Cross of Iron (1977)
On the Eastern front in 1943, the German soldiers no longer had any ideals. They were not fighting for the Party—but for their lives!
- Released
- Runtime 2h 13m
- Director Sam Peckinpah
- Genres Action Drama History War
- Rating 7.1/10 (499 votes)
Synopsis
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.
Cast
-
James Coburn
as Unteroffizier / Feldwebel Rolf Steiner
-
Maximilian Schell
as Hauptmann Stransky
-
James Mason
as Oberst Brandt
-
David Warner
as Hauptmann Kiesel
-
Klaus Löwitsch
as Unteroffizier Krüger
-
Vadim Glowna
as Gefreiter Kern
-
Roger Fritz
as Leutnant Treibig
-
Dieter Schidor
as Anselm
-
Burkhard Driest
as Schütze Maag
-
Fred Stillkrauth
as Unteroffizier Schnurrbart
- Michael Nowka as Dietz
- Véronique Vendell as Marga
-
Arthur Brauss
as Zoll
-
Senta Berger
as Eva
- Demeter Bitenc as Hauptmann Pucher (uncredited)
- Igor Galo as Leutnant Meyer (uncredited)
- Katherine Haber as Nurse Sadie Finkelstein (uncredited)
- Wolf C. Hartwig as Hartwig (uncredited)
Crew
-
Sam Peckinpah
Director
- John Coquillon Director of Photography
- Michael Ellis Editor
- Murray Jordan Editor
-
Tony Lawson
Editor
-
Ernest Gold
Original Music Composer
- Wolf C. Hartwig Producer
- Arlene Sellers Producer
- Alex Winitsky Producer
-
Julius J. Epstein
Screenplay
- James Hamilton Screenplay
- Walter Kelley Screenplay
