Summaries

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.

Captured French Resistance fighter Lieutenant Fontaine awaits a certain death sentence for espionage in a stark German prison in Lyon, France. Facing malnutrition and paralyzing fear, he must plot an extraordinary escape, complicated by the questions of whom to trust, and what lies beyond the small portion of the prison they are housed in.—Sam Spector

Lyon, 1943. A man named Fontaine, who worked for the French Resistance, is captured by the Germans and held captive in a prison in France along with a multitude of other men and women the Germans have charged or are plotting against them. None know what their fates will be, although they can hear executions by firing squad on site from their prison cells. When Fontaine settles into the second cell in which he is housed in the prison, he finds a possible way out of his cell without his captors knowing. From that starting point, using an iron spoon he secretly keeps as his only tool, Fontaine decides that he will escape from the cell, which will take meticulous planning and great patience. Once out he plans to escape from the prison itself. Not knowing anyone in the prison before his arrival, he has to decide whom he can trust, as he will need the cooperation of others along the way. A break in his routine takes place just as he thinks he may have all the tools ready to make an escape attempt when he finds out his sentence. He Is forced to make decisions on moving ahead with his plan immediately and takes even greater risks.—Huggo

1943. Lieutenant Fontaine is a prisoner of the Germans in occupied Lyon, France. After he attempts to escape he is punished and isolated. However, if the Germans thought this would quash his desire to escape, they are sorely mistaken. He is now more determined than ever to escape and immediately starts looking at options.—grantss

Details

Keywords
  • 1940s
  • escape
  • prison
  • escape from prison
  • attempted escape
Genres
  • Thriller
  • Drama
  • War
Release date Nov 10, 1956
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Not Rated
Countries of origin France
Language German French
Filming locations Studios de Saint-Maurice, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France
Production companies Gaumont Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 41m
Color Black and White
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1

Synopsis

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