Cross of Iron

1977, R, 119 min. Directed by Sam Peckinpah. Starring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, Senta Berger, James Mason, David Warner, Klaus Lowitsch, Walter Kelly.

REVIEWED By Marjorie Baumgarten, Thu., Dec. 9, 1999

This is the final film in the Peckinpah series (the second Sunday TV program has been canceled). This is also the only print of Cross of Iron known to exist in the U.S. (Rumor has it that folks are flying in from Los Angeles and elsewhere just to catch this rare screening.) This war film is also Peckinpah’s last great movie (his three subsequent films never had the same fire and gusto). Cross of Iron is a WWII movie seen through the eyes of German protagonists. Incredible montage sequences and another parable about Peckinpah’s embattled position within the film industry can be found within

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More Sam Peckinpah Films
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a profound existential adventure, twistedly comic and openly bitter, brought to life by those two maniacs: Peckinpah and Oates. An ugly, vicious film about not very glamorous people engaged in ugly, vicious activities, it’s more black comedy than anything. – Louis Black

Louis Black, Dec. 2, 1999

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
This film is probably the most legendarily “troubled” of all Peckinpah’s troubled film testaments. But this is the restored version, which plays a lot better than the original, severely edited release.

Marjorie Baumgarten, Nov. 24, 1999

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS FILM

Cross of Iron, Sam Peckinpah, James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, Senta Berger, James Mason, David Warner, Klaus Lowitsch, Walter Kelly

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