Secret Invasion [Blu-ray] [1964] [US Import]

I fully share Mr.Walter Goodseal's sentiments about this great film finally making it out of those Hollywood's possessive shelves. This great film features screen giants like Stewart Granger, Ralph Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Henry Silva, William Campbell, Spela Rozin and Enzo Fiermonte as the Italian General Quadri, to name a few of a great cast. As Fascist Italy is near collapse, this group of infiltrating allied commandoes is sent into Nazi occupied Yugoslavia to provoke an uprising of the Italian troops there against their German allies which would hopefully help the U.S.,Britain and their allies, the Yugoslav partisans in the liberation of Yugoslavia from Hitler. This is an unusual war film, brilliantly directed by Roger Corman. A great film which should've been released a long time ago and we, its fans, have been waiting for it for decades, but at long last we will finally have a copy of it on DVD and watch it with pleasure.

Roger Corman was in the middle of his Edgar Allan Poe/Vincent Price cycle when he took time out to make this low budget but fascinating war movie which takes the same basic plot as The Dirty Dozen and which appeared in 1964 as opposed to the better known movie which was not made until 1967.

Stewart Granger plays Major Richard Mace ,a British army officer,who is tasked with a mission to rescue an Italian general (Enzo Fermonte)from captivity at the hands of the Germans.He has vital information which the enely must not find out .The mission involves landing behind enemy lines in Dubrovnik ,on the Adriatic sea,and snatching him from his captors

The mission members are all criminals undertaking the job for pardons .There is a sharpshooter (Henry Silva),a former gang leader(Raf Vallone),a dynamite expert (Mickey Rooney),a forger (Ed Byrnes) and an art faker (William Campbell).They are aided by two partisans -Peter Coe and Mia Massini.

There is a neatly executed twist ,revealed at the conclusion of the mission

This is quite a bleak movie and has some sharp dialogue courtesy of screenwriter R Wright Campbell and overall its an exciting B -Movie .It lacks the powerhouse cast and budget of The Dirty Dozen but it well acted by a cast of solid character actors and is worth the time of all war movie lovers .Roger Corman directs -as ever -with pace and panache

Iam so proud that this movie has finally made it DVD. It is the best war film before the dirty dozen was even made. Roger Corman's direction is crisp and clean and it clips along with intensity and suspense. I saw this many years ago and love it since then. Thank you MGM and Roger Corman..it's been a long time coming.. However, this film is not photographed in 1.33 aspect ratio, but in 2.35 I have recieved my copy and I was amazed. The dvd print is very crisp and clear, the color magnificent. It so good to see this film again after all these years. The performances are all top notch. My favorite charcters are Edd Byrnes as Simon Fell. It's good to see him almost steal the film, his performance is his best to date. Henry Silva is cool as ever, and Mickey Rooney shines as the demolition expert. With William Campbell and Raf Vallone bringing up the rear. Stewart Granger bring authority to his role then defeat. This movie as I said before moves very quickly so put it on pause when you need to take a break. Also this film makes me want to buy a ticket to Devornick...enjoy

Predating The Dirty Dozen (1967) by several years, Roger Corman's World War II adventure, The Secret Invasion (1964), features prisoners recruited for a covert operation behind enemy lines. The rationale for the mission is questionable, and why prisoners were selected is not revealed, however once things get rolling, it is not a bad film.

It's 1943, and British Army Major Richard Mace (Stewart Granger), is in command of a multinational group of prisoners that includes Robert Rocca (Raf Vallone), Terence Scanlon (Mickey Rooney), Simon Fell (Edd Byrnes), Jean Saval (William Campbell), and John Durell (Henry Silva). Each man has a special skill, but there isn't a lot of time for character development, and things move along rather briskly, and the group is soon in the Balkans, meeting up with a group of partisans. Mace's group learns they are to free an Italian general being held prisoner by the Germans. They begin a farfetched plan to dig into a castle used as a prison, but they are captured before they get very far.

The Germans are remarkably patient, torturing the prisoners one by one. Mace seems to have lost control of the situation, but things change when the prisoners come up with a plan to free the Italian general and escape. It is remarkably successful, and somehow receives massive partisan support. A raucous, though disjointed battle on the mountainside takes place. Most of the team do not survive, but the General is delivered safety. There is however a twist, that requires one final sacrifice to ultimately make the mission a 'success'.

Although early on the film has some low budget aspects, B-move pioneer Roger Corman (Death Race 2000), makes excellent use of locations in Yugoslavia and Croatia, producing a film that looks quite good, featuring some beautiful scenic shots, including those of the fortress prison and the Mediterranean Sea. The plot may have flaws, and Corman may not have had a lot of experience staging large scale battle scenes, but The Secret Invasion is a film that fans of World War II action should consider seeing.

Three years before The Dirty Dozen was released, director Roger Corman made this movie, The Secret Invasion, dealing with a similar subject although with a much smaller budget. In Cairo in 1943, five men are brought together by British Major Richard Mace, each of them specialists in their field. The catch you ask? They're all convicts with sentences ranging from a few years to immediate execution. Mace has brought them together to help the Allied invasion of Italy by making the situation in the Balkans easier to handle. Mace and his convict commandos will attempt to free an Italian general from a German fortress who is suspected of contacting Allied agents. They hope to break him free and tell his Italian soldiers to fight against, not with, the Germans. For a low-budget movie, this one packs a wallop with plenty of action. The build-up can be a little slow, but the last 40 minutes are non-stop action including a running battle up a hill with Germans in hot pursuit. This movie has finally got a DVD release, so take advantage, it's a lot of fun from beginning to end.

Part of the movie's enjoyment comes from the cast who all seem to be having a blast making the movie. Much of the cast is character actors finally given a chance to spread their wings with a meatier role. Stewart Granger plays Major Mace, the one officer in the group who has an alterior motive on this mission. Raf Vallone is the real star here as Roberto Rocca, the Mafioso who planned crimes for the mob and will organize the rescue operation. Mickey Rooney seems to be enjoying himself the most as Terrence Scanlon, a feisty Irishman who fought with the IRA as an explosives expert. Edd Byrnes plays Simon Fell, the forger who's not convinced he should tag along at all. Henry Silva is very good in the role of Durrell, a paid assassin with some personal issues we see as the mission progresses. The last of the convicts is William Campbell as Jean Saval, a master of disguise and an impersonator who doesn't trust anybody. The rest of the cast includes Helmo Kindermann as a German commandant, Spela Rozin as Mila, a partisan woman who bonds with Silva, and Peter Coe as Marko, the resistance leader.

The recently released DVD unfortunately has no special features, not even a trailer. But when it comes to fans of the action movie, the important thing is the actual movie and it looks perfect here in a widescreen presentation. The locations in Yugoslavia benefit the most, and all the colors look pretty good. You'd never know this movie was released almost 45 years ago. So for an exciting WWII movie with a strong cast who all seem to be having a good time, check out Roger Corman's The Secret Invasion!