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The Dirty Dozen (1967)
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The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 World War II action film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin as Major Reisman, who is assigned to lead twelve hardened ex-soldiers on death row on a seemingly impossible mission behind German lines. The cast includes Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and John Cassavetes, who received an Academy Award nomination for his role in the film. The film would later spawn a series of television film sequels.
The following weapons were used in the film The Dirty Dozen:
WARNING! THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Submachine Guns
M3 "Grease Gun"
The most commonly seen gun in the film is the older M3 "Grease Gun". It is not an M3A1 model because the guns clearly have external charging handles on the right side while the M3A1 has a hole in the bolt which would allow the operator to pull the bolt back with a finger. They also have a much higher rate of fire than the M3A1 model. Prison Military Police guards are seen using them, as well as practically every member of the Dirty Dozen, most notably Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) during several scenes in basic training. In reality, the Grease Gun was never fielded in such great numbers but was likely the easiest gun for the film armorers to acquire.
MP40
Germans are inaccurately seen armed mainly with MP40 submachine guns.
Rifles
M1 Garand
While the M1 Garand was the most heavily fielded weapon of the U.S. Military during WWII, it is seen somewhat scarcely in the film, mainly in the hands of MPs and some of the members of the Dirty Dozen during the war games.
M1 Carbine
Several of the troopers led by Col. Breed (Robert Ryan) are seen armed with M1 Carbines, although they are only in the background.
M1A1 Carbine
While disarming Breed's men, Tassos Bravos (Al Mancini) takes a paratrooper folding stock M1A1 Carbine.
Karabiner 98k
German soldiers carry Karabiner 98k rifles during the final shootout at the mansion. Like many WWII films from 1960-1980, the MP40 submachine gun is inaccurately shown as the main weapon of the German army instead of the Kar98k.
Karabiner 98k Sniper
At one point in the film, a German sniper is seen using a Karabiner 98k fitted with a scope (which appears to have infrared vision, which wasn't available on such a small scope at the time) and uses it to kill Milo Vladek (Tom Busby) with a shot between the eyes.
The first German sniper is hilariously seen using an American M1 Garand with the same fake scope mount, likely because of a lack of 7.92mm blanks or firing Kar98k rifles.
Handguns
M1911A1
Several MP's and Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) are seen with M1911A1 pistols as their sidearms.
Beretta 950 Jetfire (suppressed)
Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) is seen using a Beretta 950 Jetfire fitted with a sound suppressor to eliminate some German officers at the guard gate. While inside the mansion, he manages to kill a radio operator with it before leaving it there. Since the pistol has a tip open barrel, this makes small acorn .22 blanks easy to load and unload with non-blank converted guns (which this clearly is since it doesn't cycle).
Walther P38
When Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) and Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) infiltrate the German mansion disguised as German officers, they keep Walther P38s as their sidearms and use them to shoot the guards outside the shelter entrance before sealing the people inside.
Luger P08
For some reason as Reisman (Lee Marvin) and Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) leave the underground shelter, their Walther P38s change to Luger P08s.
Machine Guns
Browning M1919A4
Several times the Browning M1919A4 is used in the film. First it is seen carried in a jeep by the blue team during the war games. Two are used during the assault on the mansion, one used by Roscoe Lever (Stuart Cooper) and Seth Sawyer (Colin Maitland) near the front entrance and the other manned by Tassos Bravos (Al Mancini) to combat the approaching German vehicles.
MG42
Samson Posey (Clint Walker) mans an MG42 to combat the approaching German vehicles. The gun is fitted with a 50 round drum. The same gun is seen mounted on a German vehicle but not clear enough to see.
MG 34
An MG 34 is seen fired from a German vehicle before members of the Dozen knock it off the bridge with their own vehicle.
Other
Mk 2 hand grenade
Several members of the Dirty Dozen keep Mk 2 hand grenades hanging on their belts, most notably Robert Jefferson (Jim Brown) and Archer Maggott (Telly Savalas). While on the roof, Glenn Gilpin (Ben Carruthers) gets stuck after having a leg break through the roof on his way to disable the alarm tower. Immobilized, he throws two Mk 2 grenades at the tower to destroy it instead. When preparing to blow up the mansion, Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) and his men dump bags of Mk 2 grenades down the vents and then dump gasoline to make the building itself a bomb.
Webley & Scott Signal Pistols
Samson Posey (Clint Walker) fires a Webley & Scott No. 1 Mk. III* Signal Pistol into the air to signal to the others that the Germans have arrived.
25 Pounder artillery guns
During the war games, the Red team fires on the Blue team with artillery that appears to be British 25 Pounder guns. Dale Dye mentioned in the DVD commentary that the chromed barrels for these artillery pieces make it more likely these guns were used for parades instead of actual combat operations. At the time of World War II, these guns were standard field artillery pieces not for the US, but for the British army. Presumably the proper American equivalents (105 mm guns, as the closer equivalent, for instance) were unavailable, the movie being filmed in the UK.
40mm Bofors AA gun
When the remaining members of the Dirty Dozen try to escape in an armored vehicle, they look back to see it is towing a German Anti-Aircraft (AA) gun. Victor Franko (John Cassavetes) then jumps off and removes the hitch. The AA gun appears to be a Bofors 40mm Anti-Aircraft gun.
