Brass Target is a 1978 American post-World War II suspense film, based on the novel The Algonquin Project by Frederick Nolan, that was produced by Berle Adams and Arthur Lewis and directed by John Hough. It stars Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Patrick McGoohan, Bruce Davison, Edward Herrmann, and Max von Sydow.
Shortly after VE Day, a shipment of captured Nazi Gold is stolen en route to Frankfurt, and General George S. Patton vows to find it. But it turns out that American officers are involved, and they try to stop him before he gets to them. They hire an assassin to take care of him. At the same time an American intelligence officer who is investigating the robbery, learns of the plot, and tries to find the assassin before he gets Patton.
Tropes:
- Deadly Gas: A train transporting Nazi Gold seized by the US Army in the aftermath of World War II is stopped in a tunnel and its military police guard murdered with gas.
- Dressing as the Enemy: The professional assassin Webber disguises himself as an American soldier to get close to General Patton.
- Foregone Conclusion: The film is set during the lead-up to General Patton's death. It is a foregone conclusion that Patton will die in a car accident.
- Four-Star Badass: General George S. Patton. When the conspirators learn that Patton is investigating their conspiracy, it panics them so much they hire an assassin to kill him.
- Historical Domain Character: General George S. Patton.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Corrupt U.S. officers hire a Professional Killer to fake General Patton's death in an automobile accident, to stymie an investigation into stolen Nazi Gold.
- Nazi Gold: Days after VE Day, General Patton orders that gold reserves held by the former Reichsbank be transported to Frankfurt, but before the shipment arrives in the city, the gold train is robbed and 59 US Army military policemen are killed with Deadly Gas in a railroad tunnel.
- Professional Killer: The cabal of corrupt American officers hire Webber, a professional assassin, to kill Patton in the hope of halting the inquiry.
- Train Job: In the aftermath of World War II, a train and its guard of US military police are attacked in a tunnel with Deadly Gas, in a conspiracy by corrupt officers to steal the Nazi Gold it's carrying.
