The Inglorious Bastards (originally titled Quel maledetto treno blindato) is a 1978 Italian World War II film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, and Ian Bannen. It is the most famous example of "Macaroni Combat," which was the war movie equivalent of the "Spaghetti Western." Like The Dirty Dozen and Play Dirty, the protagonists are a rag-tag bunch of prisoners, behind enemy lines on a dangerous mission. Director and writer Quentin Tarantino paid homage to this film with the title of his 2009 World War II film Inglourious Basterds, but other than cameos by both Svenson and Castellari, the two films have little in common.
Partway through filming, the Italian government imposed a ban on blank firing weapons due to increased terrorist activity. Since finishing the film abroad would've been too expensive, the film was only completed with rewrites, replicas, careful editing and camera tricks. The castle assault, for example, was rewritten with slingshots, crossbows and halberds replacing guns.
The M1928A1 Thompson is the most widely used American weapon in the film. Private Fred Canfield and Lt. Robert Yeager as well as everyone else in their group uses them.
The MP40 is by far the most used German weapon in the film. Like most war movies of the era, German troops are shown using them almost exclusively. The Lt. Yeager and his group use them when disguised as Germans.
American troops are seen with M1903 Springfield rifles at the American base.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe World War II Springfield Rifle - the Model 03-A3. This was a simplified version of the 1903 to supplement the M1 Garand for troops in World War 2. Many Marines and Army soldiers hit the battlefield with the 03-A3. This example was built at the Remington plant. During World War II - only Remington and Smith Corona (the typewriter company) built 03A3 rifles from the original WWI tooling from Rock Island - .30-06Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Machine Guns
MG42
The MG42 is used extensively by the Germans and the French in the film. Fred Williamson has said in interviews that some guns only shot sparks, and many of the MG42s in the film seem to do just that.
