Watch Darby's Rangers For Free

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This may not be that historically accurate but it is still very entertaining. It is at least based on a real person and the actions did take place. James Garner passed away last week so TCM is running his movies. The ranger training by British commandos had some humorous spots and some sad ones. I really detested the hick American lover boy and it didn't bother me at all when he fell to his death. Nor when the husband where he had been staying left his wife because she was in love and had been screwing the lover boy. She goes to the camp only to find out lover boy was dead. I guess that could be called poetic justice, huh? The last action the Rangers go on will be their last as a unit. Two battalions are trying to infiltrate the German lines when they inadvertently run into a German offensive push. Only 7 of 767 men return from the two battalions, most of the others are captured. The movie ends with Darby going back to Washington. Darby returns to Italy and while planning the Trento assault is killed by an 88 shell.

I'm sorry to say that this film, which is James Garner's first leading role, is a mess. And almost all of the fault is in the writing.There have been other films about military teams in training. And they have been better than this.We can thank the writing for some horrible characters. And some terrible plots. They try to mix training scenes with scenes concerning the personal lives of the men, but it's all a mess.I wish I could list all the times I cringed in response to a particular line, but that is not possible. They follow one another like lemmings.Some visual effects were also off-putting, like when they trainees are rappelling up a cliff and one man's line comes loose and he plummets to the ground. The entire scene was contrived, amateurish and poorly done.Obviously there are some people who liked this film, but I cannot recommend it.

"Darby's Rangers" is the story of an US elite unit during WWII on the European front. We get to see their rough training, initial actions, numerous encounters with women and a final big battle in which they allegedly played a major role : the landings in Anzio, Italy. The training segment is well done, but again hampered by the love interludes. Things finally seem to get going when they set off for their first landings in Algeria in 1942, when they had to fight French Vichy troops (but as with the Germans, the enemy is hardly seen in this movie). Then it's off to Sicily and then Italy, where they encounter some fierce opposition from Jerry.I have to admit :I really do not know what to think of this movie : the battle scenes are rather well-staged, although mostly shot an a sound stage. There is a harrowing scene when they have to move between some German panzers, some close combat in an Italian village, etc... So everything is there to make a good typical 50's war drama: the perfect all good-guy commander (Garner), his side-kick sergeant (Warden) and a whole bunch of colorful characters as the dapper Rangers, not to forget a high number of love interests. But unlike some previous efforts by director Wellman in the war movie genre, as the classic "The Story of GI Joe" (on war correspondent Ernie Pyle)and the supremely "Battleground" (on The Battle of the Bulge), this almost drowns in its own clichés. Especially the love interludes come over as rather silly and almost ruin the picture.What's left is a so-and-so war movie, with all the right ingredients but somehow it just doesn't work. An average time-passer but that's all.

He was not impressed! And the guy I talked to was a U.S. Ranger who took part in assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, the main Italian landing, and finally at Anzio. (He was captured by the Germans at Anzio and ultimately escaped, making his way eastward to the Russian lines. But that is another story.) My friend was fairly critical of the action portrayed in the movie, despite the fact that another Ranger was the technical adviser.As for the movie itself, it is only slightly above mediocre. Although I am a big fan of older black and white movies, I must say that the lack of color here is a negative. Also, based on memory, too many scenes were shot on a sound stage. A film noir is fine shot that way, but an A level war movie should have more impressive production values. After all, WWII was not fought in a blimp hanger.