The Victors (1963)

Interesting facts

• Box office: $2.4M

The Victors is a 1963 war film written, produced and directed by Carl Foreman. He called it a "personal statement" about the futility of war—both victor and vanquished are losers.

Production

The film is based on the 1953 book The Human Kind, the third in a trilogy of autobiographical war works by Alexander Baron, after From the City, From the Plough and There's No Home. The Human Kind was a series of autobiographical notes and sketches which covered the war from 1939 to 1945, with an epilogue in Korea.

The film rights were bought by Carl Foreman. In May 1957, he announced a slate of productions he wanted to produce under a deal with Columbia in England, including an adaptation of The Human Kind. The deal was for four films over three years, with a budget of $8–10 million. He called Human Kind a "series of vignettes of the early days of the blitz in England."

In 1960, Foreman announced The Human Kind would follow his production of The Guns of Navarone. Foreman's intention was to "select several of the stories, adapt them to the screen and make one overall drama out of the kaleidoscopic collection." Foreman also said he intended to make his directorial debut with the movie.

In August 1961, Foreman said the project would be titled The Victors as he felt the theme of the book was that in war the winners are also the losers. In February 1962, Foreman arrived in Los Angeles to cast the movie.

"It will be controversial and may well shock people," said Foreman in August 1962, just as filming began. "But it represents a deeply personal feeling I have about war and specifically heroism. People are very capable of coming up with heroism when it is necessary - but it's not a game anymore. What I resent is the need for heroism in warfare."

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