It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.
James Coburn
as Unteroffizier / Feldwebel Rolf Steiner
Maximilian Schell
as Hauptmann Stransky
James Mason
as Oberst Brandt
David Warner
as Hauptmann Kiesel
Klaus Löwitsch
as Unteroffizier Krüger
Vadim Glowna
as Gefreiter Kern
Roger Fritz
as Leutnant Treibig
Dieter Schidor
as Anselm
Burkhard Driest
as Schütze Maag
Fred Stillkrauth
as Unteroffizier Schnurrbart
Michael Nowka
as Dietz
Véronique Vendell
as Marga
