Castle Keep *** (1969, Burt Lancaster, Peter Falk, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Patrick O’Neal, Al Freeman Jnr, Scott Wilson, Tony Bill, Bruce Dern, Astrid Heeren, Michael Conrad) – Classic Movie Review 5045

In director Sydney Pollack’s odd but vital and intriguing 1969 World War Two wartime drama set in 1944, eight American soldiers led by a one-eyed Major Abraham Falconer (Burt Lancaster) and his Sergeant Orlando Rossi (Peter Falk) take over and occupy the ancient Castle Keep.

The Belgian castle is owned by aristocrat, Comte de Maldorais (Jean-Pierre Aumont), worried about his art treasures and his family life.

Weirdly, the impotent Comte gets the Major to bed his wife Therese (Astrid Heeren) for the sake of having a son and heir. And so the Americans try to hold the castle against a German attack, while the Major enjoys his affair with the countess.

The bravura acting and the script’s easy-going sense of humour easily gloss over the problems of an uneasy screenplay that is sometimes pretentious and lacks coherence. Daniel Taradash and David Rayfiel’s screenplay, going for relevance by pointing up the story as an anti-Vietnam war allegory, is based on the novel by William Eastlake.

Director Pollack ensures that the film is dynamic, and that the production looks classy and expensive, and he stages a spectacular battle sequence with an eye to the box-office. But, sadly, the film was a box-office failure anyway.

Also in the cast are Patrick O’Neal as Captain Lionel Beckman, Al Freeman Jnr as Private Allistair Piersall Benjamin, Scott Wilson as Corporal Clearboy, Tony Bill as Lieutenant Amberjack, Bruce Dern as Lieutenant Billy Byron Bix, Michael Conrad as Sergeant DeVaca, James Patterson, Ernest Clark, Harry Baird, Dave Jones, Jean Girnello, Caterina Boratto and Bisera Vukotic.

The ads tried to make it sound sexy: ‘The major took the castle and then he took its mistress!’

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5045

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