The film recounts the formation, training, and first European mission of the 1st Special Service Force, a unique American-Canadian commando unit that became known as the "Devil's Brigade". The Americans, largely misfits, and their spit and polish Canadian counterparts eventually overcome reciprocal antagonism, learn to respect each other, and coalesce as a unified team. The film dramatizes the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the seemingly impossible task of capturing what had been an impregnable Nazi mountain stronghold, Monte La Difensa, with losses far greater than expected.
1968 American war film about the formation and first mission of the joint Canadian-American WWII special forces winter and mountain unit formally called 1st Special Service Force, but commonly known as “The Devil’s Brigade”. The film dramatises the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing the German mountain stronghold Monte la Difensa, in December 1943. The film is based on the 1966 book of the same name, co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade.
