If I understood correctly from the film's dialogue, when one inserted a cyanide pill in one's mouth to escape torture and spilling the beans, one just counted to five and croaked. Alas, reality is different, it takes longer than that and, according to experts, an excrutiatingly painful death.
Of course, during WWII spies would carry those capsules as a matter of course and in this case Annemarie Duringer, the beautiful German agent who has infiltrated a joint English-American decoy unit dedicated to providing false info to the Germans about the D-Day invasion, becomes suspicious when she notices that the agents are not being issued with the capsules.
Very good acting from Nigel Patrick, always an extremely reliable thespian. Jeffrey Hunter plays the part of a US Army captain who does not trust Patrick, and makes some decisions that ultimately prove very costly, but he is not an actor of Patrick's ability. Rolf Lefebvre, as the chief spy in the German group, also delivers a top grade performance, as does Duringer.
Frankly, this film is entertaining and honest enough that I do not care whether it accurately reflects history. I also find it odd that some regard it as dated. Why? WWII ended in 1945, how could it not become dated if, since then, we have had the Cold War, the independence of many countries, the emergence of widespread terrorism, and many other developments. The clock never stops ticking and change has been the only constant in these modern times.
COUNT FIVE AND DIE rates no masterpiece but despite suffering from a low budget, it is a sight better and more faithful to history than the bulk of current movies. 7/10.
