''Desert Commandos'' (Italian: ''Attentato ai tre grandi'') is a 1967 French/Italian/West German

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production compa ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

set during World War II in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

where it was filmed. The Italian title (''Attack on the Big Three'') refers to a German commando group with a mission to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt and de Gaulle at the

Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...

. The film is a character-based drama that focuses on the German soldiers' various drives and conflicts during encounters with

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...

nomads, and French and American soldiers.

Plot

The grief-stricken Captain Fritz Schoeller has assisted his terminally ill wife with her wishes for

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. A party of men whisk him from his wife's funeral, not for arrest, but to be briefed on a special mission he will lead. The Captain, Lt. Roland Wolf, Sgt. Erich Huber, Corporal Hans Ludwig and Private Willy Mainz are all skilled in commando tactics and have excellent English language skills. They are dressed in British Commando uniforms and parachuted into Morocco where Faddja Hassen, an Arab woman will guide them to Casablanca where they will assassinate Allied leaders.

Cast

* Ken Clark: Captain Fritz Schoeller * Horst Frank: Lt. Roland Wolf * Jeanne Valérie: Faddja Hassen *

Carlo Hintermann Carlo Hintermann (2 April 1923 – 7 January 1988) was an Italian film, television and stage actor and voice actor. He was sometimes credited as Carlo Hinterman. Life and career Born in Milan into a family of ancient Teutonic origin, Hinterma ...

: Sgt. Erich Huber * Howard Ross: Willy Mainz *

Franco Fantasia Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death Septembe ...

: Major Dalio * Hardy Reichelt: Corporal Hans Ludwig * Fabienne Dali: Simone * John Stacy: Sir Bryan * Tom Felleghy: Colonel Ross * Gianni Rizzo: Perrier

Release

The film was released in West Germany on March 15, 1968, as ''Fünf gegen Casablanca''.

References

Sources

External links

* 1968 war films West German films Italian war films Films directed by Umberto Lenzi Films set in Morocco North African campaign films Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi Constantin Film films French World War II films German World War II films Italian World War II films Macaroni Combat films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films 1960s German films {{WWII-film-stub