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{{short description|1958 film}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Green Devils of Monte Cassino
| image =The Green Devils of Monte Cassino.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Harald Reinl]]
| producer = [[Franz Seitz, Jr.|Franz Seitz]]
| writer = {{ubl|[[J. Joachim Bartsch]]|[[Rudolf Böhmler (writer)|Rudolf Böhmler]]|[[Albert Armin Lerche]]|[[Michael Graf Saltikow]]}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Dieter Eppler]]|[[Joachim Fuchsberger]]|[[Antje Geerk]]|[[Ewald Balser]]}}
| music = [[Rolf Alexander Wilhelm|Rolf A. Wilhelm]]
| cinematography = [[Ernst W. Kalinke]]
| editing = {{ubl|[[Sophie Himpele]]|[[Ingeborg Taschner]]}}
| studio = Franz Seitz Filmproduktion
| distributor = [[Constantin Film]]
| released = {{film date|1958|4|23|df=y}}
| runtime = 94 minutes
| country = West Germany
| language = [[German language|German]]
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''The Green Devils of Monte Cassino''''' ({{lang-de|'''Die grünen Teufel von Monte Cassino'''}}) is a 1958 French–German [[war film]] directed by [[Harald Reinl]] and starring [[Dieter Eppler]], [[Joachim Fuchsberger]], [[Antje Geerk]] and [[Ewald Balser]].<ref>Bock & Bergfelder p. 389</ref> The film is a fictional love story framed by actual historic events surrounding the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]] and the evacuation of its [[Monte Cassino#Treasures|stores of art treasures]]. The title refers to the nickname of the ''[[Fallschirmjäger]]'', the German [[Luftwaffe]]'s [[paratrooper]]s.

==Plot summary==
Summer, 1943. After long and arduous duty at the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], the [[1st Parachute Division (Germany)|1st Fallschirmjägerdivision]] is dropped off by parachute at [[Avignon]] for recuperation. Several paratroopers are injured during the jump, including [[Ranks and insignia of the German Army (1935–1945)#Non-commissioned officers (Unteroffiziere)|Oberjäger]] Karl Christiansen, a former infantry [[Fähnrich]] who detests the war and was demoted for refusing to execute a captured enemy soldier. At the hospital he meets Inge, a nurse, and the two fall in love. However, Reiter, an [[Oberleutnant]] of the division, has taken a fancy on Inge as well.

Right after their arrival, the paratroopers and Inge's hospital corps are reassigned to the [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian front]]. They receive the order to occupy and secure the area of [[Monte Cassino]], including [[Cassino|the nearby town]], but not the monastery at the top of the hill, which is meant to shelter the evacuated townspeople and historical art treasures from the surrounding communities. Soon the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] mount [[Battle of Monte Cassino#First battle|an offensive]] on their position. Upon learning about the art treasures stored in the abbey, [[Oberstleutnant]] Julius Schlegel, about to be sent back home to Austria for heart issues, decides on his own initiative to save the priceless artifacts, and after much arguing convinces the abbot to permit their evacuation to [[Rome]] into the custody of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]. However, Allied radio propaganda claims that the Germans are in fact plundering the treasures, and the news quickly spreads among the Cassino townspeople and German high command. Still, despite the threat of a [[court-martial]], Schlegel's division commander officially grants him permission and support for the operation.

In the meantime, Karl and Reiter reunite with Inge, of whose presence they have just learned, which sparks jealously in the Oberleutnant. Additionally, [[Italian resistance movement|partisan activity]] has increased against the alleged plundering. The final transport is to commence the following night, with Karl assigned as an escort and Inge going along to request medical supplies. For intercepting the convoy, local resistance member Fausto asks his friend Gina to retrieve [[Beretta Model 38#Variants|a submachine gun]] from its hiding place in her house, which is occupied by Reiter. Reiter catches her in the act, and in order to avoid suspicion, Gina sleeps with him, but then Reiter finds the gun and forces Gina to confess. Then he and the rest of the division arrive to thwart a resistance attack on the convoy, and Fausto is captured. Reiter orders Karl to execute him, but Karl only pretends to do so, letting Fausto go. In return for this gesture, Fausto stops the resistance from conducting further attacks, and the convoy safely delivers its precious cargo to the Vatican.

In February the next year, a [[Battle of Monte Cassino#Second battle (Operation Avenger)|second]] major Allied attack commences, in whose course the abbey [[Battle of Monte Cassino#Destruction of the abbey|is hit and destroyed by Allied bombs]]. Most of the civilian survivors - excluding Inge, Gina (forcibly made Reiter's mistress) and several wounded and children - evacuate the ruins, which are then used by the German paratroopers as a fortified position. Gina loses her life in an artillery barrage, and the next night Reiter is killed while on his way to another paratroop battalion. The German defenders are eventually overwhelmed by a [[Battle of Monte Cassino#Third battle|third]] and later a [[Operation Diadem|fourth]] Allied assault, and Monte Cassino is captured by Allied troops. Karl and Inge both survive the war and, after its conclusion, visit the graves of the fallen at the foot of the fully restored monastery.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Dieter Eppler]] as Karl Christiansen
* [[Joachim Fuchsberger]] as Oberleutnant Reiter
* [[Antje Geerk]] as Inge
* [[Ewald Balser]] as Oberstleutnant Julius Schlegel
* [[Elma Karlowa]] as Gina
* [[Jan Hendriks]] as Fausto
* [[Agnès Laurent]] as Hélène
* [[Carl Wery]] as General Heidenreich
* [[Wolfgang Preiss]] as Oberstabsarzt Munkler
* [[Wolfgang Wahl]] as Greinert
* [[Wolfgang Neuss]] as Neumann
* [[Armin Dahlen]] as Pater Emmanuel
* [[Harald Juhnke]] as Hugo Lembke
* [[Leonard Steckel]] as The Abbott
* [[Albert Hehn]] as Major Zillert
* [[Siegfried Breuer Jr.]]
* [[Hans von Borsody]]
* [[Walter Gross (actor)|Walter Gross]]
* [[Michl Lang]]
* [[Wolf Ackva]]
* {{ill|Rolf Castell|de|3=Rolf Castell (Schauspieler)|lt=Rolf Castell}}
* [[Hans Terofal]] as Friedrich
}}

==Production==
The film was shot at the [[Bavaria Studios]] in [[Munich]]. The film's sets were designed by [[Arne Flekstad]] and [[Bruno Monden]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | editor-first1 = Hans-Michael | editor-last1 = Bock | editor-link1 = Hans-Michael Bock | editor-first2 = Tim | editor-last2 = Bergfelder | title = The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema | publisher = Berghahn Books | year = 2009 | location = New York | isbn = 978-1-57181-655-9 }}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0051684}}

{{Harald Reinl}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Devils of Monte Cassino}}
[[Category:1958 films]]
[[Category:1958 war films]]
[[Category:West German films]]
[[Category:German war films]]
[[Category:French war films]]
[[Category:1950s German-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Harald Reinl]]
[[Category:German World War II films]]
[[Category:Italian Campaign of World War II films]]
[[Category:Battle of Monte Cassino]]
[[Category:Films shot at Bavaria Studios]]
[[Category:Constantin Film films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1943]]
[[Category:Films set in 1944]]
[[Category:Films set in Lazio]]
[[Category:Films set in monasteries]]
[[Category:1950s French films]]
[[Category:1950s German films]]

The Green Devils of Monte Cassino - Revision history

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