Dirty Heroes
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Alberto De Martino
Frederick Stafford
Adolfo Celi
Daniela Bianchi
Howard Ross
Curt Jurgens
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As World War II nears its end, an American POW and former Chicago safecracker, Sesamo, escapes from a German prison camp in Holland with Chicago gangsters Randall and Walcott. Walcott is killed, but assisted by Petrowsky, a German soldier in league with Dutch partisans, Sesamo makes his way to Amsterdam and unveils a plot to steal German rocket installation plans from a strongroom at Wehrmacht headquarters. (What Sesamo really wants from the strongroom is a fortune in diamonds that the Nazis took from Dutch jewel merchants.) Also involved in the daring scheme are Captain O'Connor, a U. S. Air Force officer and onetime underworld colleague of Sesamo; and Rolmann, a partisan leader. To obtain the floorplans of high command headquarters, Petrowsky blackmails Kristina von Keist, the young wife of a German general, by threatening to disclose her Jewish ancestry. Though the heist is successful, Sesamo and his men are captured by Nazis, who forced the disclosure of information pertaining to the raid from Rolmann's mistress. Left with no alternative, Rolmann plans a partisan attack on the already weakened and demoralized German occupation forces. But General von Keist, unwilling to sacrifice his men, offers to return the diamonds and captives if the German troops are permitted to withdraw. To assure fulfillment of the agreement, a hostage exchange is arranged--Rolmann for Kristina--until the withdrawal is completed. Before the agreement can be fulfilled, however, General von Keist is killed as a traitor by an SS officer, General Hassler. Then O'Connor's paratroop unit arrives to rescue Sesamo's group and help the partisans defeat the Germans. After the battle, Rolmann, fatally wounded, confesses to Sesamo that he never intended to let him keep the diamonds; and to avoid prosecution by the Allies, Sesamo and his cohorts return the gems to the Dutch. After receiving 10 percent of the diamonds' value as a reward of gratitude, Sesamo turns his back on his former associates, who plan to rob a Chicago bank after the war, and seeks out the forgiving Kristina.
Director
Alberto De Martino
Cast
Frederick Stafford
Adolfo Celi
Daniela Bianchi
Howard Ross
Curt Jurgens
John Ireland
Michel Constantin
Helmut Schneider
Anthony Dawson
Faida Nicols
Jacques Monod
Tom Felleghi
Valentino Macchi
Crew
Louis Agotay
Edmondo Amati
Nedo Azzini
Pierluigi Basile
Gianni Bergamini
Bruno Brunacci
Otello Colangeli
Ennio De Concini
Alberto De Martino
Vincenzo Flamini
Piero Lazzari
Ennio Morricone
Bruno Nicolai
Franco Silvestri
Giorgio Ubaldi
Dino Verde
Alberto Verucci
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Rome opening: caJan 1968 as Dalle ardenne all'inferno. Paris opening: May 1968 as La gloire des canailles; running time: 104 min. Released in West Germany in July 1968 as ... und Morgen fahrt ihr zur Hölle; running time: 106 min. Ennio De Concini's credit as script supervisor is unconfirmed. Louis Agotay is credited as coauthor of screenplay only by German sources. Renato Rossini appears under the pseudonym of Howard Ross; Antonio Margheriti as Anthony Dawson. One source credits Divina-Film as German production company in place of Gloria Film. Original running time: 120 min.
