Summary
Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.
Details
Release Date: March 1, 1979
Runtime: 93 minutes
Genres: Drama, History, War
Original Language: DE
Rating: ⭐ 5.6/10 (31 votes)
Cross of Iron Collection

Cross of Iron
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.

Breakthrough
Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.
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Cast

Richard Burton
Sergeant Steiner

Rod Steiger
General Webster

Robert Mitchum
Colonel Rogers

Véronique Vendell
Yvette

Werner Pochath
Keppel

Klaus Löwitsch
Krüger

Michael Parks
Sergeant Anderson

Helmut Griem
Major Stransky

Curd Jürgens
General Hofmann

Horst Janson
Captain Berger

Joachim Hansen
Captain Kistner

Dieter Schidor
Paul Anselm

Bruno Dietrich
Nissen

Sieghardt Rupp
Corporal Rothe

Hans-Jürgen Schatz
Schulze

Günter Meisner
SS Officer

Christoph Waltz
Paramedic







