History Film / KellysHeroes

* FrontlineGeneral: Zigzagged with General Colt, whose Introduced comfortable at headquarters jautbbossing people around but does feel stirred to personally lead the charge to join in Kelly’s push after hearing how far they’ve gotten on the radio.
* GentlemenRankers: Kelly used to be a lieutenant, but was scapegoated and broken down to private after half his platoon was wiped out due to incorrect orders from his superiors.

It's about a squad of American soldiers in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII France who learn about a secret stash of [[NaziGold German gold]] in a bank deep behind enemy lines. Unappreciated by their [[TheNeidermeyer clueless, profiteering captain]] and continually denied any chance at decent R&R, they are ripe for the promise of heroic adventure and enthusiastically embark on their new, unauthorized mission. With the help of tank commander Oddball and his squad of misfits, an incompetent artillery officer, a greedy supply officer, a marching band, and a grave digger battalion, they stand to make a fortune.

* WeaponsUnderstudies: Three Russian T-34 tanks were converted into very life-like German Tiger Tanks (the real glaring error was the wheels of the tanks and its longer engine deck). Contrary to some claims, the Tigers weren't made for ''Kelly's Heroes'' but for an earlier film made in Yugoslavia starring Creator/YulBrynner called ''The Battle of Neretva''. The Shermans also come from that film. A close up shows the bow machine gun is an [=MG42=], which was never used in any German tank due to the quick-change barrel being removed from the front; the [=MG34=] was used instead because the barrel could be changed from inside the tank.

* MookFaceTurn: In the end, the squad runs out of ways to defeat the Tigers, and are forced to negotiate. [[spoiler:It turns out that the commander of Tiger 113 doesn't know what he is guarding, and is vulnerable to greed.]]

** Tiger 113 is "a beautiful tank". [[spoiler:Even Oddball thinks so, seeing as how he uses his share of the gold to buy it from its crew.]]

** Tiger 115 is "a beautiful tank". [[spoiler:Even Oddball thinks so, seeing as how he uses his share of the gold to buy it from its crew.]]

* MookFaceTurn: In the end, the squad runs out of ways to defeat the Tigers, and are forced to negotiate. [[spoiler:It turns out that the commander of Tiger 115 doesn't know what he is guarding, and is vulnerable to greed.]]

** The 76mm could penetrate a Tiger's armor but it didn't mean it always worked. The United States fell behind the Germans when it came to Anti-Tank weaponry, and while the 76mm was an improvment, a Tiger's armor could still bounce a shot depending on the angle/trajectory. Oddball's attitude was typical of tankers of the time, who didn't trust the guns and felt that the only sure-fire way to take out a Tiger was to flank it, particularly since the ''88mm'' gun on the Tiger could easily knock a Sherman out.

* CommunicationsOfficer: Little Joe is the squads radioman. Booker serves as Colts communications officer but finds himself utterly confused by the contradictory messages he’s getting from Kelly and his Men’s attack when they aren’t supposed to be there.

** How Kelly's American Jeep with three American soldiers and one German colonel get in the middle of a German column in the opening is never really explained.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Whatever happened before the opening shots, to get Kelly, in a Jeep with American markings and three uniformed American soldiers and one German colonel into the middle of a German column in the opening.

* DeletedRole: Production designer John Barry as a British airmen hiding in the town who witnesses the final battle.

* HomeGuard: the squad are members of the 35th Infantry Division, which is a National Guard unit which was activated for WW2.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Oddball, for all his [[CloudCuckoolander myriad of quirks]], is a highly skilled tanker and extremely resourceful.

* HomeGuard: According to the should sleeve insignia, the squad are members of the 35th Infantry Division, which is a National Guard unit.

* GrayAndBlackMorality: The Allied side is full of soldiers obeying orders being tossed to the wolves by GloryHound generals [[ColonelKilgore that go around acting like the war is some kind of game]], JerkAss executive officers that loot everything that is not nailed to the ground yet remind the aforementioned soldiers that looting is an offense punishable with death [[TheNeidermeyer on top of other idiotic (and morale-killing) decisions]] and [[TrialByFriendlyFire other even more idiotic soldiers]], soldiers that are looking out for Number One and decide getting richer is worth going (and swindling other people) into a possible SuicideMission (''our heroes'', ladies and gentlemen) and the other side... yeah, they're the Nazis, and even then the couple that actually interact with the protagonists probably wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't a war going on... ''maybe''.

-->'''Oddball:''' To a New Yorker like you, a hero is some kind of weird sandwich, not some nut who goes up against three Tigers!

-->'''Oddball:''' "Why can't you be righteous and hopeful for a change?"\\

** Three Russian T-34 tanks were converted into very life-like German Tiger Tanks (the real glaring error was the wheels of the tanks and its longer engine deck). Contrary to some claims, the Tigers weren't made for ''Kelly's Heroes'' but for an earlier film made in Yugoslavia starring Creator/YulBrynner called ''The Battle of Neretva''. The Shermans also come from that film. A close up shows the bow machine gun is an [=MG42=], which was never used in any German tank due to the quick-change barrel being removed from the front; the [=MG34=] was used instead because the barrel could be changed from inside the tank.

* NominalHero: Kelly and his crew are motivated purely by opportunistic self-interest, and participate in the events of the film only for a chance to line their pockets. While they don't do anything particularly evil, they also exhibit nothing resembling selfless heroic behavior, either. Thus they are either "hero in name only" or a bunch of {{Villain Protagonist}}s.

** The 76mm could penetrate a Tiger's armor but it didn't mean it always worked. The German tank was a tough nut to crack, and even a shot from the 76mm had a good chance bouncing off the armor depending on the angle or trajectory. Oddball's attitude was typical of tankers of the time, who didn't trust the guns and felt that the only sure-fire way to take out a Tiger was to flank it, particularly since the ''88mm'' gun on the Tiger could easily knock a Sherman out.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Big Joe turns up at the farmhouse with a chaplain and some movies for the guys to watch, after he hears Kelly's speech he decides to go along with the plan which they start preparing. However the chaplain is still waiting in the jeep outside for a lift back to HQ.

* InVinoVeritas: Kelly uses a bottle of brandy to interrogate Colonel Dankopf, getting him too drunk to be capable of lying.

* ReadingTheEnemysMail: How Kelly finds out about the gold; it is hidden as a lead bar in Dankopf's satchel.

** The German Colonel's name, Dankopf, sounds terribly similar to Dummkopf ("idiot" in German).

** Big Joe doesn't care about any intel Dankopf might have, he just wants to know which hotel at their objective is the nicest and if there are girls there.