In 1944, at a POW camp in Germany the Allied prisoners use a dummy prop named Albert to fool the German guards and escape.In 1944, at a POW camp in Germany the Allied prisoners use a dummy prop named Albert to fool the German guards and escape.In 1944, at a POW camp in Germany the Allied prisoners use a dummy prop named Albert to fool the German guards and escape.
Jack Sharp
- Prison Camp Guard
- (uncredited)
Emile Stemmler
- P.O.W.
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaArtist and illustrator John Worsley, who made the model of "Albert" for the film, had performed the same task in the the real P.O.W. camp, where he had been assisted by the film's technical adviser Senior Commissioned Gunner (TAS) Lieut. J.W. Goble.
- GoofsTex says he is in the US Navy Air Force, there wasn't such an outfit. If he as an aviator in the US Navy, he would have said US Navy.
- Quotes
Capt. Barton: [Reading out a letter from home] Listen to this: "Cousin Tony has been taken prisoner and is in Stalag B. His mother says 'Can you pop round and see him'". Old girl must be crackers...
- Crazy creditsClosing credits epilogue: 'ALBERT' was re-created for the screen by John Worsley
- ConnectionsFeatured in Frances Farmer Presents: Break to Freedom (1958)
Featured review
The real star is the dummy
There were quite a few British POW films in the '50's, some better than others. For some reason, the real ingenuity of escape attempts were glossed over, what so occupied the POWs attentions and on which depended their happiness and their lives: how uniforms, documents, stamps, photographs, tools etc could be made by with apparently none of what was necessary to make them. The films were thus human stories which though lacked much of what had been so crucial to the men involved. Here though the heart of the film is Albert RN - the life-like full size dummy used to take the place of a prisoner - and the virtuoso performances of its summoning out of the air in seconds, and its disassembly and disappearance again in seconds. Also along with the dummy itself, the way it was deployed, the plans for avoiding discovery and the on the spot quick thinking needed if the unexpected happened (when perhaps a dozen POW had to wordlessly devise and implement a plan in the presence of the German guards). And Albert R.N. was not just brought out to deceive the guards on the day of the escape but every day for a week to delay discovery of the escaped prisoner.
The other parts of the film are not quite up to par. Jack Warner did not convince physically as a serving naval officer, Anton Differing did his nasty Nazi once again (though who did it better?) but the marvel of Albert RN the dummy raised the bar and shone a light on the ingenuity, daring and skill of those who devised, built and operated him.
The other parts of the film are not quite up to par. Jack Warner did not convince physically as a serving naval officer, Anton Differing did his nasty Nazi once again (though who did it better?) but the marvel of Albert RN the dummy raised the bar and shone a light on the ingenuity, daring and skill of those who devised, built and operated him.
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- trimmerb1234
- Nov 28, 2015
- Permalink
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- £80,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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