Breakthrough (1979 film)

Last updated
Breakthrough
Breakthrough FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Written byPeter Berneis / Tony Williamson
Produced by Wolf C. Hartwig
Herbert Lukowski
Starring Richard Burton
Robert Mitchum
Rod Steiger
Michael Parks
Curd Jurgens
Helmut Griem
Klaus Löwitsch
Music by Peter Thomas
Production
companies
Palladium Film
Rapid Film
Distributed by Constantin Film
Maverick Pictures International (US)
Release date
  • 1979 (1979)
Running time
111 minutes (German version)
115 minutes (English version)
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman / English
Budget$7.2 million [1]

Breakthrough, also released as Steiner - Das Eiserne Kreuz, 2 and Sergeant Steiner [2] is a 1979 war film set on the Western Front, specifically the Normandy coastline. [3] The picture is a sequel to Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron , and includes several characters from that film.

Contents

The film stars several big names including Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger. Burton (Sergeant Steiner) and Helmut Griem (Major Stransky) assume the roles played by James Coburn and Maximilian Schell respectively in the original film. The supporting cast features Michael Parks and Curd Jürgens. This also marks the film debut of Christoph Waltz, playing an uncredited role. Klaus Löwitsch is the only actor from Cross of Iron to reprise his role.

Plot

Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission after coming up against a Russian tank. He then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.

Steiner's unit is transferred to France, occupying the village of St Bologne. General Hoffman (Curd Jürgens) orders Steiner to cross into nearby enemy territory and confer with American Colonel Rogers (Robert Mitchum) and General Webster (Rod Steiger), informing him that the High Command of the German Army (Wehrmacht) is plotting to assassinate Hitler and would like to surrender. The plan fails and American forces launch an attack on German forces in St Bologne where Stransky has planned an explosion to destroy both the Americans and the civilian inhabitants.

Colonel Rogers and Sgt. Anderson take a jeep with a white flag and approach St Bologne. The Germans fire on them per Stransky’s orders. Rogers and Anderson return to the tanks. The Americans start toward St. Bologne, unaware of the explosives planted in the town.

Steiner tells Stransky not to go ahead with the explosions. Stransky shoots him and leaves.

The German look-outs are killed. As the Americans enter the square the Germans prepare to set off the dynamite. Steiner, still alive, disconnects the main switch connecting the explosions. He then goes up the stairs and shoots the German soldiers and Stransky, saving Rogers’ life. The Germans start firing on the tanks. Steiner moves civilians out of the line of fire. The remaining Germans surrender.

Steiner walks through the burning town. One of the Germans shoots Anderson. Steiner shoots the German soldier, saving Rogers again.

Steiner clearly sympathises more with the Americans, even to the extent of killing his fellow soldiers.

Cast

Reception and criticism

Breakthrough was mostly financed by West German producers when it was released in 1979, after several changes were made to the sequel: for instance, the action was relocated from Russia to the Western Front and Richard Burton replaced Coburn as Sgt Steiner. The film was panned by critics, who identified a confusing plot, poor dialogue, an aged cast and undistinguished acting. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rodney Stephen Steiger was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played, which at times led to clashes with directors and co-stars. He starred as Marlon Brando's mobster brother Charley in On the Waterfront (1954), the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964) which won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and as police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967) which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The year 1960 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1957 in film involved some significant events. The Bridge on the River Kwai topped the year's box office in North America, France, and Germany, and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curd Jürgens</span> German-Austrian stage and film actor (1915–1982)

Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in Des Teufels General. His English-language roles include James Bond villain Karl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Éric Carradine in And God Created Woman (1956), and Professor Immanuel Rath in The Blue Angel (1959).

<i>Cross of Iron</i> 1977 British-German film by Sam Peckinpah

Cross of Iron is a 1977 war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, featuring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason and David Warner. Set on the Eastern Front in World War II during the Soviets' Caucasus operations against the German Kuban bridgehead on the Taman Peninsula in late 1943, the film focuses on the class conflict between a newly arrived, aristocratic Prussian officer who covets winning the Iron Cross and a cynical, battle-hardened infantry NCO.

<i>Duck, You Sucker!</i> 1971 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Leone

Duck, You Sucker!, also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution, is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn, and Romolo Valli.

<i>Tobruk</i> (1967 film) 1967 American war film directed by Arthur Hiller

Tobruk is a 1967 American drama war film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Rock Hudson and George Peppard. The film was written by Leo Gordon and released through Universal Pictures.

