THE DIRTY DOZEN
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin, with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker and Robert Webber. Set in 1944 during World War II, the film follows a penal military unit of twelve convicts as they are trained as commandos by the Allies for a suicide mission ahead of the Normandy landings.
The screenplay is based on the 1965 bestseller by E. M. Nathanson, which in turn was inspired by a real-life World War II unit of behind-the-lines demolition specialists from the 101st Airborne Division named the “Filthy Thirteen“. Filming took place at the MGM British Studios.
The Dirty Dozen was released on June 15, 1967 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was a box office success, grossing $45 million against a $5M budget. It won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 40th Academy Awards. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed it at number 65 on their 100 Years… 100 Thrills list.[5] The film spawned several television film sequels, including The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985), The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987), and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988). A remake was announced in 2019 by Warner Bros.[6][7]