Play Dirty – 1968 | 117 mins | War, Adventure | Colour

Plot Synopsis

World War II adventure starring Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport and Harry Andrews that cashes in on the success of Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen (1967). Play Dirty is not a great film but certainly engaging; the action is taut and the twist in the tail adds a nice touch. Set during the North African campaign, the inexperienced Captain Douglas (Michael Caine) is given the command of a platoon of hardened ex-convicts who are drafted into the British Army. Douglas comes immediate into conflict with veteran Colonel Masters (Nigel Green) who despairs at their leaders lack of military knowledge.

Their mission is to go into the African desert behind German lines and stop Rommel’s advancing troops by destroying an enemy oil depot. Unbeknown to Douglas, Brigadier Blore (Harry Andrews) has used Douglas’ gang as a diversion for a regular army unit following in their footsteps to attempt the same mission. The sizeable, but lightly armed regular unit soon comes a cropper when an armed German patrol ambush them – leaving Douglas’s crew the sole unit. Against the odds, the men traverse endlessly over hill and rock, through sandstorms, and dodge German patrols until they finally reach their destination. However, upon nightfall reconnaissance they discover the dump is a decoy made of wood and empty oil barrels. Having come this far the rogue commandos are resolute in fulfilling their mission, and Douglas and his men soon uncover the whereabouts of the real depot. Meanwhile, the British have advanced and now need the enemy oil depot undamaged for their own troops. Unable to establish contact with Douglas, British Command betrays them to the enemy via leaked info to Nazi spies. Unaware of wider events, Douglas and his troops attempt to complete their mission.