During WWII's North African Campaign, engineer Captain Douglas (Michael Caine) gets assigned to Colonel Masters' (Nigel Green) desert commandos. Along with cutthroat Captain Leech (Nigel Davenport) and a gaggle of misfits, Douglas is ordered to destroy Rommel's main fuel depot. Douglas clashes with Leech, whose cavalier morality nettles appalls Douglas. But Leech's cynicism proves well-founded, as Brigadier Blore (Harry Andrews) scrubs their mission at the last moment - and when the Germans have some tricks of their own.
Play Dirty is far more potent than the faux-cynicism of The Dirty Dozen. Robert Aldrich's mostly-lovable convict-commandos become motorized pirates, interested only in profit and survival. The opening, with Leech changing radio stations from German to British during a patrol, is a nasty touch reminiscent of Sergio Leone. Leech has no problem massacring curious Arabs or allowing British troops to die if it benefits the mission. When priorities change British generals actually inform the Germans of Douglas's mission. The ending is worst trick of all.
De Toth's striking direction matches the overall fatalism. The Almerian locations are familiar from many Spaghetti Westerns and epics but have rarely seemed so forbidding. There's plenty of violent action, especially the ambush of a British armored column, while a stylishly-staged attack through a dust storm has an unpleasant payoff. Play Dirty's cynicism is unrelenting.
Michael Caine is very good as a straightlaced man out of his element. But Nigel Davenport (A Man for All Seasons) handily steals the show. Relishing a rare starring role, Davenport invests the piratical Leech with callousness, casual violence and gallows humor. It's easily his best performance. Nigel Green (Zulu) and Harry Andrews (The Ruling Class) mostly spout exposition and the other commandos make little impression. Vivian Pickles (Nicholas and Alexandra) is an unfortunate German nurse.
Play Dirty stands as a uniquely nasty war film. Without an overt pacifist message, it effectively depicts war as a cruel joke on everyone involved.
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