Whether he’s in black and white or technicolor, you can always count on James Garner to deliver the goods and in Darby’s Rangers – directed by Academy Award winning director William Wellman (A Star is Born, Blood Alley) – Garner makes his big screen debut in a leading role after Jack Warner replaced Charlton Heston, who had tried to negotiate 5% of the film’s profits. Based on a true story, Garner plays real life Colonel William Orlando Darby and in Rangers he recruits volunteers in order to assemble an elite group of soldiers that will be trained by British Commando Forces while stationed in Scotland, and after a strenuous training regimen will be sent out in guerilla warfare-like missions to fight the World War II Nazis and “tear up a little real estate.” The always stellar Jack Warden narrates the film and helps Garner assemble the “American Rangers” as Sergeant Saul Rosen. Relationships with some of the local women complicate things for the Rangers and despite success on their first assignments, Darby has a recurring nightmare that something sinister awaits them.
“James Garner, the actor who plays Maverick on the currently popular television show, appears as Col. William O. Darby. His fans should be completely satisfied.” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
