Cross of Iron poster
Director Sam Peckinpah
Screenplay Julius J. Epstein, Walter Kelley, James Hamilton

Cross of Iron

Tagline: On the Eastern front in 1943, the German soldiers no longer had any ideals. They were not fighting for the Party—but for their lives!

Release Date: 1977-01-29

Duration: 132 minutes

Synopsis

It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.

Casting

  • David Warner
    Hauptmann Kiesel
  • James Coburn
    Unteroffizier / Feldwebel Rolf Steiner
  • James Mason
    Oberst Brandt
  • Senta Berger
    Eva
  • Maximilian Schell
    Hauptmann Stransky
  • Slavko Štimac
    Michail (uncredited)
  • Robert Rietti
    German Officer (voice) (uncredited)
  • Fred Stillkrauth
    Unteroffizier Schnurrbart
  • Klaus Löwitsch
    Unteroffizier Krüger
  • Vadim Glowna
    Gefreiter Kern