The Cast of Kelly’s Heroes: Where Was It Filmed, and Why Was It Pulled from Theaters?

The war film is based on a true story and is based around an anti-establishment theme that the film’s stars were known for. Who was in the “Kelly’s Heroes” cast? Why was the film pulled from theaters? Let’s get into it.

“Kelly’s Heroes” follows a group of American soldiers in World War II as they sneak across enemy lines to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi gold.

The treasure was stored in a bank vault in the French town of Clermont. In the film, Private Kelly (Clint Eastwood), a former lieutenant who had been a scapegoat for a failed infantry assault, led a group of American soldiers to access the treasure. Thanks to the help of a Tiger tank armed with an 88mm cannon, the group was able to escape with the gold.

The “Kelly’s Heroes” tank used was a Russian T-34 tank that had been modified to look like a Tiger tank. T-34s used a modified Christie suspension, whereas the Tiger’s wheels were much more elaborate.

The production did not have the budget to purchase or rent a real Tiger tank, so T-34 tanks were modified and disguised with armor plates to look like Tiger tanks. This was a common practice in war films of the time, as it was often difficult and expensive to acquire real tanks.

One of the main reasons “Kelly’s Heroes” was filmed in Yugoslavia was because the country had a large surplus of World War II-era military equipment, which included tanks, trucks, and weapons. This made the location more cost-effective than filming in the U.S. or Europe where equipment was scarce and more expensive.

The low production cost and the experienced film crews in Yugoslavia made the country an ideal location for “Kelly’s Heroes” to film principal photography there.

Originally titled “The Warriors,” the studio felt that “Kelly’s Heroes” was too long and some scenes were too slow. The studio believed that the film needed to be trimmed down to make it more appealing to a wider audience.

Clint Eastwood was disappointed about the studio’s cut because he believed that the deleted screens added to the depth of the characters and made the movie much better (via The Clint Eastwood Archive).

In 2014, a fan of the film discovered a box of old film reels that included some deleted scenes from “Kelly’s Heroes.” The fan is reportedly working on restoring the original cut of the film. The scenes include the men discussing plans for stealing the god, Kelly and Big Joe arguing about trusting the German tank commander, pranks on Kelly, and the soldiers celebrating their victory.

MGM was unhappy with the film’s performance and felt that it needed to be changed. The film’s box office performance was weak and MGM believed that pulling the film from theaters was a way of resetting the film’s marketing to gain new interest.

The cast of “Kelly’s Heroes” is one of the film’s strengths. They deliver memorable performances that highlight the appeal of the war film. Eastwood’s performance as Kelly is particularly excellent and is well supported by Savalas, Rickles, and Sutherland.

Sutherland contracted spinal meningitis, a bacterial infection of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The illness was so severe that he fell into a coma for six weeks, and Sutherland’s wife, Shirley Douglas, was told that he was unlikely to survive. However, Sutherland made a miraculous recovery and was able to return to filming after several months.

Savalas died in 1994 from esophageal cancer. Rickles died in 2007 from kidney failure. David Hurst died in 2009 from diabetes complications. Harry Dean Stanton died in 2017 from natural causes. Michael Clark died in 2018 from respiratory failure.

A recording of the classic rock song was made with Clint Eastwood singing. It was released as a 45-rpm disc on Certron Records with a B-side of “When I Loved Her” sung by Eastwood.

“Kelly’s Heroes” is a classic film for any fan of war films, action movies, or Clint Eastwood, and is sure to entertain audiences of all ages.