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The Victors (1963 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Victors' is a 1963 British-American black-and-white war film written, produced and directed by Carl Foreman. He called it a "personal statement" about the futility of war. Both victor and vanquished are losers.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081222075921/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938986,00.html Cinema: Up in Arms for Peace], 'Time Magazine', 20 December 1963
It follows a group of American soldiers through Europe during the Second World War, from Britain in 1942, through the fierce fighting in Italy and the invasion of Normandy, to the uneasy peace of occupied Berlin. It is adapted from a collection of short stories called 'The Human Kind' by English author Alexander Baron, based upon his own wartime experiences. The British characters were changed to Americans in order to appeal to American audiences.
'The Victors' features an all-star cast, with fifteen American and European leading players, including six actresses whose photographs appear on the posters Melina Mercouri from Greece, Jeanne Moreau from France, Rosanna Schiaffino from Italy, Romy Schneider and Senta Berger from Austria and Elke Sommer from West Germany.[https://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/where-are-they-the-victors-1963/ Greco, John. "Where Are They? The Victors (1963)" ('Twenty Four Frames. Notes on Film by John Greco', 200915) Includes images of 'The Victors' film posters]
Plot
The story is told in a series of short vignettes, each having a beginning and an ending in itself, though all are connected to the others
An American infantry squad is sent to Italy, including Sergeant Craig, and Corporals Trower and Chase, and GI Baker. The squad take possession of a small town in Sicily. Craig has to stop his men from looting. Baker strikes up a relationship with Maria, a young mother whose soldier husband is missing. They talk to a Sikh soldier. At another stop, white American soldiers beat up black American soldiers in a bar.
The squad are then sent to France. Craig spends the evening with a Frenchwoman who is terrified by bombing raids.
The men help liberate a concentration camp. In Ostend, Trower meets Regine, a violinist, and falls in love with her. However she leaves him for a sleazy pimp, Eldridge.
One truckload of GIs is chosen out of a convoy to supply witnesses to the execution by firing squad of a GI deserter (inspired by the real-life 1945 execution of Private Eddie Slovik) in a huge, otherwise empty, snow-covered field near a chateau at Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines on Christmas Eve, accompanied by Frank Sinatra singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and then a chorus of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" after the fatal shots are fired. 'The New York Times' film review stated "it stands out in stark and sobering contrast to the other gaudier incidents in the film".[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9501E6DA1F30EF3BBC4851DFB4678388679EDE The Grim Message of War: Foreman's 'The Victors' at Two Theaters], by Bosley Crowther, 'New York Times', 20 December 1963 (This was an early example of "Soundtrack Dissonance", the juxtaposition of saccharine music with a frightful scene,[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoundtrackDissonance 'Soundtrack Dissonace'] at TV Tropes; retrieved 30 August 2021 and was emulated the following year by Stanley Kubrick in 'Dr. Strangelove', which was also shot in black and white.)
Chase has a relationship with Magda, who suggests he desert and join her in the black market. He refuses, rejoins his unit, and is wounded in the leg. A newcomer to the group, Weaver, adopts a dog. But when the unit pulls out, his fellow soldier, Grogan, shoots it dead. When Chase gets out of hospital in England he is stuck at a bus stop in the rain. A man, Dennis, invites him in to have tea with his family. He has a pleasant time, but when he visits Craig in hospital, he discovers Craig has had most of his face blown off.
The war in Europe ends. In 1946 Trower lives in the Russian zone of Berlin. He is in love with Helga, whose parents he provides with imported goods. Helga's sister has been sleeping with Russians. Trower gets in a fight with a drunken Russian soldier. Neither understands the other, and the two pull knives and stab each other to death. The placement of their fallen bodies suggests the letter 'V' for Victory.
