The giant's shadow
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The giant's shadow |
| Original title | Cast a giant shadow |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 132 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Melville Shavelson |
| script | Melville Shavelson Ted Berkman (novel) |
| production | Melville Shavelson Michael Wayne |
| music | Elmer Bernstein |
| camera | Aldo Tonti |
| cut |
Bert Bates Gene Ruggiero |
| occupation | |
| |
The Giant's Shadow is an American war film from 1966. The film is based on the book Cast a Giant Shadow by Ted Berkman about the real person of Col. David "Mickey" Marcus , the first Brigadier General ( Aluf ) of the Israeli army . Along with the film Exodus (1960), this is one of the most famous films that deal with the Israeli War of Independence .
action
The film is set a short time after World War II in the United States and primarily in Israel (as well as in flashbacks in Europe during the war). The film describes in fact and fiction the first months of the history of the state of Israel.
After a steep career in the US Army , the Jewish officer and World War II veteran Mickey Marcus, who works as a lawyer in New York City, is asked to build the army of the nascent state of Israel to defend the country against its hostile Arab neighbors. The Pentagon prohibits Marcus from participating in combat operations. However, it allows him to travel to Israel under a false name and fight on the side of the Israelis. Against the wishes of his wife, he accepts the offer and sets out to transform a ragged underground force into a powerful army. At the same time as the threat of war increases, Mickey's affection for the beautiful fighter Magda Simon also grows. When the Palestinian War begins, he receives the rank of general and fights the Arabs in the process. Shortly before the end of the war, he was accidentally shot from within his own ranks by an Israeli who speaks no English ( friendly fire ).
criticism
- Lexicon of International Films : Elaborate Hollywood production that gets stuck in the adventurous and is not free from melodrama.
- Bosley Crowther wrote in his 1966 New York Times review that the film was melodramatic and full of chauvinistic zeal.
- Jack Shaheen called the film an anti-Arab propaganda film in his documentary Reel Bad Arabs .
- The Protestant film observer distributes praise and criticism : "Not free from the disadvantages and superficialities of typical Hollywood wide-wall ham, but noteworthy for reasons of human and historical understanding."
DVD release
- The giant's shadow . DVD - MGM Home Entertainment GmbH
See also
Web links
- The shadow of the giants in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bosley Crowther : Screen: Paul Newman in 'Harper' Evokes Bogart: Detective Film Opens at 3 Theaters Here. In: The New York Times . March 31, 1966, accessed October 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband Munich, Review No. 389/1966