<i>The Dirty Dozen</i>

The Dirty Dozen

<p><i><b>The Dirty Dozen</b></i> is a 1967 American <a href="/en/War_film" title="War film" class="wl">war film</a> directed by <a href="/en/Robert_Aldrich" title="Robert Aldrich" class="wl">Robert Aldrich</a> and starring <a href="/en/Lee_Marvin" title="Lee Marvin" class="wl">Lee Marvin</a> with an ensemble supporting cast including <a href="/en/Ernest_Borgnine" title="Ernest Borgnine" class="wl">Ernest Borgnine</a>, <a href="/en/Charles_Bronson" title="Charles Bronson" class="wl">Charles Bronson</a>, <a href="/en/Jim_Brown" title="Jim Brown" class="wl">Jim Brown</a>, <a href="/en/John_Cassavetes" title="John Cassavetes" class="wl">John Cassavetes</a>, <a href="/en/Richard_Jaeckel" title="Richard Jaeckel" class="wl">Richard Jaeckel</a>, <a href="/en/George_Kennedy" title="George Kennedy" class="wl">George Kennedy</a>, <a href="/en/Ralph_Meeker" title="Ralph Meeker" class="wl">Ralph Meeker</a>, <a href="/en/Robert_Ryan" title="Robert Ryan" class="wl">Robert Ryan</a>, <a href="/en/Telly_Savalas" title="Telly Savalas" class="wl">Telly Savalas</a>, <a href="/en/Donald_Sutherland" title="Donald Sutherland" class="wl">Donald Sutherland</a>, <a href="/en/Clint_Walker" title="Clint Walker" class="wl">Clint Walker</a> and <a href="/en/Robert_Webber" title="Robert Webber" class="wl">Robert Webber</a>. Set in 1944 during the <a href="/en/Second_World_War" title="Second World War" class="mw-redirect wl">Second World War</a>, it was filmed in England at <a href="/en/MGM-British_Studios" title="MGM-British Studios" class="wl">MGM-British Studios</a> and released by <a href="/en/MGM" title="MGM" class="mw-redirect wl">MGM</a>. The film was a box office success and won the <a href="/en/Academy_Award_for_Best_Sound_Editing" title="Academy Award for Best Sound Editing" class="mw-redirect wl">Academy Award for Best Sound Editing</a> at the <a href="/en/40th_Academy_Awards" title="40th Academy Awards" class="wl">40th Academy Awards</a> in 1968. In 2001, the <a href="/en/American_Film_Institute" title="American Film Institute" class="wl">American Film Institute</a> placed it at number 65 on their <a href="/en/100_Years..._100_Thrills" title="100 Years... 100 Thrills" class="mw-redirect wl">100 Years... 100 Thrills</a> list. The screenplay is based on the 1965 bestseller by <a href="/en/E._M._Nathanson" title="E. M. Nathanson" class="wl">E. M. Nathanson</a> which was inspired by a real-life WWII unit of behind-the-lines demolition specialists from the <a href="/en/101st_Airborne_Division" title="101st Airborne Division" class="wl">101st Airborne Division</a> named the "<a href="/en/Filthy_Thirteen" title="Filthy Thirteen" class="wl">Filthy Thirteen</a>". Another possible inspiration was the public offer to President <a href="/en/Franklin_D._Roosevelt" title="Franklin D. Roosevelt" class="wl">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a> by 44 prisoners serving life sentences at the <a href="/en/Oklahoma_State_Penitentiary" title="Oklahoma State Penitentiary" class="wl">Oklahoma State Penitentiary</a> to serve in the Pacific on suicide missions against the Japanese.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">1967 film</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: The Dirty Dozen, Directed by, Screenplay by, ...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vevent mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above summary" style="font-size: 125%; font-style: italic;">The Dirty Dozen</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size mw-image-border"><a href="/en/File:Dirty_moviep.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Dirty_moviep.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8c/Dirty_moviep.jpg/220px-Dirty_moviep.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="255" data-file-height="391" data-file-type="bitmap" height="337" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Dirty_moviep.