I thought this film was great escapist fun.
It may not be very believable but it is full of action and suspense.
Sinatra is great as Ryan. After being shot down he ends up in an Italian POW camp. He isn't too impressed with Trevor Howard and his men and thinks they should sit out what is left of the war rather than try to escape. He has only just arrived at the camp so doesn't fully appreciate how bad things are especially as the commandant of the camp played by Adolfo Celi is "a two bit Mussolini" according to Brad Dexter's character.
When Italy surrenders the prisoners attempt to get back to Allied lines. However, they end up getting captured by the Germans and are put on a train. Incredibly they manage to take over the train and hatch a plan to reach Switzerland after several attempts to abandon the train are thwarted. I really like the bit where the padre played by Edward Mulhare impersonates a Nazi officer and manages to get them through checks twice.
The ending is great too as the train is attacked by German fighters and then troops on a chasing train. They manage to replace damaged track and carry on to Switzerland. The twist at the end is when Ryan is killed.
Overall a fast paced and action packed film.
It may not be very believable but it is full of action and suspense.
Sinatra is great as Ryan. After being shot down he ends up in an Italian POW camp. He isn't too impressed with Trevor Howard and his men and thinks they should sit out what is left of the war rather than try to escape. He has only just arrived at the camp so doesn't fully appreciate how bad things are especially as the commandant of the camp played by Adolfo Celi is "a two bit Mussolini" according to Brad Dexter's character.
When Italy surrenders the prisoners attempt to get back to Allied lines. However, they end up getting captured by the Germans and are put on a train. Incredibly they manage to take over the train and hatch a plan to reach Switzerland after several attempts to abandon the train are thwarted. I really like the bit where the padre played by Edward Mulhare impersonates a Nazi officer and manages to get them through checks twice.
The ending is great too as the train is attacked by German fighters and then troops on a chasing train. They manage to replace damaged track and carry on to Switzerland. The twist at the end is when Ryan is killed.
Overall a fast paced and action packed film.