Cast a Giant Shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) was a labor of love for Melville Shavelson. A former joke writer for Bob Hope, Shaverson spent years trying to get the film made, finding no interest until John Wayne read his script. Agreeing to co-produce, Wayne encouraged Kirk Douglas to play David "Mickey" Marcus, the American soldier-turned-Israeli fighter, and Shadow opened to good box office but indifferent reviews. Seen today, it's a stilted epic that fails to do its subject justice.

David Marcus (Kirk Douglas) is an American JAG officer who, during World War II, gains a reputation for insubordinate, reckless behavior. After the war ends he's contacted by Major Shamir (James Donald) to help the Haganah, a Zionist group agitating for Israeli independence. Marcus is appalled by the pitiable state of Palestine's Jews, agreeing to serve as a military adviser. Israel gains independence from Britain but is immediately set upon by its Arab neighbors. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Israelis rely on Marcus's expertise to secure their freedom.

Cast a Giant Shadow places a poor second to Exodus, Otto Preminger's flawed but engrossing paean to Israeli freedom. Shavelson's literal-minded script lurches from set piece to set piece, only stopping for exposition. Shadow spells out back stories, hammers home plot points and explains everything in a deadeningly declarative fashion. We never doubt Mickey's motivations, thanks to the stilted dialogue and clunky flashbacks. The human moments fall even flatter, with Marcus's wife (Angie Dickinson) miscarrying a baby and Haganah agent Magda (Senta Berger) conveniently losing her husband just as Marcus's marriage dissolves. Very little of Shadow feels authentic, except its sincere advocacy for Israel.

Shadow has some interest for war movie fans. For a comedy director, Shavelson has a good feel for action scenes (though surely second unit directors were involved), drawing interest from the IDF's ramshackle tactics. In one battle an Israeli pilot (Frank Sinatra) bombs Arab tanks with seltzer bottles! Other scenes don't work so well; the World War II scenes feel cheap, making heavy use of stock footage. Marcus's visit to Dachau especially grates in its (understandable) tell-don't-show presentation. On top of everything else  the movie plods. Its seemingly endless battles and lectures (with occasional melodramatic interludes) ultimately make for a deadening experience.

Kirk Douglas gets a role tailor-made to his star image. Douglas plays the cheeky wild card, parachuting into France against orders, butting heads with John Wayne's General and later Israeli officials. He gets plenty of earnest drama scenes contrasted with rugged action, a Spartacus for the '40s. He's obviously more virile than Magda's impotent husband; is it a sign of star ego that Douglas gets to bed Angie Dickinson and Senta Berger? Douglas handles himself well, even if Marcus seems too perfect to be credible.

The star cameos simply don't work. John Wayne's scenes clunk, while Frank Sinatra's pilot barely makes an impression. Yul Brynner has more screen time, but his grumpy soldier isn't much more substantial. Senta Berger (Major Dundee) makes an appealing love interest/freedom fighter but Angie Dickinson's scenes play as cheap melodrama. Character actors James Donald (Bridge on the River Kwai), Michael Hordern (Royal Flash), Luther Adler (The Desert Fox) and Gordon Jackson fare better. Topol (Galileo), the cast's one authentic Israeli, plays a crude Arab sheik. 

Like many message movies, Cast a Giant Shadow features good intentions blotted out by indifferent execution. Mickey Marcus's story is worth telling; too bad it's rendered so stiffly.