Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

citizenamir Superb movie with brilliant cast. Can't believe this film has been so forgotten. One for people who love classic thrillers.

Moor-Larkin One day I might. So far I have watched the half-hour Macauley Mini-Movie. That has already earned Brass Target 9 out of 10, so the whole movie could well be a classic of epic proportions.Patrick McGoohan makes his entry to the movie a short way in, after a classy prologue explains the plot of the movie itself. Colonel Macauley is found, lording it up in a German castle, captured by the Allies. He is dressed in an alpine woolly jumper, with a gay Austrian titfer, complete with feathery knick-knack in the hat-band. He has been sought out by embittered OSS veteran John Cassavetes. Cassavetes is obviously fond of the old warrior. He knows Macauley is a ne'er-do-well shyster these days, but in an odd kind of way he still trusts him. Cassavetes seeks his help in the investigation of a huge Reichs-Gold theft but leaves disappointed, eventually, after watching Macauley enjoying a sampling of the best German wines his new Bultler can find for him, in the cellar of the castle. Sophia Loren arrives and the gallant Macauley beckons her within his gatehouse sweeping a low bow to the Italian beauty as he removes his hat, flashing but briefly his chestnut hair.Shortly thereafter the scene changes and Macauley is in a jeep. he is in his smartest brown American uniform and after his mildly dissolute appearance of yesterday, we glimpse the soldier that so impressed the earnest Cassavetes. Macauley is, as we say in England, a little bit crooked but he next meets a truly evil man. Bobby Vaughn plays an utterly amoral corrupter of men. He even shocks the swindling Logistics Colonel. Sadly for Macauley he is a victim of his own weaknesses and has no choice other than to be sucked further into a dark plot that has already murdered 50 of his fellow Americans and now seeks the assassination of the greatest General in the Army: Patton.Macauley has to meet with creepy assassin Max Von Sydow, at his most chilling Scandinavian best. He hands over $500,000 for the 'Hit'. We are becoming conscious that whilst Macauley is sleep-walking into this mire of murderous intent, his conscience may send him to Cassavetes at some point, to undo this madness he has embroiled himself in. First however Macauley must relax after the tension of his meeting with the cold gunman. He is met, not by his expected paramour, but by a mysterious and beautiful Fraulein. She persuades him he can trust her by stripping to her brassiere. At this point McGoohan, as Macauley comments, as he eyes her up and down, that he has had a "hard, hard day" or perhaps he said he'd had a "hard, hard time". I'm not sure which, because by then I was giggling at McGoohan's mischievous performance. I must make notes next time. The young lady leads him to the bathroom, which is rapidly filling with steam and Macauley asks her if there will be Bubbles? Assured there will, he happily heads inside, singing a little bubbles song to himself.The Fraulein sits down revealing a tidy leg clad in suspenders and stockings. This was promised for Macauley. Unfortunately Bobby Vaughn, guessing that Macauley will inevitably betray the evil plot to Cassavetes, has sent an assassin, who garrotes Macauley whist the poor man was waiting for Bubbles to arrive. We know Macauley is dead because John Cassavetes checks his corpse in the next scene, in the Mortuary.Patrick McGoohan has now left the building.........

blanche-2 I taped this film off TCM but the title credits were missing from my tape, so I spent the entire movie trying to guess what year it was made. I'm proud to say, I was right on the money. And that for me was the big thrill of Brass Target. I'm not sure of the real historical background - whether the plot was made up or if there is an actual suspicion that General Patton was murdered. In this story, Patton launches a search for gold stolen by American soldiers, and a hit is put out on him. Max von Sydow, in a familiar role, is the hired hit man and believe me, he doesn't confine his activities to killing Patton. He kills everybody. Don't worry, that's not a spoiler.John Cassavetes plays the soldier trying to identify the assassin. Sophia Loren is his girlfriend. She is there for star power. Patrick McGoohan is pathetic going for some sort of American accent. Then there's George Kennedy as Patton. He must have needed the money badly. Robert Vaughn and Edward Herrmann are gay soldiers who are in on the heist. Lucky Luciano is also involved somehow.There is one really dandy scene at the end. See if you can find it if you're still watching.

Ralph I'm a military history buff as well as a big fan of McGoohan (I'm a big Prisoner fan and most movies I see him in because of it), I'm also curious whenever I see Ed Bishop who I liked in UFO as CDR Styker, Captain Blue from Captain Scarlet, etc etc, and I have loved Cassavetes in the few films I've seen him in (The Killers, Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby). So being how I'm in a foreign land with limited entertainment on the TV, I made sure to check out this flick on TCM UK. One things for sure it took guts for George Kennedy to play Patton after George C Scott did it, because NO ONE could hope to get close to that performance; as a result Kennedy doesn't really try hard (Luckily his role is somewhat minor). The beginning is good and than McGoohan comes in and it's pretty bad (sorry to say :-( ). His dialog is rather uncomphrensable in his bad American accent, so mercifully he gets killed pretty quick (totally saw most of the deaths here coming). So thats strike one, weak McGoohan performance. Strike two Cassavettes looks really really old in half of this film. He looks like a late age Jerry Orbach, so he really doesn't look like the commando OSS stuff that a Sterling Haydon (who actually was in his 20's) would have looked like. He also is just going through the motions here so he really brings the movie down as the lead. Sophia Loren who gets top billing has an unneeded minor role, she also looked better 20 years later in the grumpier old men movie (miracles of modern medicine), so she's no added attraction (although there are a couple of cuties in the film). Von Sydow is good (as usual), so I guess he kept it going for me. Also, I did manage to stay with it because I kept wanting to know how he was going to kill Patton with a rubber pellet in a movie car with the window up (all explained so those gaping holes got filled in). Vaugn and Hermann are also a funny footnote as two Gay Colonel's (Vaugn gets caught with the help even!). All in all, if your in the isolated middle east with lack of entertainment it's worth your 2 hours of time (but thats a big if!). 6 out of 10 for the nice tidy ending where most of the bad guys die.