Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Ted Berkman (book)
Melville Shavelson (written by)

Release Date:

30 March 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Outnumbered - unarmed - unprepared - they stunned the world with their incredible victory!

Plot:

An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his jewish roots...

Plot Keywords:

Historical | Based On Book

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Senta Berger	...	Magda Simon
Angie Dickinson	...	Emma Marcus
James Donald	...	Maj. Safir
Stathis Giallelis	...	Ram Oren
Luther Adler	...	Jacob Zion
Topol	...	Abou Ibn Kader
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Chaison
Gordon Jackson	...	James MacAfee
Michael Hordern	...	British ambassador
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Immigration officer
Jeremy Kemp	...	British Immigration senior
Sean Barrett	...	British Immigration junior
Michael Shillo	...	Andre Simon
Rina Ganor	...	Rona

Runtime:

146 min | USA:138 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

Michael Douglas' movie debut.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Colonel Marcus arrives in Palestine in early 1948 on a civilian Boeing Stratocruiser. The first Stratocruisers were delivered to the airlines in February 1949, nearly a year later.

Quotes:

Emma Marcus: Next week, he's going in a convoy to Jerusalem. And he's dictating from memory every army training manual he can remember. He says they need it more than the Bible.
Mrs. Chaison: Did he happen to mention who he's dictating the Song of Solomon to?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2006) (V)

An Epic that Never Was.........

"Exodus" & "Cast a Giant Shadow" are the only films I know which focus on Israel's War for Independence. "Exodus" was too talky, "Cast a Giant Shadow" should have been a great film, up there with CB DeMille's 1959 version of "The Buccaneer", or the 1932 version of "All Quiet on the Western Front". Yet "Cast a Giant Shadow" was virtually ignored when released.

I remember in 1969 the director was on Johnny Carson and "Cast a Giant Shadow" came up, the director began explaining the plot and that the film had Yul Brenner, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Senta Berger, Angie Dickersen. Seated next to the director was an earlier guest, and he thought the "Cast a Giant Shadow" was a great idea, he wanted to know when the film woulded be released. Then was told it had been released two years earlier. The director then explained why he believed the film was panned. He answered; it was because it contained an important scene were Frank Sinatra gets killed.

Several years later my father told me a story that when the outside shots of the film Marty were being filmed in the Bronx, around Gunhill and White Plaines Roads, Ernest Borgnine was frequently heckled by bystanders who yelled, "Get lost, you're the guy who killed Frank Sinatra" (Here to Eternity)