Sydney Pollack directed Castle Keep, a war serio-comedy, starring Burt Lancaster, Patrick O’Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Bruce Dern and Peter Falk.
Grade: C+ (**out of *****)
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The film appeared in the summer of 1969, a few months before the premiere of Sidney Pollack’s smash hit, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? which immediately established Jane Fonda as a major star.
The script is based on the 1965 novel of the same name by William Eastlake, who had enlisted in the US Army in 1942. He had served in the Infantry for four and a half years, and was wounded while leading a platoon during the Battle of the Bulge.
Castle Keep opens with long shots of ancient European art and sculptures being blown out to pieces amidst the sounds of war and dissonant screams. A Black narrator (Al Freeman Jr.) then begins his tale of “eight American soldiers,” when suddenly, the scene jumps back to a few weeks earlier.
It is December 1944, and a ragtag group of American soldiers (implied to be a group of wounded sent for some quiet R & R) enter the scene, riding on a jeep towing a small trailer.
The group is led by the one-eyed Major Abraham Falconer (Burt Lancaster) and includes Sgt. Rossi (Peter Falk), art expert Captain Beckman (Patrick O’Neal), and the narrator, African-American Pvt. Allistair Benjamin.
They take shelter in a 10th century Belgian castle, the Maldorais, which contains priceless art treasures.
While at the castle, Falconer begins a love affair with the young Countess (Astrid Heeren); he is surprised to find that she is not the Count’s niece but actually the Count’s wife.
The Count of Maldorais, Henri Tixier (French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont), admits to being impotent, hoping that the Major will impregnate the Countess so that his lineage continue.
Meanwhile, Beckman argues with Falconer over the value of the art as well as Beckman’s own unrequited attraction to the Countess, who symbolizes the majesty of European art.
The American soldiers are happy to enjoy a respite from combat, surrounded by unimaginable antique luxury. However, their days of leisure almost undermine the reality of the war itself.
Although the men are eager to sit out the war, wishing it will soon end, there is a sense of foreboding, a feeling of inevitability of what will transpire.
The cynical Major Falconer predicts that the Germans will attack the thin American positions in the Ardennes, making and the castle a strategic point in the Germans’ advance towards the crossroads of Bastogne. He is proved right, after seeing German star-shell signals over the town of St. Croix
Falconer and Beckman, both wounded, put aside their personal and ideological differences and prepare for the oncoming final assault with machine gun pointed across the castle roof.
Pvt. Benjamin and a pregnant Countess, following the orders of Maj. Falconer, escape through an underground tunnel that leads away from the Germans.
The film ends where it began, echoing the theme of inevitable recurrence, with long shots of the undemolished Maldorais as it once stood, as well as the voice-over of Pvt. Benjamin’s narration from the very beginning.
The movie was not popular at the box-office.
Cast
Burt Lancaster as Major Abraham Falconer
Patrick O’Neal as Captain Lionel Beckman
Jean-Pierre Aumont as the Count of Maldorais
Peter Falk as Sergeant Rossi
Astrid Heeren as the Countess Therese
Scott Wilson as Corporal Clearboy
Tony Bill as Lieutenant Amberjack
Al Freeman Jr. as Private Allistair Piersall Benjamin
James Patterson as Elk
Bruce Dern as Lieutenant Billy Byron Bix
Michael Conrad as Sergeant DeVaca
Caterina Boratto as Red Queen
Olga Bisera as the Baker’s Wife
Credits
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Written by Daniel Taradash, David Rayfiel, Based on Castle Keep (1965 novel) by William Eastlake
Produced by John Calley, Martin Ransohoff
Narrated by Al Freeman Jr.
Cinematography Henri Decaë
Edited by Malcolm Cooke
Music by Michel Legrand
Color process Technicolor
Production companies: Filmways Pictures, Avala Film
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date: July 23, 1969
Running time: 107 minutes
Budget $8 million
Box office $1.8 million (rentals)
