BLOODY SAM: THE FILMS OF SAM PECKINPAH

      Over-looked and under-rated, "Cross of Iron" is among Peckinpah’s best work. Dark and brutal in tone, Sam tells the story of a German unit fighting on the Russian front. Maybe it is hard for American audiences to warm up to a story where the Germans are the main characters. Maybe it is hard to keep the holocaust from popping into your mind as you watch. (Don’t get me wrong, I say never forget!) Maybe it was the fact that Sam was using the Germans to make a comment about America’s involvement in Vietnam. Whatever the reason, "Cross of Iron" did not find an audience. This is a true shame because Sam’s vision of hell on earth is one of the finest war movies ever made.

      "Cross of Iron" is about character. Sergeant Steiner (James Coburn) has received the Iron Cross for courage and valor on the battle field. His new commander, Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell) is a pompous aristocrat who wants an Iron Cross. It puzzles him how a commoner like Steiner has received his nation’s highest honor while he, the blue blood has not been so honored. Steiner leads a rag tag band of dog soldiers. He is a man trapped by birth and circumstances in the worst place in the world. Steiner has no national or party loyalty. He sees those who are driven by such ideologies as a danger. They are the ones who keep sending he and his men on suicidal missions. Steiner just wants the war to be over. He is not lazy, far from it. Steiner does everything he can to insure that his men get home with him. He is a natural soldier. One of those to whom war comes easy. He is repulsed by this, but he also uses his talent to survive. The thing he hates more than his own ability to kill so easily is the deluded visions of grandeur that Captain Stransky subscribes to.

      Roger Fritz portrays Triebig, a junior officer (a good nazi, if there is such a thing!) He is a degenerate who hates Steiner because he is not a good party member, and Stransky because he represents the elite class whom the Nazis can’t trust even though they use them. Except for Triebig and his adjutant/lover, the rest of the soldiers are just that, guys who want to go home. (Of course it was just this type of soldier which enabled Hitler to do what he did, but that’s a different story. See why this film had trouble finding an audience!)

      The only protection Steiner has from a court-marshal by the vindictive Stransky is the respect of Colonel Brandt (James Mason) and Captain Kiesel (David Warner). These two have been in battle with Steiner, they know what kind of man he is. He is their most valuable asset. They will not let Stransky destroy Steiner out of vanity.

Sgt. Steiner (James Coburn) in Cross of Iron

      The film is more of a character study than anything else. There is no driving plot device other than survival. Like "Platoon" "Cross of Iron" is a study of survival amid the chaos of war. There are several exciting, large-scale battles. There is a lot of gritty hand to hand combat as Steiner leads his men on patrols into enemy territory. Several scenes stand out.

      There is a tense scene of cat and mouse between Stransky, Triebig and his lover, Keppler. Stransky begins a friendly talk with the adjutant about what its like serving in the military surrounded by nothing but men. Triebig resents this because he thinks Stransky is flirting with his boyfriend. Stransky continues the charade until he has outted both soldiers and thus gained blackmail material on Triebig. Stransky has removed one threat to his becoming the king of the pond. Maximillian Schell is excellent in the role of Stransky with this scene as a standout. The subtlety and playfulness in which he draws his quarry into his trap is in sharp juxtaposition to his fierce stance once the trap is sprung.

      The other standout set-piece revolves around Steiner’s men coming upon a group of female Russian soldiers. Steiner and his men engage in a fire fight with a platoon of female Russian soldiers. They quickly gain the upper hand. The men, who at first seem menacing to the women, fall prey to these enemy soldiers. The women defuse the situation by appearing to be sexually interested in the men. The leader of the Russians takes on the most volatile and aggressive of Steiner’s men. She sends looks to the others as she willfully submits to this brutality. The women know what to do. The youngest woman is told to seduce a young German who has barely reached puberty. With these two young people, Sam shows the horror of rape in a very ironic way. The young girl puts the young soldier at ease. She looks at him as if she loves him. She then clumsily thrusts a bayonet into his stomach as she covers his mouth. She sobs uncontrollably as the blade first penetrates her victim. She is overcome by the horror of the act as she watches the young man die. Sam shows what its like to be raped with both of the characters. The male is the one penetrated. He cries out in agony and dies with a bewildered look on his face. A look of betrayal. A look that has crossed the faces of many a rape victim. The female cries as she is forced to kill of be kill. She cries for her lost innocence. Another more experience Russian orally castrates one of Stiener's men as he forces her to perform fellatio on him. Steiner saves the rest of his men by leaving the castrated soldier to be tortured by the women. Ulysses saving his men from the sirens. War is hell.

      "Cross of Iron" was Sam’s last great movie. He had six years left on this earth. Unlike Ted Williams, hitting a homerun at his last at bat, Sam left us with a chaotic, but muddled mess as his swansong. Considering the source material, the cast and the director, "The Osterman Weekend" should have been great. What it was, was a mess.

» THE FINAL CHAPTER: THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND (1983)

Rusty White