User Reviews

If you've followed my review page for a while, you'll probably notice I have an affinity for world war 2, especially shows and movies that make good use of its events. The tv series Combat starring Vic Morrow I believe needs no introduction, but this episode in particular does need some detailing because it's somewhat polarizing for fans of the show. Personally, I think it's really good, but some people have dismissed its story as unrealistic or impossible, which I can completely understand the reasoning behind. I was still able to enjoy it, even if the events shown are too unlikely to happen. One reason why I like Escape to Nowhere is because it focuses squarely on Vic Morrow's co-star for a change. Rick Jason (who plays Lieutenant Hanley in the show) typically doesn't appear as much as Morrow, despite outranking him. In this episode, the fact that he's an officer makes him the target of a high ranking german one who has been involved in something really terrible (from germany's point of view). The episode follows Lieutenant Hanley. One day, he manages to get himself captured by General Von Strelitz (Albert Paulsen), a wehrmacht commander who reveals to him he was involved in the july 20th plot. This was a real life event in which several german officers conspired to assassinate Hitler, and actually came close to doing so. In the episode, Strelitz kills his driver and then forces Hanley (at gunpoint) to drive him to a kind of officer's club. Hanley, in a german uniform, sits with the general at a table and is instructed not to look at the waitress at all when she comes to take their orders. Things get tense when another officer greets the general and asks about his adjutant, to which Hanley says nothing (since he only speaks english). They watch a girl sing for a while, and then leave. Hanley is lucky to not be suspected as an american. Later on, Strelitz leads Hanley to a remote shack in the french countryside and reveals he is running away because the military suspected him of trying to kill Hitler. He also says he's trying to take Hanley with him because he can use him to escape. Hanley doesn't want to be a part of this, but right now, he has to do what he says. After a close call with several armed french children, Strelitz and Hanley attempt to board a train so that he can meet with his daughter Maria. Again, Strelitz tells him not to look at his daughter while they talk, but the conversation gets so awkward that Hanley has to speak up. Strelitz tells his daughter that he is attempting to escape because he tried to assassinate Hitler, which in his eyes was justified. He knows that Hitler is not the savior of germany he once proclaimed himself as, and he's only leading germany on a path to destruction. His daughter thinks otherwise and says he is a traitor, and despite Strelitz being her father, she has no other option but to give him up to the Gestapo. Hanley also lets her know that he's an american officer. She leaves the train car, and Hanley tries to convince Strelitz to stop her, but he says there's nothing left to fight for. The gestapo eventually do come for him, but Strelitz and Hanley manage to escape in a mercedes. For whatever reason, Strelitz has a change of heart and tries to force Hanley to drive him back to his daughter, but he eventually relents. On their drive to god knows where, a gestapo soldier shoots the back of the car and the round hits Strelitz. Hanley manages to drive to the safety of his lines, but by the time he does, Strelitz is dead. Just judging from the storyline, I can definitely see where people are coming from when they say this episode is absurd. It doesn't make a lot of sense for Strelitz to abduct Hanley of all people, especially because he doesn't know how to speak german. Hanley is able to partially make up for this because he actually does look like he could be a nazi when he's in uniform, but he blows his disguise anyway by telling Strelitz's daughter later on he's american. I liked Strelitz as a character because you can sense his defeatist attitude whenever he opens his mouth. The part where he lets Maria alert the gestapo about what he's done really made me understand the sheer love he has for his daughter. She thinks he's a traitor, but he still loves her. I can't really remember, but I don't think Saunders appears at all in this episode, and even if he did, it isn't about him. This is the first episode of the series that solely focuses on Hanley, and it's a good first impression.

Escape to Nowhere is a 1 hr. movie. Great dialogue between the characters, suspenseful direction, and talented co-stars. Rick Jason shines brightly. Like Vic he could say just as much with a facial expression.

Some favorite lines. HANLEY(protesting)- I could be shot as a spy in this uniform. GENERAL- you could be shot in your own uniform. HANLEY facial expression- D'OH !

HANLEY(smugly)- how do you know you can trust your girlfriend ? GENERAL- she is my daughter. HANLEY facial expression- D'OH !

The scene where the Priest gets killed is a good example how Combat! portrayed children realistically in a war. HANLEY- they are children. GENERAL- not anymore.

Good lines continue as they deliberate the moral issues of the Priest's death. GENERAL(cynically)- do you believe in God? HANLEY(serious)- the children did. GENERAL(facial expression)- D'OH !

Good dramatic use of a train whistle sends us to the station for the final confrontations with the General's daughter and the persistent Gestapo Colonel. They escape to the British lines. The General has died during the trip and Hanley shows genuine remorse at the news.

A solid Rick Jason episode.

Very well acted episode, set in occupied France. I can only find one German actor in the cast (Sasha Harden's biodata is unavailable) but it seems like everyone is speaking flawless German, including Albert Paulsen (Gen. Von Strelitz). Paulsen, although a polyglot, did not speak German according to his biodata, but did speak Spanish and French. Von Strelitz's daughter, Maria, is played by Dutch actress Joyce Vanderveen, whose German sounded very convincing, at least to my American ears. The French priest is played by a French actor so that's OK.

The scene with the little French children is both silly and surreal. It is more than a bit jarring when armed young hooligans shoot the priest, and then, in sudden remorse at their own actions, just let the "Germans" go. But the true moral quandary and battle of wills is between Von Strelitz and Maria. The former sees Germany is losing and, having been part of a failed attempt to kill Hitler, now wants to flee. His daughter, however, is his polar opposite, philosophically. Will she betray her father to the suspicious investigators who have been tailing him?