Fireball Forward
Fireball Forward | |
---|---|
Genre | Action Drama War |
Written by | Edmund H. North |
Directed by | Marvin J. Chomsky |
Starring | Ben Gazzara Ricardo Montalbán Dana Elcar Edward Binns Morgan Paull |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Frank McCarthy |
Cinematography | |
Editors | Charles L. Freeman Pembroke J. Herring |
Running time | 98 minutes |
Production company | 20th Century Fox Television |
Distributor | ABC |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Picture format | Color |
Audio format | Mono |
Original release |
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Fireball Forward is a 1972 American TV movie. It was directed by Marvin J. Chomsky and written by Edmund H. North. It was produced by Frank McCarthy who called it "son of Patton": it follows a hard luck Army division in 1944 France, and the General who must lick it into shape. The film was a pilot for a proposed TV series.[1]
Plot[]
After D-Day the Maj. General Joe Barret (Ben Gazzara), was decorated with Distinguished Service Cross medal, after that, Gen. Omar Bradley transfers him to 14th Division due to poor performance in battle.
Barret found the 14th Division with a bad combat record, lack of morale and discipline. After two disastrous battles against the German army, Barret discovers that he has a mole who turns out to be the head of the French Resistance, Jean Duval (Ricardo Montalbán), Barret learned through Sgt. Collins (Morgan Paull), that before each battle the enemy knew their strategy.
Once Barret discovered the spy, the 14th Division won the next battle and clean all the way to Gen. Patton to Berlin. Except for the fact that U.S. Forces only went to the Elbe river. Everything East of the Elbe was left for the Russians. Only after the surrender did the Western Allied forces enter Berlin per the Potsdam Declaration.
Cast[]
- Ben Gazzara as Maj. Gen. Joe Barret
- Ricardo Montalban as Jean Duval
- Anne Francis as Helen Sawyer
- Dana Elcar as Col. Talbot
- Edward Binns as Corps. Commander
- Morgan Paull as Sgt. Andrew Collins
- Curt Lowens as Capt. Bauer
- L.Q. Jones as Maj. Larkin
- Eddie Albert as Col. Douglas Graham
- Richard Yniguez as Capt. Tony Sánchez
References[]
- ^ Fireball' With a Touch of 'Patton' Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 29 Feb 1972: g12.
External links[]
- 1972 films
- 1972 television films
- American films
- American television films
- Films directed by Marvin J. Chomsky
- American television film stubs