfgang C. Hartwig and Wolfgang Hartwig is a German film producer working in exploitation genres. ...
The Willing Flesh is the English Language edition of Das Geduldige Fleisch, a book written by Willi Heinrich about the experiences of a platoon on the Eastern Front during the German withdrawal from the Taman Peninsula, Crimea, in 1943. ...
Willi Heinrich (* August 9, 1920 in Heidelberg, Germany, †July 12, 2005 in Dobel near Karlsruhe, Germany) is a German author. ...
Julius J. Epstein (born August 22, 1909, New York, New York; died December 30, 2000, Los Angeles, California) was an American screenwriter, who had a long career, most noted for the adaptation -— in partnership with his twin brother, Philip, and others —- of the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Ricks...
James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn (born 4 July 1934) is a Northern Irish peer and politician, and currently Lord Steward of the Household. ...
James Coburn in Sam Peckinpahs Cross of Iron (1977). ...
Maximilian Schell (left) in the film Judgment at Nuremberg Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is a Swiss-Austrian actor. ...
James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ...
David Warner David Warner (born July 29, 1941 in Manchester, England) is an English actor who often plays sinister or evil characters. ...
Slavko Å timac is a Serbian actor. ...
Senta Berger in When Women Had Tails / 1970. ...
Ernest Gold (born July 13, 1921, Vienna, Austria; died March 17 Santa Monica, California, 1999) was an Austrian-born Jewish-American Academy Award winning composer of the theme from the movie Exodus. ...
Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir, PC, (July 31, 1920-) was a Welsh Conservative politician. ...
John Coquillon (1933 – 1987) was a Canadian cinematographer. ...
Monty Python’s Flying Circus (also known as Flying Circus, MPFC or just Monty Python during the fourth season) was a highly popular, surreal BBC sketch comedy show from Monty Python, and the group’s initial claim to fame. ...
Embassy Pictures Corporation (aka Embassy Film Associates) was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate and The Lion in Winter. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ...
January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
// Events In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network. ...
Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...
is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ...
// Events In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network. ...
A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ...
The war film is a film genre that has to do with warfare, usually focusing on naval, air, or land battles, but sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training, or other related subjects. ...
Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...
David Samuel Sam Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director who achieved iconic status following the release of his 1969 Western epic The Wild Bunch. ...
James Coburn in Sam Peckinpahs Cross of Iron (1977). ...
James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ...
Maximilian Schell (left) in the film Judgment at Nuremberg Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is a Swiss-Austrian actor. ...
David Warner David Warner (born July 29, 1941 in Manchester, England) is an English actor who often plays sinister or evil characters. ...
Set in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II, the story revolves around the conflict between a newly-arrived, aristocratic officer who covets the Iron Cross and a cynical, battle-hardened platoon leader in a Wehrmacht regiment during the German retreat from the Taman Peninsula in the Crimea. Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ...
Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...
Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ...
A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ...
Platoon of the German Bundeswehr. ...
Wehrmacht (armed forces, literally defence force(s)) was the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. ...
British regiment A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - commanded by a colonel. ...
1. ...
Motto: Процветание в единÑтве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Ðивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Location of Crimea (red) on the map of Ukraine. ...
The movie was based on the book The Willing Flesh, written by Willi Heinrich and published in 1956. The book may be loosely based on the true story of Johann Schwerdfeger.[1] More recent printings of the book have been titled Cross of Iron to tie in with the film. There are several major differences between the book and film versions.[2] The Willing Flesh is the English Language edition of Das Geduldige Fleisch, a book written by Willi Heinrich about the experiences of a platoon on the Eastern Front during the German withdrawal from the Taman Peninsula, Crimea, in 1943. ...
Willi Heinrich (* August 9, 1920 in Heidelberg, Germany, †July 12, 2005 in Dobel near Karlsruhe, Germany) is a German author. ...
Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Critical views The movie, Sam Peckinpah's only war film, "is a forgotten masterpiece that has never really managed to overcome its troubled production."[3] While Peckinpah had directed "many films about battles between groups of armed men...this was the first in which both sides wear uniforms."[4] | “ | Told from the German viewpoint as the Wehrmacht's cream were being clobbered on the Russian front circa 1943, the production [from the book by Willi Heinrich] is well but conventionally cast, technically impressive, but ultimately violence-fixated.[5] | ” |
Plot Cross of Iron is the combat story of a Wehrmacht infantry platoon in the Kuban bridgehead, on the WWII Eastern Front in 1943, led by Corporal Steiner (James Coburn). The story begins medias res as the Wehrmacht are enroute to the destiny foreshadowed by the film's opening montage of Adolf Hitler as leader, Hitler Youth, the Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. and their subsequent retreat underscored by the traditional volkslied (folk song) Hänschen klein as the soundtrack. Kuban (Ukrainian - Кубань) is an ethnical ukrainian territory. ...
Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky...
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries, police forces or other uniformed organizations around the world. ...
James Coburn in Sam Peckinpahs Cross of Iron (1977). ...
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Hänschen Klein is a traditional German folk song whose lyrics tell the story of a young boy who goes out into the world, and returns to his family as a man. ...
