war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...
directed by
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), ''Sink the Bismarck!' ...
Robert Beatty
Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
Early years
Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, O ...
.
Plot
An escape tunnel for the naval officer prisoners during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
at a German
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
is discovered.
Lieutenant Ainsworth devises a scheme with the escape committee to use the components of a
mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...
named Albert to convince the Germans that all prisoners sent outside the camp for a bathhouse wash up are returned to the camp. A piece of Albert is smuggled with the prisoners going to the bathhouse and reassembled for the return. Ainsworth also has a woman
pen pal
Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of le ...
he has never seen; he plans to marry her once he is free. Though the originator has the right to try out his own idea, Ainsworth insists that his hut mates draw cards for the privilege; Erickson wins and gets away.
After waiting a while, they decide to reuse the ploy. This time, Ainsworth's friend, after hearing that his pen pal has not written in a while, sees to it that the draw is rigged so that he wins. Ainsworth auctions his place, only to have Captain Maddox, the senior prisoner of war, order him to go. Ainsworth is recaptured the same day. Later, the camp commandant informs the men that Erickson was shot while resisting arrest by the Gestapo; his ashes are handed over.
When SS Schultz expresses interest in American Lieutenant "Texas" Norton's chronometer, Norton notes Schultz is in charge of the camp's boundary lights and asks him to see that they malfunction during the next Allied night bombing raid but it is a trap. Schultz signals his men to turn the lights back on while Norton is cutting through the
barbed wire
A close-up view of a barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...
fence, then shoots him down in cold blood.
Schultz tries to suborn Ainsworth but Ainsworth tells him he will see to it he is prosecuted for murder after the war. When Schultz becomes the new , Ainsworth insists on trying to escape again, using Albert. He gets away but waits at night to confront Schultz outside the camp. After a struggle, he gets Schultz's pistol. When Allied bombs drop uncomfortably close by, Schultz runs for it. Ainsworth is unable to bring himself to shoot the fleeing German in the back but a bomb kills him. Ainsworth takes back Norton's chronometer from the dead man and walks away.
Robert Beatty
Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
Early years
Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, O ...
as Lieutenant Jim Reed
*
William Sylvester
William Sylvester (January 31, 1922 – January 25, 1995) was an American television and film actor. His most famous film credit was Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's '' 2001 A Space Odyssey'' (1968).
Life and career
William Sylves ...
as Lieutenant Texas Norton
*
Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...
as SS Hauptsturmführer Schultz (credited as a
Hauptmann
is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...
, the Heer equivalent in the credits)
* Michael Balfour as Lieutenant Henry Adams
*
Guy Middleton
Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English character actor, film character actor.
Biography
Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exch ...
as Captain Barton
* Paul Carpenter as Lieutenant Fred Erickson
*
Moultrie Kelsall
Moultrie Rowe Kelsall (24 October 1904 – 13 February 1980)Biographical info
Eddie Byrne
Eddie Byrne (31 January 1911 – 21 August 1981) was an Irish actor.
Career
His stage work included many appearances with Dublin's Abbey Theatre, and also work with the National Theatre in London.
Outside Ireland he is probably best known ...
as Commander Joe Brennan
*
Geoffrey Hibbert
Geoffrey Hibbert (2 June 1922 – 3 February 1969) was an English stage, film and television actor.
Biography
He made his screen debut with the lead role in John Baxter's ''The Common Touch'' (1941) and appeared in two other Baxter films, ''Lov ...
as Lieutenant Cutter Craig
* Peter Jones as Lieutenant Schoolie Browne
*
Frederick Valk
Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British cit ...
as Camp Kommandant
*
Frederick Schiller
Frederick Schiller (23 August 1901 – 29 September 1994) was an Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federat ...
as Herman
*
Walter Gotell
Walter Jack Gotell (15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore-era of the James Bond film series,Tom VallancObituary: Walter Gotell ''The Independent'', 20 June 19 ...
as Feldwebel
*
Peter Swanwick
Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, ''The Prisoner''.
Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in f ...
as Obergefreiter
Historical background
The film is based on a true story. "Albert R.N." was a dummy constructed in Marlag O, the prisoner of war camp in northern Germany for naval officers. The head was sculpted by war artist John Worsley (1919–2000), the body by Lieutenant Bob Staines RNVR, and Lieutenant-Commander Tony Bentley-Buckle devised a mechanism enabling Albert's eyes to blink and move, adding realism to the dummy. "Albert" was used as a stand-in for a head count while a prisoner escaped and was used on two occasions. In the first attempt Lieutenant William "Blondie" Mewes RNVR escaped from the camp shower block and the skilful use of "Albert" during roll-calls gave him four days head start before a missing PoW was reported. Mewes was recaptured in Lübeck and returned to Marlag camp. The second occasion failed when the escaping PoW was discovered hiding in the camp shower block and "Albert" was discovered in the subsequent searches.
Worsley made a new "Albert" for use in the film. Senior Commissioned Gunner (TAS) Lieutenant John William Goble RN aided Worsley in the development of "Albert" in the POW camp, Marlag O and acted as technical adviser for the film. Worsely made a third "Albert" for the retrospective exhibition of his work held in
Brighton College
Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...
's Burstow Gallery. After the show, it was donated to the
Royal Naval Museum
The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ...
Portsmouth. Guy Morgan and Edward Sammis, who were British POWs, wrote a play based on the story on which this film was based. This was subsequently adapted into a screenplay.
Sonny Tufts
Bowen Charlton "Sonny" Tufts III (July 16, 1911 – June 4, 1970) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for the films he made as a contract star at Paramount in the 1940s, including ''So Proudly We Hail!''. He a ...
(as an American film star),
Trevor Howard
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...
,
Anton Walbrook
Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück (19 November 18969 August 1967) was an Austrian actor who settled in the United Kingdom under the name Anton Walbrook. A popular performer in Austria and pre-war Germany, he left in 1936 out of concerns for his ...
and
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...
. Jack Warner and Anthony Steel were both leased to producer Daniel Angel by the
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...
. Both had previously appeared in POW movies, ''
The Captive Heart
''The Captive Heart'' is a 1946 British war drama, directed by Basil Dearden and starring Michael Redgrave. It is about a Czechoslovak Army officer who is captured in the Fall of France and spends five years as a prisoner of war, during which ...
'' (1946) and ''
The Wooden Horse
''The Wooden Horse'' is a 1950 British Second World War war film directed by Jack Lee and starring Leo Genn, David Tomlinson and Anthony Steel. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay.
The f ...
'' (1950) respectively, and had just made ''Emergency Call'' together. Steel frequently made war films in support of an older British actor. A POW camp was built on Headley Heath. At one stage the film was going to be called ''The Spare Man''.
Release
Lewis Gilbert said the film earned its money back in the United Kingdom. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' on 21 October 1953, page 181, described it as "Well-done British-made prison meller, lacks names for U.S. market", and went on the say it had "A solid all-round cast admirably fits into the plot. Anthony Steel handsomely suggests the young artist responsible for the creation of 'Albert' and Jack Warner is reliably cast as the senior British officer who maintains discipline with understanding in the camp. Robert Beatty, William Sylvester and Guy Middleton are among the principal POWs. Frederick Valk is a sympathetic camp commandant, but Anton Diffring suggests the typical ruthless Nazi type."Review of film at Variety