Tarnished Heroes [DVD]

A typical Danziger B picture feature production,which I used to see regularly in the cinemas as a boy. Nice print and sound, brought back memories, now on dvd after never being shown on TV. However, they didn't seem to be much quality control on the transfer. Any image moving left to right right to left juddered constantly. A soldier turned on his heals a full circle which should have been a smooth action, instead he did it in 4 different jerks. This is often the case with NTSC to Pal transfers, in a minor form. This was worse. I couldn't continue watching it. I spoke to the company and he was sympathetic,and noted what I said. I tried 5 different dvd machines and it happened on all.
A shame because the print was good,and there are many more good titles. I'll try another and hope The Tarnished Heroes is the only one.

OK, so there are not 12 of 'em and it's not so violent as the Hollywood version, and it's in black and white.
So what. It's a good example of early 60s British cinema; the sort of film to watch on a wet afternoon.
The tarnished heroes are the dregs of British army and are given a second chance when they're led behind enemy lines by a war-weary major. Their task is seemingly impossible and it's the viewer's task to pick out who'll redeem themselves, who'll be forever the coward or villain, and who will survive.
All-in-all, good entertainment on a small budget.

Much as I like anything in black & white from the 'wonder days', this we thought was rather naff to put it bluntly!. Time has not been good to it to be honest: it's a shame as the script is by Brian Clemens, he of countless telly series, The Avengers etc. etc. but this might be called The Mucky Seven as opposed to the The Dirty Dozen, like another reviewer pointed out, as the production values are well, cheap, as can be expected being a Danziger production but none the less for that it's a case of the cast being guided as opposed to directed in this film. There are so, so many 'bits' you will have seen in other films and you basically 'know' the next scene before it appears (Anton Rodgers demise was expected within a few seconds and golly gosh, we were right..) plus tension is a sudden trumpet bursting your eardrums and on the other end of the spectrum, a bit of catgut drawn slowly across a double bass for the other side of background music to set the 'pace'. 'German' vehicles are basically British Bedford lorries and the armoured cars might be British again with plywood 'enhancement' as they say. One howler is the '40 pounds of TNT' in weight we are informed that will be used to blow a bridge up seems to weigh nothing in its box with TNT marked in large lettrs to avoid any misunderstanding to anybody watching as its slung over the shoulder and keeps on swinging at one point as it's maybe empty and of course it is.. Bearing in mind that the 'box' only contains said TNT, as in sticks of dynamite sort of thing, with no detonators, there is a laugh out loud bit where a TNT box slides about three foot on grass (do think that if there WAS anything in it as we are lead to believe, the sheer weight would stop it once landing on Mother Earth..) after sliding off the shoulder of one of our daring-do heroes and our collective hero's gasp and stare as they expect it to 'blow up' with the impact of it landing but relax, all is well (depending on your outlook..). The bridge is 'blown up' but the only way you know this is the four or five smoke canisters set off by the FX dept or perhaps Ron back after his tea break who oblighed, and with the said smoke wafting about amid bodies lying about with various bits of rubble around them to set the scene but you never see the bridge after this scene! - The Bridge on The River Kwai saw the actual thing blow up, here you make do with a bit of smoke, bodies and rubble..ha well. You can only but wonder at the crew being told they only have one bridge to play with and it's got to go back intact and not blown up, so there!. One bit that got me was the ending where there were no credits as such rolling through with who made the rubble, blew the trumpet etc. but you do get a few bars of the old ATV signature tune, for those who can recall it from those back in the 1960's, and can only assume that this was meant to be shown on ITV perhaps?. Having pointed out the above, don't let me out you off as for it's gene, it has it's moments but we are not talking Oscar winning stuff 'ere but a 'film to sit through on a wet Sunday afternoon' because in some moments it awful close to 'Blackadder Goes Forth'