Commandos director Armando Crispino (who gave us the unnerving giallo thrillers Autopsy and The Dead Are Alive) co-wrote this Italian/German WW2 actioner with horror icon Dario Argento and German producer Artur Brauner amongst others. Lee Van Cleef and Jack Kelly (co-star of American TV’s “Maverick”) are the token American actors with Pier Paolo Capponi, Marilu Tolo and krimi star Joachim Fuchsberger in supporting roles. Sergeant Van Cleef unites a ragtag group of Italian Americans to take over and hold an outpost in the North African desert. Things take an unexpected turn when German troops arrive to get a little rest and relaxation, and Van Cleef’s contingent need to impersonate the Italian soldiers they’ve dispatched, creating escalating suspense that will end in an apocalyptic finale. The versatile and underrated composer Mario Nascimbene (The Vikings, Room at the Top, One Million Years B.C.) did the rousing score.
