Castle Keep Movie Review 1969

One of the most bizarre war films ever made. Eight battle-weary American soldiers, led by a randy one-eyed major (Lancaster), make a defiant last stand in a fairytale medieval castle against the German assault on the Ardennes in WWII. Loopy surreal parable pushes past every boundary of good taste and stays enjoyable to the end. Full of great memorable characters and silly over-the top moments that almost always work, such as an impotent count (Aumont) pimping out his wife to German and American alike to keep the dynasty going, and a soldier (Falk) who takes over the local village bakery, waxing poetically about the superiority of bread to war. The whole film is absurdly done up in full sixties regalia and topped off with a loungy Michel Legrand soundtrack. A forgotten camp treasure.

Distribution

Sony Pictures Home Video, Sony Pictures Plz., 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, Phone: (310)244-7306, Fax: (310)280-2485, URL: http://www.spe.sony.com, Remarks: Formerly Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 105 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

World War II, Anti-War War Movies, Art & Artists

Screenplay

David Rayfiel, Daniel Taradash

Cast

Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Peter Falk, Astrid Heeren, Scott Wilson, Tony Bill, Bruce Dern, Al Freeman, James Patterson, Michael Conrad, Caterina Boratto, Olga Bisera, Harry Baird, Ernest Clark

Cinematography

Henri Decae

Director

Sydney Pollack

Music

Michel Legrand

Producer

John Calley, Martin Ransohoff, Columbia Pictures