US army recruits Nazi soldiers to infliltrate enemy territory to take information for the Allied troops. As they recruit two spies who are nicknamed Tiger : Hans Christian Blech and Happy : Oskar Werner . Later on , Tiger and an American officer : Richard Basehart are stealthily infiltrated in Nazi territory and Happy is parachuted near Munich, their assignment : to gather information by discovering the whereabouts of a German regiment moving to West front and threatening the allied advance . While the cruel Gestapo carries out a merciless pursuit of deserters , capturing suspect spies and submitting them to firing squad. A woman's Kiss...a lighted cigarette. Each had its meaning! A stirring and realist story of war of German prisoners sent back their own lines of agents of the Allies ¡
An interesting and thrilling picture about a peculiar subject , Nazis collaborating with US Army, it is tense , intriguing and well paced . Special mention for the realist and breathtaking production design , being shot on location in authentic places with large areas really bombed , detritus , rubbish and buildings have not been reconstructed yet . Being based on a real story and a novel written by George Howe , competently adapted by Peter Viertel. Well starred by Oskar Werner who in real life also deserted from the Wehrmacht and Richard Basehart as Lieutenant Rennick . Along with a nice plethora of secondaries as Gary Merrill , Hidegard Knef , Dominique Blanchard , O.E. Hasse , and brief appearances from Klaus Kinski , Gert Frobe , among others .
Exceptional cinematography in Black and White by Franz Planer . And evocative and moving musical score by Franz Waxman. The picture was competently directed by Anatole Litvak. He was born in Ukraine and stayed in Germany working . Anatole moved to France and directed Mayerling with Charles Boyer , Danielle Darrieux . His first Hollywood movie was The Woman I Love 1937 , and made a wide variety of subjects , from sophisticated comedy as Tovarich 1937 to historical drama as Anastasia 1956 , romance as All this and Heaven Too 1940 , crime drama as Dr Clitterhouse with Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart and two tough thrillers starring John Garfield : Castle on the Hudson 1940 and Out of the Fog 1941 . Having become an American citizen , Litvak enlisted in the US army and collaborated with William Wyler in "Why we fight" series of WWII documentaries. Arguably his best films were the Thriller " Sorry wrong the Number" and the splendid psychological drama "The Snake Pit" 1948 , Hollywood's first attempt to seriously examine the treatment of mental illness . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . Well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII enthusiasts .
An interesting and thrilling picture about a peculiar subject , Nazis collaborating with US Army, it is tense , intriguing and well paced . Special mention for the realist and breathtaking production design , being shot on location in authentic places with large areas really bombed , detritus , rubbish and buildings have not been reconstructed yet . Being based on a real story and a novel written by George Howe , competently adapted by Peter Viertel. Well starred by Oskar Werner who in real life also deserted from the Wehrmacht and Richard Basehart as Lieutenant Rennick . Along with a nice plethora of secondaries as Gary Merrill , Hidegard Knef , Dominique Blanchard , O.E. Hasse , and brief appearances from Klaus Kinski , Gert Frobe , among others .
Exceptional cinematography in Black and White by Franz Planer . And evocative and moving musical score by Franz Waxman. The picture was competently directed by Anatole Litvak. He was born in Ukraine and stayed in Germany working . Anatole moved to France and directed Mayerling with Charles Boyer , Danielle Darrieux . His first Hollywood movie was The Woman I Love 1937 , and made a wide variety of subjects , from sophisticated comedy as Tovarich 1937 to historical drama as Anastasia 1956 , romance as All this and Heaven Too 1940 , crime drama as Dr Clitterhouse with Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart and two tough thrillers starring John Garfield : Castle on the Hudson 1940 and Out of the Fog 1941 . Having become an American citizen , Litvak enlisted in the US army and collaborated with William Wyler in "Why we fight" series of WWII documentaries. Arguably his best films were the Thriller " Sorry wrong the Number" and the splendid psychological drama "The Snake Pit" 1948 , Hollywood's first attempt to seriously examine the treatment of mental illness . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . Well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII enthusiasts .