Macaroni Combat
A subgenre which was brought to attention by a larger audience by Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds''.
It's a lesser known history of the Italian B-movies.
These types of B-war films have never enjoyed enormous popularity in Italy because they were made mostly just to make money, especially with foreign distribution in poor countries and little conviction on the part of the producers.
Macaroni Combat were Italian war films inspired by Hollywood films of the 60s/70s produced to try to make money. They often used titles and plots from the various blockbusters made in the US. All had seasoned actors aka "Italian yankees" and often they were older stars whose popularity had faded in their own countries.
As with the spaghetti westerns or the polizio genres, it rode the wave of success the original genre films started in Hollywood. Instead of The Dirty Dozen, The Guns of Navarone or Battle of the Bulge, these were films made in De Paolis (Rome) or the Egyptian desert with titles such as: And The Guns Still Thunder, The Battle of El Alamein, Commandos and Eagles Over London.
The typical team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish technical staff, and a cast of Italian and Spanish actors and sometimes German and French, sometimes a fading Hollywood star.
The films were primarily shot in Europe and later, the Philippines.
Info taken from Wikipedia.com and Grindhousedatabase.com
It's a lesser known history of the Italian B-movies.
These types of B-war films have never enjoyed enormous popularity in Italy because they were made mostly just to make money, especially with foreign distribution in poor countries and little conviction on the part of the producers.
Macaroni Combat were Italian war films inspired by Hollywood films of the 60s/70s produced to try to make money. They often used titles and plots from the various blockbusters made in the US. All had seasoned actors aka "Italian yankees" and often they were older stars whose popularity had faded in their own countries.
As with the spaghetti westerns or the polizio genres, it rode the wave of success the original genre films started in Hollywood. Instead of The Dirty Dozen, The Guns of Navarone or Battle of the Bulge, these were films made in De Paolis (Rome) or the Egyptian desert with titles such as: And The Guns Still Thunder, The Battle of El Alamein, Commandos and Eagles Over London.
The typical team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish technical staff, and a cast of Italian and Spanish actors and sometimes German and French, sometimes a fading Hollywood star.
The films were primarily shot in Europe and later, the Philippines.
Info taken from Wikipedia.com and Grindhousedatabase.com
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- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsBo SvensonPeter HootenFred WilliamsonIn 1944 France, a group of escaped American military prisoners en route to Switzerland volunteers to steal a German V2 rocket warhead for the Allies.
- DirectorAlberto De MartinoStarsFrederick StaffordDaniela BianchiCurd JürgensHolland. Spring 1945. Two armies face each other in the final confrontation of World War II. On the one hand are the powerful forces of the Allies, on the other, all that remains of the Third Reich. -Leigh Thomas
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsFrederick StaffordGeorge HiltonMichael RennieWorld war two drama about the 1942 North Africa battle at El Alamein between the Allies and the Axis forces.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsHelmut BergerSamantha EggarGiuliano GemmaHow World War II affected the lives of a German family and an American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war.
- DirectorAlfonso BresciaStarsAnton DiffringCarl ParkerUgo AdinolfiDuring WWII, US Lieutenant Morris and British captain Hull are assigned in a mission to kill Rommel.
- DirectorArmando CrispinoStarsLee Van CleefJack KellyGiampiero AlbertiniDuring World War II, an Italian-American commando outfit disguised as an Italian Army unit is parachuted behind Axis lines in North Africa.
- DirectorMaurizio LucidiStarsFranco GiornelliAssi DayanLuigi CasellatoEight Israeli soldiers are sent on a mission to take control of an enemy missile base, but face a deadly counterattack.
- DirectorMario SicilianoStarsIvan RassimovSieghardt RuppKirk MorrisSeven mercenaries on a mission into Simba controlled Congo territory requisite with typical sterotypes.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFrederick StaffordVan JohnsonFrancisco RabalIn World War II, a German undercover unit infiltrates British lines during the evacuation of Dunkirk, 1940. The film revolves around their successes and failures in disrupting Royal Air Force operations during the Battle of Britain.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsGeorge PeppardGeorge HamiltonHorst BuchholzIn 1939, at a Paris café, six friends of various nationalities vow to meet again at the same spot after the end of WW2.
- DirectorMino LoyStarsRobert HosseinGeorge HiltonFrank WolffA small group of British and German soldiers is trapped in the desert and has to try to work together in order to survive back to their own lines.
- DirectorMaurizio LucidiStarsHenry SilvaLuigi CasellatoRiccardo SalvinoSet in Norway and has a crack team of Allies sent to blow up an underground Nazi factory where the Germans have taken a crashed Spitfire that contains a new radar system that the krauts want to copy.
