Oddball Heroes

Rarely, if ever, have the words ‘war’ and ‘comedy’ somehow been so successfully combined as in MGM’s 1970 classic movie ‘Kelly’s Heroes’. However, the movie which was originally entitled ‘The Warriors’ underwent a major transformation process from its inception to its release, including the cutting of entire scenes and characters and the addition of extended action sequences.

Several members of the cast and crew voiced their disapproval of the changes which altered a grittier war movie with depth of character and an integral romantic sub-plot into an action-packed, farcical comedy. However, the cult following which Kelly’s Heroes enjoys nearly 50 years later and the plethora of infinitely quotable lines is perhaps the best proof that the final cut hit the nail right on the head.

We've taken information from the final cut of the movie, Burt Hirschfeld’s accompanying 1970 novel of the same name, (based heavily on the original script) and the real