Cast a Giant Shadow

Cast a Giant Shadow is based on Ted Berkman's biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus, the American soldier who served as an adviser in the fight to establish the state of Israel in 1948. Marcus (played by Kirk Douglas) must decide whether to settle into peacetime America or follow his more natural, combative instincts abroad--a dilemma symbolized by a love triangle involving wife Angie Dickinson and Senta Berger as a soldier whom he falls for in Palestine. Although lavish and spectacular, especially in the war scenes--filmed in the actual Middle Eastern locations in which they occurred--Cast a Giant Shadow is not entirely authentic. Moreover, in the light of later troubles in the region, not everyone will find heartwarming this depiction of plucky little Israel coping against Arab foes who are barely depicted as human throughout the film. Still, it's an impressive enough relic of epic 1960s cinema, with cameos by Yul Brynner, John Wayne, and Frank Sinatra. --David Stubbs

Genre: Adventure, Drama, History

Director(s): Melville Shavelson

Stars: Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Senta Berger, Angie Dickinson

Production: MGM Home Entertainment


IMDB:: 6.4

Cast a Giant Shadow Screenplay »

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: NR (Not Rated)
Year:: 1966
: 146
: 1,102 Views

Maj. Safir:
Colonel Marcus?

Bert Harrison:
Merry Christmas.

Maj. Safir:
My name is Safir, and my business is private.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Bert Harrison, my law partner. Mr. Safir, who conducts his private business in Macy's window.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Would you give up everything you love to fight an insane war for a little country that's gonna get its brains blown out in a couple of weeks?

Maj. Safir:
If it were my country.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Maybe it's yours, but... it isn't mine.

Maj. Safir:
But you are a Jew.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
I'm an American, Major. That's my religion. The last time I was in Temple I was 13 years old. I made a speech and got 42 fountain pens. I don't have to go again. I've got enough fountain pens.

Emma Marcus:
I guess I'm proud of you. But I'm so damn tired of being proud of you.

Emma Marcus:
Did you ever notice we don't have any children?

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Only me.

Emma Marcus:
I was the only girl in Brooklyn who didn't get pregnant during the war.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Hm?

Emma Marcus:
My mother kept the statistics.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Suppose I go as a private citizen?

Aide to Gen. Randolph:
Then don't involve the Army in any way. Don't use your rank or even your right name.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Is it all right with you if I keep the same sex?

Magda Simon:
Michael! Michael! Oh, Mike... It's so good to see you after so long... I'm sorry. I'm very late. How are you?

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
How do I look?

Magda Simon:
Tired, like you've been making love to all the girls in America.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Eh, it's good to be back!

Magda Simon:
From now on, I'm your sister.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Hmm, that's nice. What's the attitude on incest in this country?

Magda Simon:
Very biblical. Especially since I'm also married. My husband is an officer in the Palmach... But you can try if you wish.

Magda Simon:
Remember, if we are stopped by a British patrol, we are off for a weekend in the country.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
And you are my sister.

Magda Simon:
Do you have good sex with your wife?

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
What goes on in that pretty head of yours?

Magda Simon:
Andre's not very good in bed.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Well, just close your eyes and tell the doctor everything.

Abou Ibn Kader:
When you were 3 years old, I was stealing cattle from your father. There was a man! A lion! He shot me twice, and we came to an agreement of gentlemen. I was a guest in your house. I held you on my knee. Twice you wet your pants and mine. You have no honor.

Ram Oren:
It was an old Bedouin friend of my father's. I thought he died long ago.

Abou Ibn Kader:
Hush, hush, I'm far from dead. You can ask that bag of fat who just danced for us.

Abou Ibn Kader:
Ram Oren, don't wet your pants again.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
You know they have artillery. You don't even have armor.

Ram Oren:
This dynamite is our artillery, and the night is our armor.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
And the Lord is my Shepherd. but I've always thought that maybe he's their shepherd, too.

Ram Oren:
You stay.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
If so, there'll be a hell of a lot of confused sheep.

Jacob Zion:
They told you, I suppose, that I have a terrible temper.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
I served in Germany under General "blood-and-guts" Patton. You're a pussycat.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
The olive branch hasn't worked around here since Noah ran the ark into a mountain.

Emma Marcus:
Next week, he's going in a convoy to Jerusalem. And he's dictating from memory every army training manual he can remember. He says they need it more than the Bible.

Mrs. Chaison:
Did he happen to mention who he's dictating the Song of Solomon to?

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
Why do you let women to go on these convoys?

Asher Gonen:
Magda volunteered.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
She's been through enough. She just lost her husband, she's in a terrible st...

Asher Gonen:
Look, we need everyone. Especially since the British search us for weapons. Being British, they're also too polite most of the time to search a woman thoroughly.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
You're lucky you're not occupied by the French.

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
You know, I'll bet if Moses came down from Mount Sinai again, the Palmach would turn down five of the Commandments just so God wouldn't get a swelled head.

Gen. Mike Randolph:
And now, God help them, 'cause that's all the help they'll get from us.

Vince Talmadge:
Hey, don't leave me here! I'm anti-Semitic!

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
You've got no choice. Hit those tanks with everything.

Maj. Safir:
Risk the entire force?

Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus:
They don't know it's a whole force! Go for broke. This has gotta be the biggest bluff since the invention of falsies.

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christine_e
The best scene in the entire movie is between Asher and Mickey. The scene starts at 1 hr.: 56 min.; and 30 seconds: It is the scene in which Asher points out that Mickey just used the word WE. Then Mickey says to Asher: "Yeah, our people, a pipsqueak nation, a tin can army that fights with seltzer bottles...we...all my life I have been looking for where I belong and it turns out it's here, the Catskill Mountains with Arabs." Mickey's monologue goes on and ends with him saying, " Next week, Asher. Next week in Jerusalem!" more »
LikeReply 13 years ago