Cast
'Starring in alphabetical order'
*Vincent Edwards as Baker
*Albert Finney as Russian soldier
*George Hamilton as Trower
*Melina Mercouri as Magda
*Jeanne Moreau as Frenchwoman
*George Peppard as Chase
*Maurice Ronet as French lieutenant
*Rosanna Schiaffino as Maria
*Romy Schneider as Regine
*Elke Sommer as Helga Metzger
*Eli Wallach as Craig
*'and' Michael Callan as Eldridge
'Co-Starring'
*Peter Fonda as Weaver
*Jim Mitchum as Grogan
*Senta Berger as Trudi Metzger
'With'
*Albert Lieven as Metzger
*Mervyn Johns as Dennis
*Tutte Lemkow as Sikh soldier
*John Crawford as Captain
*Peter Vaughan as Policeman
*George Mikell as Russian sentry
*Alf Kjellin as Priest
*Russ Titus
*Alan Barnes as Tom
*John Rogers as British soldier
*Marianne Deeming as Frau Metzger
*Sean Kelly as Giggling Sergeant
*Patrick Jordan as Tank sergeant
*James Chase as Condemned soldier
*Mickey Knox
*Peter Arne
*Malya Nappi as Barmaid
*Veite Bethke
*Milo Sperber as Camp prisoner
*George Roubicek as Russian sentry
*Bee Duffell as Joan (Uncredited)
'The Squad' [Firing squad members]
*Riggs O'Hara
*Charles De Temple
*Al Waxman
*Tom Busby
*Robert Nichols
*Graydon Gould
*Larry Caringi
*Ian Hughes
*Anthony McBride
Songs listed in opening credits
*"March of the Victors""Sweet Talk""No Other Man" by Sol KaplanFreddy Douglass
*"My Special Dream" by Sol KaplanFreddy DouglassHoward Greenfield
*"Does Goodnight Mean Goodby?" by Howard GreenfieldJack KellerGerry Goffin
Original novel
The film was based on the book 'The Human Kind', which was published in 1953.'England's Chicago Tribune'
Strout, Richard L. The Observer 4 March 1951: 5. It was the third in a trilogy of autobiographical war works from Alexander Baron, the first two being 'From the City, From the Plough' and 'There's No Home'. 'The Human Kind' was a series of autobiographical notes and sketches which covered the war from 1939 to 1945, with an epilogue in Korea.How Savage Man Can Be: The Human Kind. By Alexander Baron. 187 pp. New York: Ives Washburn. By John C. Neff. 'New York Times' 28 June 1953: BR12. The 'Independent' called it "an ambitious collection of vignettes pitched between fiction and autobiography, short story and novel, which took pitiless stock of what the war had done to people and their sense of goodness or hope, political hope especially."BOOKS: [3 Edition 3] Williams, John. The Independent; London (UK) 11 June 1994.
Production
Development
Film rights were bought by Carl Foreman. In May 1957, he announced a slate of productions he wanted to produce under a deal with Columbia in England, including an adaptation of 'The Human Kind'. The deal was for four films over three years, with a budget of $810 million. He called 'Human Kind' a "series of vignettes of the early days of the blitz in England."Noted on the Local Screen Scene: Foreman's Full Agenda --On the Schulbergs' Slate--Addenda Anatomy of FearBy A.H. Weiler. 'The New York Times' 17 March 1957: X5.
In 1960, Foreman announced 'The Human Kind' would follow his production of 'The Guns of Navarone'. Foreman's intention was to "select several of the stories, adapt them to the screen and make one overall drama out of the kaleidoscopic collection." Foreman also said he intended to make his directorial debut with the movie.By Way of Report: Metro, French Company Team -- Other Items
By A.H. Weiler. 'The New York Times' 4 December 1960: X7.
In August 1961, Foreman said the project would be titled 'The Victors' as he felt the theme of the book was that in war the winners are also the losers.Blowing Up of Guns Pet Foreman Effect: Minnelli's Is Sky Horsemen; Stage-Play Titles Real Gone
Scheuer, Philip K. 'Los Angeles Times' 14 August 1961: C9. In February 1962, Foreman arrived in Los Angeles to cast the movie.Film Roles Await Yankees in Florida Hedda Hopper's Hollywood: 'The Washington Post and Times-Herald' 6 February 1962: B8.