- DirectorMaurizio PradeauxStarsRichard HarrisonPilar VelázquezGiacomo Rossi StuartThe mission: The British have to carry out a plan hatched by Churchill himself to blow up a French dam, by bringing in commandos led by the twin brother of the German commander.
- DirectorGianfranco ParoliniStarsGianni GarkoMargaret LeeKlaus KinskiFive oddball American commandos infiltrate a well-guarded villa to steal the documents for "Plan K", which the Nazis intend to use to drive the Allies out of Italy.
- DirectorSergio ColasantiStarsRobert WoodsGiuseppe Michele LucaMarc FioriniFrance, 1944. Five US soldiers seek refuge in a cavern to avoid a bombardment, but the bombs make the cave entrance collapsing. The trapped men must dig a way out to save their lives.
- DirectorRoberto Bianchi MonteroStarsRichard HarrisonPamela TudorAlain GerardA rag tag bunch of US marines are sent in to the Pacific Island of Rabaul to clear any remaining Japanese forces after heavy bombing. They meet fierce resistance.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsKen ClarkHorst FrankJeanne ValérieGerman commandos are dropped behind enemy lines in the Sahara Desert and tasked with getting to Casablanca to assassinate Allied leaders.
- DirectorJoe D'AmatoStarsLars BlochGeorge ManesRosemarie LindtIn World War II, guerrillas kidnap a German general.
- DirectorJosé Luis MerinoStarsStelvio RosiErna SchurerGuy MadisonA group of German Tank Crew fight to survive in france while a french woman falls in love with the German lieutenant
- DirectorMario SicilianoStarsIvan RassimovMonica StrebelKirk MorrisWhen the German Afrika Korps smashes through the Allied lines in North Africa in 1942 during World War Two; a group of British soldiers are determined to get back to their own lines. Picking up more Allied survivors along the way, their journey is fraught with danger and Germans at every turn.
- DirectorTonino RicciStarsKlaus KinskiGeorge HiltonRai SandersAn inexperienced American lieutenant and two American prisoners are the only force standing between advancing German troops and an Italian town that was "freed" by the trio.
- DirectorCamillo BazzoniStarsAldo RayTano CimarosaUgo FangareggiWorld War 2 - a British commando squad is tasked with attacking the "secret" German airfield from which German fighters have been attacking bombers which are trying to stop German tanks from reinforcing the D Day defences.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsJack PalanceThomas HunterRobert HundarIrish Colonel Charlie McPhearson has just had his platoon of 28 slaughtered by German troops. Angered at his superiors for this suicide mission, he takes convicts on his next one, along with fornicating American explosives technician Major Burke, to defuse underwater mines so that a commando squad can prepare for a June 10 invasion to destroy a tank gun. Because Colonel Ackerman, whose troops killed his last platoon, is the leader of the platoon in charge of the gun, McPhearson insists on trying to complete the commandos' mission.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykDuilio ColettiStarsRobert MitchumPeter FalkRobert RyanAnzio: one of WWII's bloodiest battles as the Allies smash through the German lines which have enclosed the Anzio beachhead--four months and 30,000 casualties before the Allies finally march to Rome.
- DirectorAlfonso BresciaStarsGuy MadisonPeter Lee LawrenceErika BlancThe movie is set during World War II in the days just prior to the D-Day invasion. A special parachute unit is sent to destroy a German flame thrower installation on Omaha Beach.
- DirectorBitto AlbertiniStarsGuy MadisonVenantino VenantiniAnthony SteelA German Captain and American Captain help each other survive the North African desert during WWII. They meet again a year later during combat operations in France.
- DirectorStelvio MassiStarsMiles O'KeeffeFred WilliamsonScott GreenDisgruntled Sgt. Darkin has to protect a senator who's visiting a Vietnam village. Senator gets assassinated by the Vietcong, and Darkin gets arrested for AWOL. When the Vietcong attacks the base, he and others escape. Now what?
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorRoberto Bianchi MonteroStarsDale CummingsMaurice PoliHerb AndressAfter landing in North Africa in World War II, a group of soldiers led by Capt. Bruce Clay is assigned to attack an enemy position in order to destroy a large oil storage cellar in the desert.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsLewis CollinsLee Van CleefErnest BorgnineCommander Robin Wesley, leader of a group of mercenaries, go to the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia to overthrow the dictator, who is a major manufacturer and dealer of the world's opium.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsLewis CollinsKlaus KinskiCristina DonadioA cruel dictator rules a Latin American state. Corruption, brutality and exploitation are present every day. A few people begin to organise resistance. Under the leader "El Leopardo" a small group of guerillas fights against the violent government...