<i>The Longest Day</i> (film) 1962 epic historical war drama film produced by Darryl F. Zanuck

The Longest Day is a 1962 American epic historical war drama film based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 non-fiction book of the same name about the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox, and is directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, and Bernhard Wicki. The screenplay was written by Ryan, with additional material written by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon.

<i>The Willing Flesh</i> 1955 novel by Willi Heinrich

The Willing Flesh is a novel by Willi Heinrich, chronicling the Eastern Front combat experiences of a depleted infantry platoon during the 1943 German retreat from the Taman Peninsula in the Caucasian coast of Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horst Tappert</span> German actor

Horst Tappert was a German film and television actor best known for the role of Inspector Stephan Derrick in the television drama Derrick.

<i>The Wild Geese</i> 1978 film

The Wild Geese is a 1978 war film starring an ensemble cast led by Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger. The film, which was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, was the result of a long-held ambition of producer Euan Lloyd to make an all-star adventure film in the vein of The Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare. The plot concerns a group of European mercenaries fighting in Africa. The screenplay by Reginald Rose was based on Daniel Carney's unpublished novel The Thin White Line.

<i>The Desert Rats</i> (film) 1953 film by Robert Wise

The Desert Rats is a 1953 American black-and-white war film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Robert L. Jacks, directed by Robert Wise, that stars Richard Burton, James Mason, and Robert Newton. The film's storyline concerns the Siege of Tobruk in 1941 North Africa during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadja Tiller</span> Austrian actress (1929–2023)

Nadja Tiller was an Austrian actress in film, television, and on stage. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses in the international cinema of the 1950s and 1960s, receiving international recognition when she played the title role in the 1958 film Das Mädchen Rosemarie (Rosemary) in 1958, shown at the Venice Film Festival. It opened the way to international films. She often played alongside her husband, Walter Giller.

"Point 783" is the fifth episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions. Written by Peter Curran and David Williams and directed by Robert Lynn, it was first broadcast on 22 December 1967 on ATV Midlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Cross Church, Frankfurt-Bornheim</span> Church in Hesse, Germany

The Holy Cross Church is a Catholic church in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main (Germany). It is similar in design to the Frauenfriedenskirche in Frankfurt-Bockenheim. It was built by Martin Weber from 1928 to 1929, on a rise then known as Bornheimer Hang. The church is an unusual example of interwar modernism as sacred Bauhaus architecture.

<i>In Pursuit of Honor</i> 1995 American film by Ken Olin

In Pursuit of Honor is a 1995 American made-for-cable Western film directed by Ken Olin. Don Johnson stars as a member of a United States Cavalry detachment refusing to slaughter its horses after being ordered to do so by General Douglas MacArthur. The movie follows the plight of the officers as they attempt to save the animals that the Army no longer needs as it modernizes toward a mechanized military. The movie claims to be based on a true story but without firm evidence to support the claim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Meyen</span> German actor (1924–1979)

Harry Meyen was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films and television productions between 1948 and 1975. In the 1960s he also worked as a theatre director in West Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horst Janson (actor)</span> German actor (1935–2025)

Horst Janson was a German actor. To English-speaking audiences he is best remembered for roles as captains in the films Escape from East Berlin (1962), a German Submarine Captain in Murphy's War (1971), the lead role of Captain Kronos in the swash-buckling Hammer Film production Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974), the German ship captain-lieutenant in the German West African-set war adventure film Shout at the Devil (1976), and a German captain in the war film Breakthrough (1979). On German television he appeared as the title character in 13 episodes of Der Bastian (1973), more than 200 episodes of Sesamstraße between 1980 and 1983, and eight episodes of Alle meine Töchter (2001).

<i>Bitter Victory</i> 1957 film by Nicholas Ray

Bitter Victory is a 1957 Franco-American international co-production film, shot in CinemaScope and directed by Nicholas Ray. Set in World War II, it stars Richard Burton and Curt Jürgens as two British Army officers sent out on a commando raid in North Africa. Ruth Roman plays the former lover of one and the wife of the other. It is based on the novel of the same name by René Hardy.

References

  1. "Arlene Sellers, Alex Winitsky Drop 'Anonymity' After 10 Features". Variety . October 4, 1978. p. 5.
  2. Steiner - Das eiserne Kreuz, 2. Teil (Sergeant Steiner) (Breakthrough) (1980) , retrieved 2019-06-25
  3. Fyne, Robert. (2008). Long ago and far away : Hollywood and the Second World War. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810861244. OCLC   183179610.
  4. "Review:BREAKTHROUGH (1979) aka SERGEANT STEINER". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2011-04-07.