You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)

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.

You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) ** (out of 4) Mildly entertaining action film has former WW1 soldiers traveling to Turkey where they are hired by Osman Bey to help guard a gold shipment but after countless double crossings and twists, the soldiers begin to realize that there might be something more at stake than just gold. It's important to note that the soldiers are played by Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson and those names are big enough to make you want to keep watching even when the film itself starts to unravel and come apart. The movie gets off to a great start as Curtis is stranded at sea in a sinking boat and gets picked up by captain Bronson but before he can get on the two have a nice exchange of words. The first twenty-minutes of the movie are fast, sharp and contain some very funny moments but all of this stuff pretty much goes away once the center story kicks in. I never really could get too involved with the story in Turkey simply because it really didn't feel all that real and I also thought it was rather poorly written. I think there's way too much story trying to go on and there's really nothing behind it because the main goal is just to get to the next action scene. As far as the action goes, we get a couple excellent sequences. The opening bar fight is pretty good but the real highlight comes towards the middle of the film when the train carrying the gold comes under attack. After viewing the movie I had to do a Google search to see how many stuntmen got killed in this sequence but apparently it was none. The physical stunts are extremely graphic and there are a few scenes where horses are tripping off one another and there's one instant that will really stick out because it seems the human riding it gets crushed during all the mayhem. There's another big action piece at the end, which results in another twist in the story that actually works pretty good. The main draw of this movie is going to be seeing Curtis and Bronson together and they actually do a pretty good job. I thought that laid back, smart ass attitude of Curtis worked perfectly well with Bronson stone cold approach. The two are simply so different that when they mix it up they just come off very funny. The banter between the men in the bar at the start of the film is certainly one of the highlights. YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL is far from a masterpiece and in reality it's not even a good movie. With that said, fans of the two stars will probably want to check it out but others will probably not find too much to keep them watching from start to finish.

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!

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.