CROSS OF IRON 67
and logistical prob lems. Wolf Hartwig had bud geted $4 million to make the movie
but had managed to secure only a fraction of that sum when pre- production com-
menced. The Yugo slav government promised to supply WWII- era war matériel—
including airplanes, 15 Soviet T-34 tanks, and German MG42 machine guns and
MP40 submachine guns— but much of this equipment was not yet available by
the start of the shoot, causing considerable delays. Once under way, the produc-
tion was hobbled by Hartwig’s penny- pinching ineptitude as a producer and by
Sam Peckinpah’s alcoholism. According to biographer David Weddle, Peckinpah
steadily drank 180- proof slivovitz throughout the shoot. For two or three weeks at a
time he could control his intake enough to function but would then go on benders
and have blackouts that would render him dysfunctional for several days: a pattern
that resulted in highly uneven filmmaking. To save money, the film was mostly
shot in northern Yugo slavia (present- day Slovenia) around Obrov and Zagreb,
and in Trieste, Italy, and Savudrija, Croatia. Interior shots were completed at Pine-
wood Studios in London. Nonetheless, vari ous delays and interruptions resulted
in $2 million in cost overruns. Out of money, Hartwig and co- producer Alex Win-
itsky tried to shut down production before the final scene could be filmed on 6
July 1976 (the 89th day of a shoot that began on 29 March). An irate James Coburn
ejected the pair from the set, and he and Peckinpah improvised a closing scene to
complete the picture.
Plot Summary
The opening credit sequence features black- and- white prewar and war scenes,
accompanied by Franz Wiedemann’s popu lar children’s song “Hänschen klein”
(“ Little Hans”). The film proper (in color) begins with a Wehrmacht platoon led by
Sergeant Rolf Steiner ( James Coburn) raiding a Rus sian outpost. Steiner and his
men wipe out the enemy position and capture a Rus sian boy- soldier (Slavko Štimac).
Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an effete, aristocratic Prus sian officer, is
assigned as the battalion leader at the Kuban bridgehead on the Taman Peninsula,
Eastern Front, in 1943. Stransky boasts to both Col. Brandt ( James Mason) and
his adjutant, Captain Kiesel (David Warner), that he went out for the posting in
Rus sia with the specific aim of earning the Iron Cross. Upon their initial meeting,
Stransky commands Sgt. Steiner to kill a young Rus sian prisoner in accordance
with a standing order. Steiner fails to shoot the prisoner, and as Stransky sets out
to follow the order himself, Corporal Schnurrbart (Fred Stillkrauth) steps in and
saves the boy’s life. Later, Stransky promotes Steiner to Se nior Sergeant. Steiner
then releases the young Rus sian prisoner, only to see the child disposed of by his
own side. During the attack, Stransky takes shelter in a bunker, revealing his cow-
ardice. Meanwhile, Lt. Meyer (Igor Galo), who commanded Steiner’s com pany, is
eliminated during the counterattack. Steiner sustains injuries during the attack
while attempting to save a German soldier and is released to a hospital to conva-
lesce. While at the hospital, Steiner sees visions of the dead, including the face of
the Rus sian youth who he released. Upon recovering, he is given the option to go
on leave, but chooses to rejoin his squadron. Meeting up with his men, Steiner
hears that Stransky has been taking credit for leading the counterattack, refusing