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsLewis CollinsLee Van CleefDonald PleasenceA Major leads a group of mercenaries whose mission is to protect a disc full of secrets, located in South Asia.
- DirectorLeón KlimovskyStarsMichael RennieBob SullivanGuido LollobrigidaThe mission: search out and destroy a radio station in Normandy before the D-Day invasion. The volunteer commandos, misfits from the American Army, do not care how it's done and will run over anyone who gets in their way.
- DirectorLeopoldo SavonaStarsGianni GarkoIrina DemickGianna SerraWorld War II: The Italian secret agent Riccardo Cloro is sent undercover as a Swiss businessman to Graz by train, in which he gets to know Rada, a Czech Jew. He is then informed about his mission: He is to kill Tsaimitis, head of the resistance movement in Budapest. But there is also Müller of the Gestapo on the same mission. Coming back to the hotel, he meets Müller and has to let him search his apartment and interrogate Rada brutally. Ever on, they are followed by him, who watches their every step. Cloro starts to doubt his ideals.
- DirectorGiuseppe VariStarsGuy MadisonMaurice PoliHélène ChanelAfter the U.S. defeat in the Philippines, Madison leads a rag-tag group of U.S. soldiers against the Japanese occupiers. In this WW II drama, the Japanese set an island trap for the American troops.
- DirectorJosé Luis MerinoStarsGuy MadisonRaffaella CarràStelvio RosiAn American major trains a group of elite soldiers for a dangerous covert mission behind enemy lines during WW2.
- DirectorLeón KlimovskyStarsTab HunterHoward RossErika WallnerSix U.S. soldiers are sent to destroy a bridge that spans the Elbe, which will somehow prevent the Soviets from occupying Germany in this fictional vehicle.
- DirectorGaetano QuartararoStarsPierre RichardMassimo RighiUmberto RahoWhen the Germans are allowed to recapture an island in the Mediterranean during WWII, a squad of US soldiers is left behind to destroy an important radio base. But this is just the start of problems for the US troops, civilians and Germans.
- DirectorLeón KlimovskyStarsJack PalanceAndrea BosicIvan PalanceDuring World War II, a tough officer organizes a commando raid into Germany.
- DirectorJuan Antonio BardemStarsGeorge MaharisMaria PerschyJames PhilbrookThe war in Europe is ending, but American troops have to find a scientist on the run who is also sought by some surviving SS forces.
- DirectorValentino OrsiniStarsGiuliano GemmaTina AumontAntonio PiovanelliThe real story of the partisan Silvio Corbari. He starts his career killing publicly one of his friends that was a fascist. Than, he set up a band of partisans in north Italy, completely independent from the Italian organized resistance (CLN). Ines, leave his husband to join the band and became Silvio's lover. Silvio Corbari succeeded also to set up a free-zone, his personal republic, independent from the Nazi occupied Italy, in a little village called Tregnano. But the opponent Nazi-Fascist army is too much for any kind of resistance, especially if not included in the organized CNL. All his partisan friends are captured and sentenced to death, Ines, close to be captured, suicides. Corbari, even if survives to a first hanging, can't escape to a second one. After WWII he deserved a gold medal to the memory from the Italian Republic.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonFranco CirinoStarsRock HudsonSylva KoscinaSergio FantoniIn 1944, during a sabotage mission, the sole surviving U.S. paratrooper is saved by a group of Italian orphans who later aid him in blowing up a vital enemy dam.
- DirectorJosé Luis MerinoStarsCraig HillManuel ZarzoAnnabella IncontreraThe story of a group of American commandos assigned to kidnap General Rommel. But the soldiers are caught by the Germans who decide to use their plan against them. Replacing the American soldiers with German soldiers, and with the help of a fake "kidnapped" Rommel, they plan to kill General Eisenhower.
- DirectorRoberto Bianchi MonteroStarsDale CummingsCarlo HintermannFranco ResselA special forces operative is smuggled into a German POW camp with orders to blow up a nearby villa being used by the Nazis to house a secret weapons program.
- DirectorLuigi BatzellaStarsBrad HarrisBrigitte SkayGino TuriniDuring the Second World War, a group of Greek partisans fight against Germans.Tego is one of them, unfortunately he encounters atrocities at the hands of the Nazis and loses his family,wonders the countryside then dies.
- DirectorAlfredo RizzoStarsJeff CameronIsarco RavaioliLemmy CarsonA desert patrol is persuaded by 3 prisoners to follow them in their quest for the tomb of a Pharoah and its treasure.
