It features an international cast including Silvana Mangano, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeanne Moreau and Vera Miles.

[2] The film is set during the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia and was shot in Italy and Klagenfurt, Austria.` In 1943, German Sergeant Keller has sex with women of a German-occupied Yugoslav town.

While the Germans pursue their attackers into the woods, Jovanka takes the boots, coat and pistol of a dead soldier; the others do the same.

Later, when Jovanka sees the atrocities committed by a small German unit, she is so infuriated that she shoots at the departing convoy.

Fortunately, they are spotted and killed, but the couple's dereliction of duty earns them a death sentence, despite Jovanka's protests.

The next day, the Partisans set out to attack the women's town during the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Third Reich, leaving Ljuba and Mira to guard Reinhardt (who will either be part of a prisoner exchange or executed).

Various sources gave conflicting reasons for her departure: that she did not want to shave her head, that she objected to blacklisted screenwriters Wilson and Jarrico, or that she left because "longtime rival" Mangano (married to producer De Laurentis) had also been cast.

)[2] It was reported that four of the five main actresses really had their heads shaved, the exception being Bel Geddes, who was to perform in a Broadway play immediately after the film ended production.

[2] The producers wanted to film some of the scenes in Yugoslavia, but the Yugoslav government refused to cooperate; according to one source, officials felt that foreigners could not do justice to the country's past.

[2] The Variety review noted that "The film occasionally plots an overly familiar conflict, but it catches the fervency of the resistance movement."

The article praised the performances of Basehart ("excellent"), Heflin ("one of his better roles") and Forrest ("scores with an electrifying scene, shouting of his mutilation by the partisans.").

"[3] Howard Thompson, critic for The New York Times, disagreed, writing: Even with the battle scenes and the ripsnorting finale, this Dino De Laurentiis production moves like molten lead under Martin Ritt's direction.

Harry Guardino, Alex Nicol and Steve Forrest are sturdy sideliners in a thuddingly flat import that, once the five picked chickens begin to regain their tresses, seems like many predecessors.