TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: World War II - Battlefront Europe (Kelly's Heroes / Where Eagles Dare / The Dirty Dozen / Battleground)

KELLYS HEROES They were goldbricks until they found out about the gold bricks a fortune in Nazi-confiscated bullion! Clint Eastwood reups with the director of his Where Eagles Dare for this alternately action-filled and tongue-in-cheek tale of GIs who decide to get something extra out of the war. Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Don Rickles co-star. THE DIRTY DOZEN Lee Marvin portrays a tough-as-nails major volunteered in the Army way to command a squad of misfits on a suicide mission against Nazi brass. Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Trini Lopez, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Clint Walker are among the 12 jailbirds who will earn their freedom if they survive. WHERE EAGLES DARE The mission is clear. Get in. Get the general. Get out. Commandos charged with freeing a U.S. general from an Alpine fortress should also be told to trust nothing including the search-and-rescue orders just issued. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood are in command in this twisty wartime thriller from a book by action master Alistair MacLean. BATTLEGROUND William A. Wellman directs a gripping tale of 101st Airborne troops resisting Hitler's fierce, final counteroffensive at Bastogne. James Whitmore as a feisty sergeant and Van Johnson as a wisecracking private star in this rugged and unsparing look at men in combat. Winner of Best Story, Best Screenplay and Best Cinemtaography Oscars (1949).