Directed by Sydney Pollack and based on William Eastlake's novel, it stars Burt Lancaster (Major Abraham Falconer), Patrick O'Neal (as Captain Lionel Beckman), and Peter Falk (as Sergeant Orlando Rossi). They and their five associates are in Belgium during the winter of 1944 when they seek some R&R in the 10th century castle of Count Henri Tixier and his wife, Countess Therese. The Count is impotent and desperate for his wife to produce a male heir. Falconer is an obvious candidate to help the Count achieve his objective. Meanwhile, the war in Europe continues, of course, but the castle keeps them safe from its dangers and deprivations.

While seeing this film the first time and then again recently, I felt as if I were dreaming that I had returned to the 1940s in a time machine, to Belgium near the end of World War Two. Credit Henri Decae's cinematography with creating an uncommonly beautiful setting within which savage combat eventually occurs, reminiscent of John Mathieson's visually stunning camera work during the "Hell Unleashed" sequence early in Gladiator. This is a haunting film, at times an exquisitely lovely film. Certain scenes caused me to think that I was hallucinating.

It now occurs to me that perhaps (just perhaps) Castle Keep portrays a group of men at war, not as they really were nor as war really was at a given time but as those men would remember it decades later, had all of them survived and eventually shared their memories of the castle and surrounding area. That is about as close as I have come (thus far) to understanding certain surrealistic moments in the film. Castle Keep deserves more attention than it has received.

Hopefully it will soon be available in DVD format, accompanied by special features will include as much discussion of it as is already available or can be generated. I fondly recall the "Movies in Time" series on the History cable television channel, hosted by Sander Vanocur, which featured films such as Saving Private Ryan. Before, during, and then following each screening, Vanocur and his guests would discuss the film. How much I wish there were a recorded interview out there, somewhere, during which Pollack, Decae, Lancaster, Falk, and others associated with Castle Keep share their thoughts and feelings about its meaning and significance.

This movie boasts an excellent cast that includes Burt Lancaster, Peter Falk, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Tony Bill, Patrick O'Neal, and Bruce Dern. Lancaster gives another great performance as Major Falconer, the leader of the group. O'Neal is also very good as Captain Beckman, an art historian who wants to abandon the castle so it won't be destroyed by the advancing Germans. Another interesting performance is by Peter Falk as Sergeant Rossi, who disappears into the nearby town and becomes their baker. This movie has some anti-war messages, but at other times it is very funny. I hadn't heard of this movie before I saw it on TV, but it is very good. Well developed characters, good action, some humor, and an interesting if sometime out of place musical score. Either way this is a movie that is well worth watching.