- DirectorGianni ManeraStarsGianni ManeraAliza AdarIvano DavoliDuring the second World War an Italian lieutenant is forced by the Germans to hunt down and flush out the partisan known as Lupo, an old childhood friend, but he has no intention of betraying him.
- DirectorSergio GarroneStarsHorst BuchholzSylva KoscinaWilliam BergerAn undercover Nazi in Libya aims to steal fuel and deliver it to a specific location in the desert where an Italian bomber would refuel on its way to Allied target.
- DirectorDuilio ColettiStarsVan HeflinCharles LaughtonMylène DemongeotGerman raider, using various disguises, forces British ship to surrender. Story told from German point of view.
- DirectorLeopoldo SavonaGeorge GonneauStarsJack PalanceGiovanna RalliSerge ReggianiIn German-occupied Italy during World War II, an American paratrooper on a mission to blow up a bridge enlists the help of five Italians just released from a military prison, and a sexy Italian girl who joined up with them along the road.
- DirectorCharles FrendBruno VailatiStarsLilli PalmerJames MasonGabriele FerzettiAn Italian submarine captain tries to navigate his sub through enemy waters whilst being stalked by a British commander (James Mason). The Italian sub manages to make it into the neutral port of Tangiers, followed by the British commander.
- DirectorFrank WisbarStarsStewart GrangerDorian GrayLeo AnchórizA French Foreign Legion commander is told to assemble a unit and capture an Algerian rebel leader. He gathers in his old unit, most of whom are no longer in top form. One is having nightmares of past indiscretions, another is now drinking, another has lost his nerve. He takes them in captures the leader, but then is unable to make it to the pick up. He encounters a rebel patrol and is trapped unless they can escape before their water runs out.
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsCiccio IngrassiaFranco FranchiGino CerviTwo jerks are enlisted in the Italian army during W.W.1 and by pure luck manage to help win an important battle.
- DirectorStenoStarsTotòWalter PidgeonNino TarantoIn WWII Greece, two enemy Colonels, one Italian and the other English, develop a grudging friendship which the war will test.
- DirectorLuigi ScattiniStarsFranco FranchiCiccio IngrassiaBuster KeatonIn May 1943, two American soldiers, Joe and Frank, of Italian descent are searching the North African desert for a German general called Von Kassler, when they are captured by Von Kassler aide Inge Schultze who lets them escape with fake war plans, only Joe and Frank steal the real war plans which pave way for the Allied victory. Months later, the duo once again come up against Von Kassler when they are captured at Anzio and try to outwit the Nazis a second time.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsArthur KennedyZhanna ProkhorenkoRaffaele PisuChronicle of the unheralded and unsuccessful invasion of the Soviet Union by the Italian army during World War II.
- DirectorMario SicilianoStarsBryan RostronMario NovelliGiuseppe CastellanoColonel Franz Kübler leads a pack of mercenaries in an unnamed African nation.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsDavid WarbeckTisa FarrowTony KingDuring the Vietnam war, an American soldier gets trapped behind enemy lines. A squad of his buddies sets out to rescue him.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsGiancarlo PreteAntonio MarsinaLuciano PigozziDuring the Vietnam war, an army sergeant rebels against his tyrant commanding officer, whilst they are cut off by the enemy in the jungle. Things get worse for all of them after that.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsJason ConneryFrancesco QuinnJinny SteffanIn 1942, a commando is assigned to protect Winston Churchill when it is learned that the Nazis are plotting to kidnap him.
- DirectorBruno MatteiStarsReb BrownChristopher ConnellyLouise KamsteegIn the Vietnam war, an American soldier survives a botched mission, with help from a group of locals who perceive him as a hero. He's sent back for a reconnaissance mission, only to find his helpers massacred by a brutal Russian soldier.
- DirectorBruno MatteiClaudio FragassoStarsBrent HuffMary StavinRichard HarrisAn ex-army major is kidnapped by terrorists in the Philippines, demanding ten million dollars worth of diamonds. Michael, a Vietnam vet who served under him, goes on a solo mission determined to rescue him.
- DirectorPierluigi CiriaciStarsBrett Baxter ClarkFred WilliamsonMark GregoryLatin American revolutionaries invade a military base on Puerto Rico, and steal a nuclear bomb, killing a pregnant woman in the process. Captain Beck (Fred Williamson) is assigned to track the revolutionaries to their home turf, and recover the weapon. The late woman's husband, eager for revenge, accompanies Beck to an area near the Nicaraguan border, where they encounter hostile revolutionary forces.