"It will be controversial and may well shock people, said Foreman in August 1962, just as filming began. "But it represents a deeply personal feeling I have about war and specifically heroism. People are very capable of coming up with heroism when it is necessary - but it's not a game anymore. What I resent is the need for heroism in warfare."Foreman Will Show Victors Are Losers: Producer-Director Indicts Wartime Heroism in Movie Scheuer, Philip K. 'Los Angeles Times' 7 August 1962: C9.
Sophia Loren and Simone Signoret were originally cast, but dropped out and were replaced by Jeanne Moreau and Rosanna Schiaffino.'Cleopatra' Movie Cast Coming Home This Week Hopper, Hedda. 'Chicago Daily Tribune' 11 July 1962: a2.
Shooting
Filming began 7 August 1962, first in England, then Italy and France, then the unit returned to England.Looking at Hollywood: Sports Writer to Do Williams' TV Script Hopper, Hedda. 'Chicago Daily Tribune' 6 June 1962: b2. Filming took place in Sweden, France, Italy and England.[http://www.orato.com/entertainment/1963-film-victors 1963 Film The Victors], at OratoMercouri admitted in her memoirs that "I gave Carl Foreman a hard time" during the shoot but said this was because she was physically unwell.
Saul Bass created the opening montage and title sequence that covers European history from the First World War to the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Bass's edit of historical footage in 'The Victors' explicitly argues that the failures of World War I and its aftermath directly resulted in the rise of Fascism and World War II. Bass had previously gathered together much of the newsreel material for similar historical montages used in 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' (1962).
Release
Censorship
'The Victors' was cut by about 20 minutes within a few weeks of opening. The version in circulation is 154 minutes (see 'Leonard Maltin's Film & Video Guide').Among the sequences cut was one where an 11-year-old boy, Jean Pierre, propositions the American soldiers to exchange sex for food money. The Hollywood Production Code, also known as the Hays Code, insisted that several scenes be deleted. While the Code had been gradually liberalised in the 1950s-early 1960s, homosexuality was still something that could only be, vaguely, implied in order to get approval from the Hollywood Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency.
American film executives encouraged Foreman to include a nude scene with Elke Sommer, already in the version released in Europe and Britain, when he submitted it for a Production Code seal. This was to be used as a bargaining chip in case of any other objections. Foreman submitted the more modest version of the scene that had been shot for the American market and the film was passed without incident.
Box office
The film disappointed at the box office. George Hamilton argued it "was way too dark, foreshadowing the great paranoid movies of the later sixties, ahead of the bad times that seemed to begin with the Kennedy assassination."George Hamilton & William Stadiem, 'Don't Mind If I Do', Simon & Schuster 2008 p 177Awards
Peter Fonda was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.
Paperback novelization
In November 1963, Dell Publishing issued a novelization of the screenplay by critic, author and war veteran Milton Shulman. The book's presentation is idiosyncratic, as it is both unabashedly a tie-in edition, yet seems to cautiously sidestep labeling itself an adaptation of the script per se (though within Shulman's sensitively internalized retelling, it is quite faithful to the film's dialogue and structure). Both the cover and title page proclaim "Carl Foreman's 'The Victors'" under which the byline is "by Milton Shulman, based on 'The Human Kind' by Alexander Baron." bypassing mention of the actual screenplay. It is unknown whether Dell bid for the publishing rights and commissioned the novelization, or if Foreman engineered its publication. The latter would seem the more likely, given Foreman's possessive over-the-title billing, and that the short story collection providing the source of the screenplay is itself an established work of fiction. What does seem clear is that Baron himself was approached to write the novelization, and that he declinedpossibly because, with the Americanization of the characters, he felt the novel's authorship should have a genuinely American voicebut nonetheless wanted to select the author and supervise. That he did so can be extrapolated from the copyright registration: The copyright is assigned to Baron, with a notation that he engaged Shulman to write the book as a work for hire. The resultant novelization sold well enough to earn at least a second print run, indicated on that identical edition's copyright page, issued in January 1964.
References
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