Background
Clint Eastwood agreed to do the movie because his friend Don Siegel was directing. When Siegel could not wrap Two Mules for Sister Sara in time and had to be replaced at the last minute by Brian Hutton, the ink was already dry on Eastwood’s contract. Hutton also helmed Where Eagles Dare.
Kelly’s Heroes was filmed in Yugoslavia in 1969. In the midst of filming, Eastwood read a news item reporting that Sutherland’s wife, Shirley Douglas, had been arrested for attempting to purchase hand grenades for the Black Panthers. Douglas actually tried to pay for the illicit ordnance using a personal check. When Eastwood reported this to Sutherland it was the first he had heard of it.
When he got to the part about the personal check, Eastwood supposedly laughed so hard he could no longer stand. He then wrapped his arm around his friend’s shoulders and assured him of his complete support. Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas were parents to Kiefer Sutherland and his twin sister Rachel. However, they divorced the following year. Apparently using family funds to buy ordnance for terrorists was a deal breaker.
John Landis was a production assistant on the movie and developed a friendship with Sutherland. Landis admitted that he aspired to become a director himself. Sutherland promised that, should he actually someday make movies of his own, he would happily appear in them. Sutherland kept his promise and had parts in The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977 and Animal House a year later. He also had a cameo on a billboard in The Blues Brothers in 1980. It was also while working on Kelly’s Heroes that Landis first had the idea to make An American Werewolf in London.
The incompetent artilleryman Mulligan was played to perfection by Telly Savales’ real-life brother, George. Mike Curb wrote the lyrics to the iconic theme song Burning Bridges. Curb went on to serve as Lieutenant Governor of California from 1978 through 1982. A contemporary 45-rpm record was released of Burning Bridges as sung by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood also recorded the forgettable B-side tune, Where I Loved Her, which was written by Kris Kristofferson.
The tanks in Kelly’s Heroes would warrant a column unto themselves. Oddball’s Shermans were Yugoslavian Army surplus M4A3E4’s featuring 76mm guns installed in original 75mm turrets. The three magnificent PzKpfw VI Tigers were bodged together out of Soviet T-34’s. The conversions were superb, but true tank nerds will notice that the bogeys are wrong and the turrets are a bit too far forward.
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