Free 5 Branded Women
Genres: Drama
Starring: Vera Miles, Richard Basehart, Steve Forrest, Silvana Mangano, Harry Guardino, Barbara Bel Geddes, Van Heflin
Director(s): Martin Ritt
Country: USA, Italy
Year: 1960
IMDB Rating: 6.2
Yugoslav partisans grimly crop the hair of a village quintet of women believed to have consorted with the occupational Nazis. Four, for various reasons, have indeed - and their seducer is a lone, swaggering sergeant whom the partisans briskly emasculate. Escorted out of town by the sheepish Nazis, the forlorn ladies link up, patriotically and romantically, with a band of tough mountain guerrillas.
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5 Branded Women (DivX) | Resolution: 352x288 px | Total Size: 995 Mb |
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Visitors Review
Venus-25 (03 June 2012)
High-Level Exploitation Film
I saw this film on television when I was about 11 or 12 and it made adeep impression on me. While I had little understanding of war andcertainly no personal experience of it, it pointed out the danger ofisolation in the midst of endless violence and the horror of rejectionfor what would in peacetime have been regarded as a youthfultransgression.The casting of Vera Miles and Barbara Bel Geddes among the Europeanactresses was a clear ploy to make this film resonate with Americanaudiences whom during this period were more accustomed to light,frivolous films. Films of a more serious and thoughtful nature weremostly coming from Europe. At the dawn of the 60s this was a shockingexploitation film, preying on women's feelings of vanity, Americans'collective puritanism about sex, and our waning jingoism. It would beinteresting to see how audiences would react to it now.
MONA0825 (03 June 2012)
No place for love or mercy in wartime
This relatively unknown gathers a very impressive cast of both Europeanand American actors and actresses. Silvia Mangano gives a fineperformance as the leader of the titled women. These women are castedaway from a little town in Yugoslavia 1943 because they have slept witha Nazi Sargent (except innocent Vera Miles who didn't go beyond kissingbut anyway is accused as the others), not before they are humiliated bytheir own people by cropping their hair.The girls bound together and they wander around the country until theyresolve to join the partisans despite their initial resilience. Thewomen will form relationships with the partisans and a captured GermanCaptain (R. Basehart).But it's wartime and this is no Hollywood movie: there are no happyendings or black and white feelings or situations. The movie is grittyand somehow cruel. The movie has its flaws, the pacing could be betterand some characters feel underdeveloped, but all things considered,this is a very good movie. It's not released on DVD, but you can findit over the Internet. It's well worth the search.
N.L. (25 May 2012)
A true "guilty" pleasure!
From the same director who brought us "Norma Rae" this classic World War II"resistance band fights guerilla warfare against Nazis in the snowywoods"has an interesting twist: they're all women and decked out in leather bomberjackets, crew cuts and machine guns.Jeanne Moreau, Barbara Bel Geddes, Silvana Mangano, and Vera Miles - allshaved, humiliated, and thrown out of their peasant villages for sleepingwith the enemy - now have taken arms against that enemy, but the "real"resistance doesn't want them. So these women must fight the men who areagainst them AND the men who are supposedly on their side, as well as eachother.Melodrama, to be sure, but different enough and with a fascinating sub-text,that it has become a "guilty" pleasure.
Michael O'Keefe (24 May 2012)
Stand up and be counted. War is full of mishaps.
Just short of two hours is lengthy for 1960. This melodrama is set in MiddleEurope during WW2 and does have its moments. Five young women are scornedand humiliated for consorting with Nazis. Now with shaved heads, they bandtogether to prove their patriotism and set out to fight the Germans. Theresistance fighters don't want their help; so they seem to be fighting bothforces...plus themselves. Strange casting is very obvious; and this moodymovie may be hard for some to get into. War buffs will watch. I watchedbecause of the enticing Vera Miles. Beside Miss Miles the very diverse castincludes: Barbara Bel Geddes, Silvana Mangano, Van Heflin, Richard Basehart,Jeanne Moreau and Steve Forrest. War causes people to do regrettablethings.
ejmartiniak (24 May 2012)
review of 5 Branded Women
This film is one of the least known gems to come from producer Dino deLaurentiis. Five women in war-torn Yugoslavia have their heads shavedfor having intimate relations with a German soldier. The five bond andeventually join the partisan group who punished them back in theirvillage. The film documents their fight against the enemy of theirhomeland, and their internal feelings of remorse, love, and hate. Thewomen all give stellar performances--Silvana Mangano, Barbara BelGeddes, Vera Miles, Jeanne Moreau, and young Carla Gravina. Van Heflinand Harry Guardino also deliver fine performances, as the leader of theYugoslav partisan group and the troublemaker of the partisans,respectively. But perhaps the most touching performance comes fromRichard Basehart as the German Captain Erich Reinhardt. In the littlescreen time he has, Mr. Basehart delivers a gem, bringing poignantly tolife a gentle widower, plucked from his comfortable life as auniversity professor to fight in the war. He is captured by thepartisans, and bonds with the 5 Branded Women who have been acceptedinto their group. He had shown sympathy for the women in the beginningof the film after their disgrace was made public, and in captivity, hebonds with them, particularly Mira (Carla Gravina),(whose baby hedelivers) and Ljuba (Jeanne Moreau),(who finds herself in danger offalling for him). It takes a special talent to make you care for acharacter who is supposed to be a "bad guy", and to do it in less thanten minutes of total screen time is an art form. Mr. Basehart wasindeed an artist. This is just one touching instance of the emotionalexploration of the characters in this movie. Each character comes tolife. A very little known film, but a must see. The action and emotionis raw and realistic throughout.
larrymp (24 May 2012)
A good film.
I have not seen this movie in many years. But I remember it being veryinteresting. I always love Barbara Bel Geddes. She is one of the mostoverlooked actresses of our time. When I saw those women walking down thestreet with their heads shaved, it was a shock for a little boy. I wasabout10 when I saw this movie, but it left an impression onme.
Review total: 6, showing from 1 to 6