Cast a Giant Shadow

Plot

The film is a fictionalized account of the experiences of a real-life Jewish-American military officer, Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus, who commanded units of the fledgling Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Marcus is an Army Reserve Colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, who was recently released from active duty and is now working in New York City. He is approached by a Haganah agent, Major Safir (James Donald), who requests his assistance in preparing Israeli troops to defend the newly declared State against an invasion by its Arab neighbors.

Marcus is refused permission by the Pentagon to go, unless he travels as a civilian. The Haganah gives him a false passport with the alias "Michael Stone". As "Michael Stone", he arrives in Israel to be met by a Haganah member, Magda Simon (Senta Berger).

Marcus, who parachuted into occupied France during World War II and helped to organize the relief mission for one of the first Nazi concentration camps liberated by American troops, is initially viewed with suspicion by some Haganah soldiers. But after he leads a commando raid on an Arab arms dump and assists in a landing of illegal refugees, he is more accepted. After preparing training manuals for the troops, he returns to New York, where his wife (Angie Dickinson) has suffered a miscarriage.

Now, restless and, despite his wife's pleadings, he does return to Israel and is given command of the Jerusalem front with the rank of 'Aluf' (General), a rank not used since biblical days. He sets to work, recognising that, while the men under his command do not have proper training or weapons or even a system of ranks, they do have spirit and determination. He organises the construction of the "Burma Road", bypassing Latrun, to enable convoys to reach besieged Jerusalem, where the population is on the verge of starvation.

Many of the soldiers under his command are newly arrived in Israel, determined and enthusiastic but untrained. Dubbing them 'the schnooks', Marcus is inspired by them to discover that he is proud to be a Jew. But, just before the convoy of trucks to Jerusalem starts out, he is shot and killed by a lone sentry who does not speak English - the last casualty before the United Nations impose a truce. The coffin containing his body is carried by an honor guard of the soldiers he trained and inspired.

Cameo roles (listed as Special Appearances Cast) include:

Cast

Trivia

Winston Churchill, Rudolf Hess, Fiorello LaGuardia, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin appear as themselves in archive footage in flashbacks

Home media

It was released on DVD in early 2000s but went out of print. It was Re-released on DVD, and the 1st time on Blu-ray August 26, 2014.