The Last Chance

I think that pretty sums up this film.

The other reviews say it very well. And to them, I say "ditto" to those reviews that praise this film. But you want something more specific, don't you? Fair enough.

It's a story of refuges trying to get away from the Nazis, and we begin with a British and American soldier for much of the film, as they make their way into a village. Later, they are joined by a British officer and civilian refuges.

Along with the other characters, we are treated to some very believable people, as three dimensional as you get, and the directing and camera work lets us follow the story, as well as the people and their emotions, in this odyssey.

There are heroics, but these are incredibly believable heroics, and we get the full "motivation" for everything that happens. The camaraderie of the times is beautiful, and is something missing in today's movies.

This is a "smart" movie. Not only do we get awesome intellectually stimulating ideas, drama, and story, but we also get awesome camera, directing, and action. This is well paced, certainly more fluid and active than 95% of the movies that have been made since 1965, if I am to pick a year in which a modern era begins.

Thumbs up. If you get a chance, this is a movie that will excite you on all levels, for all audiences.

"The Last Chance" is a production by the European branch of MGM and has a most unusual cast. None of the actors are particularly famous and they speak many different languages.

The film is set in Italy just after the ouster of Mussolini. The country is excited to see the Fascist regime go...and for two stranded soldiers, an American and British one, who are thrilled that they can finally relax and not worry about being captured. However, their joy is very short-lived, as the Germans soon pour into the country and they take control. Now the two men need to be on their guards again. Along the way, they meet many lovely Italians who assist them as well as many other refugees seeking freedom in nearby Switzerland. What's to become of all these displaced people?

The movie came out about six months after the war in Europe had ended and it brings attention to refugees...who were seldom talked about in movies of the day. Well written, compelling and worth seeing.

This is a wonderful movie. The copy I saw was not good, but that did not detract from the emotional and realistic story. It provides, as much as anything can, what seems to be a legitimate sense of the desperation that these refugees must have felt as they were driven from their homes by the war around them. Exceptional story in a raw but effective production.

In the chaos surrounding the Italian campaign, an American flier and a British officer meet after having escaped internment. They make their way north towards Switzerland. They are aided by ordinary people. When news comes that Mussolini has escaped the partisans, a local Fascist rats them out to the Germans and they have to make a run for it over the wintry mountains, leading a desperate band of refugees.

This Swiss movie was directed and co-written by Leopold Lindtberg. He knew something about being a refugee. He began his career in the theater and the movies in his native Vienna, but in the early 1940s, his Jewish religion forced him to flee to Switzerland. By chance he was able to cast this movie well: two of the "escaped British officers" were precisely that, and professional actors to boot; the American was a flier whose plane came down in Switzerland, and was being held there until matters could be sorted out.

Although there are dramatic, theatrical moments, the setting in the mountains and towns of Switzerland, and the casting of locals lends a humanist air to the movie that made me think of Pressberger & Powell's movies of the period. the camerawork is extraordinary; instead of using rapid cutting to create excitement, cinematographer Emil Berna uses a moving camera, with fast, long movements to produce a sense of panic.

Although this sort of movie was almost a commonplace of the era, it's ANABASIS-like plot of trying to escape -- only this time, it's to Switzerland, instead of the sea -- and its fortuitous casting makes it extraordinary.

The Last Chance - Swiss Film - 1945

I first watched this film on BBC Television when I was about 11 years old in 1962.

I remember thinking about how realistic it was, leaving nothing out of place as a good film production. On IMDB, I notice that no "goofs", anachronisms, or continuity flaws are listed. That is because there weren't any.

What inspired me about the films authenticity, was how the escaped prisoners of war overcame the language difficulty - one of the men had a working knowledge of the Italian language that he would have picked up as a prisoner of war.

Language problems are always something that more commercial War films often seem to short cut - as if the film audience is supposed to believe that everyone in Europe speaks English.

I searched for years to see if I could find any reference to this film and eventually found it in a copy of Leslie Halliwell's Film Goers Companion. The advent of the Internet allowed me to watch the film again on YouTube.

What is also quite unusual about the film is that the leading roles are played by actors who, themselves, had served in the Second World War, had been captured, and had escaped to Switzerland - very brave men.

It is also interesting that the supporting cast consisted of many well-known European actors and actresses. Performers such as Luisa Rossi and Therese Giehse were very famous at the time. The latter was once described as the greatest actress in Europe.

It is surprising that I have never seen the film shown again on the television since 1962.

The film has many poignant moments, which adds to the whole defined aura of the film.

The Last Chance neither glamorises, nor comes over as an anti-war film, but serves as a reverent tribute to the brave men and women who served in such a conflict where so many people suffered and died.

I give it 10 out of 10.