You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)

What a beautiful movie!

One of my all time favorites.

Just so...so bad

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Set against the backdrop of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Soldiers of Fortune tells the story of two opportunist former U.S. Army soldiers Adam Dyer(Tony Curtis) and Josh Corey (Charles Bronson). The two joins a group of Turkish mercenaries to protect the daughters of an Ottoman sultan and a train that carries gold. This is the first movie in cinematic history that portrays Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (even briefly by Patrick Magee) who is the founder and the first president of modern Turkey. Believe it or not, the rumor has it that one of the Turkish journalists wanted to interview Charles Bronson after the production of the movie but he was just vehemently rejected by Bronson. So the embittered journalist just started a smear campaign against the movie, that's why the movie has never been available on DVD here and unfortunately the only way that you can watch this movie in Turkey is to get hold of a pirate VHS copy. You Can't Win 'Em All may not have sounded realistic or historically accurate but it would not be fair at all to expect complete historical accuracy from an adventurous western movie. The filming locations do not really follow a logical order either. For instance, the mercenaries set out their adventurous odyssey in İzmir (formerly Smyrna)At first they camp in the Cappadocia region (east-central Turkey) Later on you see them in Ephesus and Didim (which is at the far west)I guess Peter Collinson must have thought he should show a few places that a tourist must see in his/her visit to Turkey. You Can't Win 'Em All may not be the best movie but if you like westerns and if you are real fans of Curtis and Bronson there is not a reason why you shouldn't like this one.

Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson team up as mercenaries in director Peter Collinson's "You Can't Win'Em All," a larger-than-life action epic set in historic Turkey during the waning days of the Otterman Empire. This tongue-in-cheek actioneer benefits from a glossy budget and actual on-location lensing in Turkey. This is one of those old-fashioned shoot'em ups where everybody around the two leading men drop like flies whenever they ride into an ambush or get strafed by biplanes. Curtis and Bronson radiate charisma and chemistry. Neither completely trusts each other entirely, but they wind up as close-knit friends at fadeout. Collinson captures the beauty and majesty of Turkey, and "Virgin Soldiers" lenser Ken Higgins' widescreen cinematography is as scenic and sweeping as the action. Our heroes, former U.S. Army soldiers Adam Dyer (Tony Curtis of "The Vikings")and Josh Corey (Charles Bronson of "Vera Cruz"), provide an escort for what appears to be a mule train of gold but there are surprises in store for both of them as well as the audience. Collinson stages several eventful action scenes, not the least of which involve a couple of biplanes dropping bombs on an army in the field. Tough-guy character actor Leo V. Gordon, who penned the World War II thriller "Tobruk," wrote the screenplay, and he provides Curtis and Bronson with amusing dialogue that will remind you of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ending is a hoot!

Overall, I like the movie; however, I find it strange that many of Charles Bronson's men have hippie like long hair. This is suppose to be a film about a situation in 1919 not 1970. Men back in those days were clean cut unless you live out in a very isolated rural area like being a lumberjack or like in Lawrence of Arabia, you were herding sheep, horses, camels, etc., and because you were so far away from civilization and had to ration your water supply, you could not shave your face and cut your sideburns.I am surprise with the firepower of the tommy guns, they could not shoot down the two Turkish plane or damage them. Its funny in a movie when you have German soldiers throwing lots of firepower against American soldiers, few Americans get killed; however, when you see soldiers of countries like Greece or Turkey with less firepower, they are good at killing Americans in large numbers.

This is a competent adventure movie pairing, of all people, Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson. It's setting is an obscure one for Americans: Turkey in its days of revolutionary war following the defeat and collapse of the Ottoman Dynasty in World War I. Bronson and his band of mercs have tommy guns but don't get to use them as much as you might expect. On no best-of list, but this movie is a bit better than it had to be, and worth a look.