No reflection on the men involved in these historical incidents but this is a pretty routine story of a jolly group of Polish, British, French, and Dutch prisoners of war assigned to Colditz prison because they've so persistently tried to escape in the past.
It belongs to a genre that includes "One Who Got Away" and virtually limitless others, the best known of which is probably "The Great Escape." It has most of the characteristics of the genre. There is the bluff but fundamentally decent German in command. There is the stern, handsome Unteroffizier, Anton Differing, always reliable in his limited range. There is the spy among the prisoners (cf., "Stalag 17"). The scrounging of goods. The fat, bumbling German in charge. The stage play that distracts the cadre. The comic scene in which one tunnel collapses upon another. There's not much blood and no sadism. The characters are stereotypes, but not like those of the early war years.
There is no problem with either the direction or the performances. All are up to professional par. It's the script. It's disjointed and vague, as much character-driven as plot-driven. There's a certain carelessness evident in the writing. When the Polish tunnel collapses into the British tunnel, there is no preparation for the scene. Of course the sudden intrusion of the Polish tunneler must come as a surprise in order to have any comic impact, and it does. But why are the British tunneling immediately underneath the Polish tunnel? Why did they choose the route they did? What is the secret under the boards of the stage? We never find out.
It's not dull and not uninteresting but it seems to go nowhere. The most engaging scenes are adventitious -- the Guardsmen doing some close order drill, for instance. Not uninteresting but not inventive enough to attract much attention.
It belongs to a genre that includes "One Who Got Away" and virtually limitless others, the best known of which is probably "The Great Escape." It has most of the characteristics of the genre. There is the bluff but fundamentally decent German in command. There is the stern, handsome Unteroffizier, Anton Differing, always reliable in his limited range. There is the spy among the prisoners (cf., "Stalag 17"). The scrounging of goods. The fat, bumbling German in charge. The stage play that distracts the cadre. The comic scene in which one tunnel collapses upon another. There's not much blood and no sadism. The characters are stereotypes, but not like those of the early war years.
There is no problem with either the direction or the performances. All are up to professional par. It's the script. It's disjointed and vague, as much character-driven as plot-driven. There's a certain carelessness evident in the writing. When the Polish tunnel collapses into the British tunnel, there is no preparation for the scene. Of course the sudden intrusion of the Polish tunneler must come as a surprise in order to have any comic impact, and it does. But why are the British tunneling immediately underneath the Polish tunnel? Why did they choose the route they did? What is the secret under the boards of the stage? We never find out.
It's not dull and not uninteresting but it seems to go nowhere. The most engaging scenes are adventitious -- the Guardsmen doing some close order drill, for instance. Not uninteresting but not inventive enough to attract much attention.