This sick themed war drama has a psychotic doctor exploiting the situation with Nazis by killing refugee wannabees and potential prisoners of war by having them convert all their money into gold with the promise of getting them out of France. James Robertson Justice (the sweets factory owner from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") is the nasty "Beast of Marseilles" who tells one Jewish undertaker desperate to meet his family over in England that he is saving him from the tortures of a concentration camp. While all of this is going on, the Nazis introduce much terror to the residents, including a lecherous fat soldier who after twice trying to rape the young heroine ends up having a date with the concrete below when he falls off a roof after having a fight with her lover.
Generally unpleasant and slow-moving, this seems an odd story to be telling more than a decade after the end of the war. Stephen Boyd is the young hero fighting both the Germans and the evil Justice who enjoys his murderous ways as a painter would be uncovering his new artwork. This is an "A" version of the type of film that Tod Slaughter would have menaced in a decade before. The only thing that is of interest in this really is the manner in which the villain is exposed and ultimately dealt with.
Generally unpleasant and slow-moving, this seems an odd story to be telling more than a decade after the end of the war. Stephen Boyd is the young hero fighting both the Germans and the evil Justice who enjoys his murderous ways as a painter would be uncovering his new artwork. This is an "A" version of the type of film that Tod Slaughter would have menaced in a decade before. The only thing that is of interest in this really is the manner in which the villain is exposed and ultimately dealt with.