While on a reconnaissance patrol, during which the platoon capture a young Russian boy-soldier, a new, Prussian aristocrat officer, Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell) arrives at their forward base. Demonstarting cold-bloodedness, Stransky orders Cpl. Steiner to shoot the boy prisoner, in strict observance of a Wehrmacht standing order of 'no prisoners'. When Steiner refuses, Stransky readies to shoot the boy himself, but at the last moment, Pvt. Schnurrbart saves the boy by claiming he will go do it himself, and walks away with the boy. Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ...
Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ...
Maximilian Schell (left) in the film Judgment at Nuremberg Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is a Swiss-Austrian actor. ...
In conversation with the base commander, Colonel Brandt (James Mason), and his adjutant, Captain Kiesel, an unenthusiastic man sick of war, Capt. Stransky claims he applied for transfer from occupied France to frontline duty in Russia so that he can win the Iron Cross, (the film's namesake, a combat bravery medal). Such a personally-revealing statement surprises the listening officers for its naïveté. This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ...
James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ...
A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ...
Stransky is then introduced to the experienced and battle-weary Steiner upon his return. Steiner is a myth among his German comrades, highly regarded and decorated despite his rather comptemptuous attitude. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (574x738, 55 KB) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (574x738, 55 KB) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
James Coburn in Sam Peckinpahs Cross of Iron (1977). ...
During a Soviet attack to their base, newly-promoted Sergeant Steiner is wounded and a certain Lieutenant Meyer (Igor Gallo) is killed while leading the defense. The young boy soldier is also killed by his own side as Steiner tries to release him. Steiner is sent to a military hospital to recover, where he is haunted by the faces of the dead men and the boy, and has a romantic liaison with a nurse (Senta Berger). Upon returning, he is informed that Stransky, who had not participated in the combat, is claiming to have led the base defense and therefore entitled himself to receive the Iron Cross. He named his aide, Lieutenant Triebig (whom he blackmails due to his homosexuality) and Steiner as witnesses. Stransky hopes to persuade Steiner to corroborate his claim, by promising to financially aid him after the war. Senta Berger in When Women Had Tails / 1970. ...
Brandt summons Steiner and question him about Stransky's allegations. Brandt hoped that Steiner would expose Stransky's lies, but Steiner does not cooperate. When questioned why, he states that he hates all officers, even those as "enlightened" as Brandt and Kiesel, and asks a few days to give his answer.
When his company is ordered to retreat, Stransky does not pass the order to Steiner's unit, effectively abandoning him behind Soviet lines. Steiner and his men set off towards the German lines, fighting their way through the Soviets. They manage to escape and reach the German lines, sending a password by radio so he can cross no man's land. 29th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Division, Canadian Corps. ...
 Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), Lieutenant Meyer (Igor Gallo), and Sergeant Steiner (James Coburn) in Cross of Iron Stransky learns about Steiner's return and orders Triebig to have him killed. Triebig orders Steiner's unit to be shot while approaching the German trenches, but fails in killing Steiner himself. The Sergeant kills Triebig and looks for Stransky. At this moment the Soviets launch an assault on the German positions. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Steiner finds Stransky and confronts him. Instead of shooting him, he invites the officer to fight alongside him and prove his alleged valor.
The movie closes with a reprise of Hänschen klein and Steiner laughing hysterically as Stransky reveals his military inadequacies in battle. The closing credits include a slide show of civilian war victims, and a final quote by Berthold Brecht from his play The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui: Hänschen Klein is a traditional German folk song whose lyrics tell the story of a young boy who goes out into the world, and returns to his family as a man. ...
Bertolt Brecht (born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht February 10, 1898 – August 14, 1956) was an influential German socialist dramatist, stage director, and poet of the 20th century. ...
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (original German title: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui) is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in 1941. ...
| “ | Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.[6] | ” |
Production notes
MG42 firing at the Soviets Cross of Iron was a joint Anglo-German production between Anglo-EMI Productions Ltd., London and Rapid Films GmbH, Munich.[7] Image File history File links T-34. ...
Image File history File links T-34. ...
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank credited by some armor analysts to be the best and most influential tank of the Second World War. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
The MG42 (shortened from German: Maschinengewehr 42, or Machine Rifle 42) was a machine gun that was developed for and entered service with Nazi Germany in 1942, during World War II. The 7. ...
The movie features realistic WWII gear and equipment as props, such as Soviet T-34/85 tanks (once used in the Yugoslav Army) and German machine-guns, side-cars and AT guns.
The movie spawned a sequel, Breakthrough. "This film was financed for the most part by West Germans, but it was directed by an American who, like Peckinpah, is known for westerns, Andrew V. McLaglen. As a concession to American audiences, the setting for Breakthrough is the Western Front; Richard Burton plays Steiner this time, and he becomes involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and saves the life of an American officer (Robert Mitchum).[8] Richard Burton CBE (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984) was a Welsh actor. ...
References - ^ deutschesoldaten.com article
- ^ wargamer.com articles.
- ^ Mayo, Mike. War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film (Visible Ink Press, 1999) ISBN 1578590892, p. 222
- ^ Hyams, Jay. War Movies (W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc., 1984) ISBN 083179304X p.192
- ^ Variety review, 1 January 1977. Accessed online 26 Dec 2006.
- ^ Bertolt Brecht – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. source Blockbuster Online - Cross of Iron
- ^ imdb.com article
- ^ Hyam, Ibid, p.193
Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...
Bertolt Brecht Brecht redirects here. ...
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (original German title: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui) is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in 1941. ...
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