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Dirty_moviep.jpg 2x" alt="Dirty_moviep.jpg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Theatrical release poster by <a href="/en/Frank_McCarthy_(artist)" title="Frank McCarthy (artist)" class="wl">Frank McCarthy</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Directed by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Robert_Aldrich" title="Robert Aldrich" class="wl">Robert Aldrich</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Screenplay by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Nunnally_Johnson" title="Nunnally Johnson" class="wl">Nunnally Johnson</a><br><a href="/en/Lukas_Heller" title="Lukas Heller" class="wl">Lukas Heller</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Based on</th><td class="infobox-data"><i>The Dirty Dozen</i><br>1965 novel<br>by <a href="/en/E._M._Nathanson" title="E. M. Nathanson" class="wl">E. M. Nathanson</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Produced by</th><td class="infobox-data">Kenneth Hyman</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Starring</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Lee_Marvin" title="Lee Marvin" class="wl">Lee Marvin</a><br><a href="/en/Ernest_Borgnine" title="Ernest Borgnine" class="wl">Ernest Borgnine</a><br><a href="/en/Charles_Bronson" title="Charles Bronson" class="wl">Charles Bronson</a><br><a href="/en/Jim_Brown" title="Jim Brown" class="wl">Jim Brown</a><br><a href="/en/John_Cassavetes" title="John Cassavetes" class="wl">John Cassavetes</a><br><a href="/en/Richard_Jaeckel" title="Richard Jaeckel" class="wl">Richard Jaeckel</a><br><a href="/en/George_Kennedy" title="George Kennedy" class="wl">George Kennedy</a><br><a href="/en/Trini_Lopez" title="Trini Lopez" class="wl">Trini Lopez</a><br><a href="/en/Ralph_Meeker" title="Ralph Meeker" class="wl">Ralph Meeker</a><br><a href="/en/Robert_Ryan" title="Robert Ryan" class="wl">Robert Ryan</a><br><a href="/en/Telly_Savalas" title="Telly Savalas" class="wl">Telly Savalas</a><br><a href="/en/Clint_Walker" title="Clint Walker" class="wl">Clint Walker</a><br><a href="/en/Robert_Webber" title="Robert Webber" class="wl">Robert Webber</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Cinematography</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Edward_Scaife" title="Edward Scaife" class="wl">Edward Scaife</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Edited by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Michael_Luciano" title="Michael Luciano" class="wl">Michael Luciano</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Music by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Frank_De_Vol" title="Frank De Vol" class="wl">Frank De Vol</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Production<br>company</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="vertical-align: middle;"><a href="/en/Kenneth_Hyman" title="Kenneth Hyman" class="wl">Kenneth Hyman</a> Production</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Distributed by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" title="Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" class="wl">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;white-space: normal;">Release date</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist ">
<ul><li>June<span>&nbsp;</span>15,<span>&nbsp;</span>1967<span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1967-06-15</span>)</span></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;white-space: normal;">Running time</div></th><td class="infobox-data">150 minutes</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Countries</th><td class="infobox-data">United States<br>United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Languages</th><td class="infobox-data">English<br>German<br>French</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Budget</th><td class="infobox-data">$5.4<span>&nbsp;</span>million<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-robert_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-robert-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.65em;">Box office</th><td class="infobox-data">$45.3<span>&nbsp;</span>million<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>


The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker and Robert Webber. Set in 1944 during the Second World War, it was filmed in England at MGM-British Studios and released by MGM. The film was a box office success and won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed it at number 65 on their 100 Years... 100 Thrills list. The screenplay is based on the 1965 bestseller by E. M. Nathanson which was inspired by a real-life WWII unit of behind-the-lines demolition specialists from the 101st Airborne Division named the "Filthy Thirteen". Another possible inspiration was the public offer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by 44 prisoners serving life sentences at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary to serve in the Pacific on suicide missions against the Japanese. 