A remarkably pessimistic WWII-set film, Bitter Victory follows two commando officers (Richard Burton and Curd Jürgens) on a desperate mission behind German lines in North Africa. Director Nicholas Ray described it not as a war film or an anti-war film, but as “a private psychological duel.” The film exemplifies Columbia Pictures’ increasing reliance on independent and out-of-house productions—made with varying degrees of studio oversight. This one was shot entirely in Europe and Africa. Based on the novel Amère victoire by René Hardy, the script was in constant flux, with rewrites by several hands, including former Sight & Sound editor (and Ray’s then-lover) Gavin Lambert. Neither Ray nor producer Paul Graetz was satisfied with the script—each for entirely different and often conflicting reasons.

Working with some of France’s finest technicians—veterans of Jean Renoir and Max Ophüls—Ray achieved a visual richness that, despite the film’s troubled production, conveys a tortured view of war. Burton’s character, who describes himself as someone who “kills the living and saves the dead,” embodies the film’s haunting melancholy. Despite the vast desert horizon and the wide CinemaScope frame, the grainy images and introspective characters make this one of Ray’s most claustrophobic masterpieces.