Robert Aldrich’s iconic ensemble action movie is brimming with testosterone, redemption arcs, and more little gags than you would probably guess. Lee Marvin uses 12 no-hope inmates’ basic distrust of authority as glue to bind them, wind them up, and whips them into Nazi-slaughtering shape on a suicide mission. For some, freedom and redemption hang in the balance; for others, nothing much at all.
Let’s take it apart: Its struggle to balance so many Guys, cynicism about who really wins wars, why the hell Maggott is even here, the crappy TV sequels, and more.
References:
#NazisWeHateTheseGuys #DCP
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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “The Bramble Bush” by Trini Lopez from the THE DIRTY DOZEN soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 349: THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967)
3:08 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
7:29 - It's a lot of guys
12:28 - A movie with less action than training
25:47 - The Dozen’s total commitment to the mission
33:22 - The length, the pacing, the training segment with Breed’s team
41:47 - The complicated Major Reisman (Lee Marvin)
51:31 - Maggott…
1:02:06 - The Junk Drawer
1:09:25 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1967
1:13:57 - Cody’s Noteys: The Bird-y Dozen (ornithological terminology trivia)
