Ski Troop Attack
| Ski Troop Attack | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Roger Corman |
| Written by | Charles B. Griffith |
| Produced by | Roger Corman |
| Starring | Michael Forest Frank Wolff Richard Sinatra Wally Campo |
| Cinematography | Andrew M. Costikyan |
| Edited by | Anthony Carras |
| Music by | Fred Katz |
| Distributed by | Filmgroup |
Release date | 8 April 1960 |
Running time | 63 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English German |
Ski Troop Attack is a 1960 American war film directed by Roger Corman and starring Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Richard Sinatra, and Wally Campo. Filmgroup released the film as a double feature with Battle of Blood Island (1960).
Premise
A group of ski troopers behind German lines during World War II disrupts Nazi plans and blow up an important bridge.
Cast
- Michael Forest as Lt. Factor
- Frank Wolff as Sgt. Potter
- Wally Campo as Pvt. Ed Ciccola
- Richard Sinatra as Pvt. Herman Grammelsbacher
- Roger Corman appears in an uncredited role as a German soldier entering the cabin
Production
Charles B. Griffith says the script was inspired in part by the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, with the train crash taken from A Farewell to Arms.[1]
The movie was shot in Deadwood in the Black Hills over ten days.[2] Corman did this because he could hire a crew out of Chicago for lower rates than an LA crew.
To amortize costs, Corman's brother Gene produced another film, Beast from Haunted Cave at the same time on the same location, utilising the same screenwriter and lead actors. The two films took five weeks in all the shoot, with one day off between films, and Beast was shot first. The unit was based at the Ben Franklin Hotel.
Michael Forest says he was paid $500 a week and recalls "what was taking place was tough on us physically."[3]
Roger Corman hired ski teams from Deadwood and Lead High Schools; one played the Germans and one played the Americans. He had to shoot them on weekends and after school. He cast a German ski instructor to play the head of the German ski troop, but the instructor broke his leg two days before the shoot. Corman decided to play the role himself, having skiied occasionally at college; he took a one day skiing lesson prior to filming. [4]
Corman recalls the shoot "as a very tough challenge. It was unbelievable cold and snowed all the time.[4]
The film's musical score, written by cellist Fred Katz, was originally written for A Bucket of Blood. According to Mark Thomas McGee, author of Roger Corman: The Best of the Cheap Acts, each time Katz was called upon to write music for Corman, Katz sold the same score as if it were new music.[5] The score was used in a total of seven films, including The Wasp Woman and Creature from the Haunted Sea.[6]
Reception
Variety liked the action sequences but found the characterization cliched and the lack of establishing shots to be a weakness. CEA Film Report found the movie to have little excitement and while the bridge explosion effect was good, it did little to help the movie. Monthly Film Bulletin liked the action sequences but little else in the film. [7]
References
- ^ Aaron W. Graham, 'Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith', Senses of Cinema, 15 April, 2005 accessed 25 June 2012
- ^ Roger Corman on Ski Troop Attack at Trailers From Hell
- ^ Weaver, Tom (May 2000). "Who Years for Adonais". Starlog. p. 92.
- ^ a b Corman, Roger; Jerome, Jim (1998). How I made a hundred movies in Hollywood and never lost a dime. Da Capo Press. p. 58.
- ^ Ray, Fred Olen (1991). The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers As Distributors. McFarland & Company. p. 40. ISBN 0-89950-628-3.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|chapterurl=(help) - ^ "Fred Katz filmography". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Frank, A. (2000) The Films of Roger Corman. Batsford
External links
- Ski Troop Attack at IMDb
- Ski Troop Attack is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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