La dernière chance

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.

Director Leopold Lindtberg grew up in Austria in the early 20th century. As German fascism cast its shadow across Europe, Lindtberg emigrated to Switzerland where, after several years of controversial film-making during and after World War II, he was eventually naturalized.

The Last Chance is a work of historical fiction which draws its power from consistent plausibility made possible by its historic and geographic context. The story takes place mostly in the Italian and Swiss Alps late in Mussolini's rule. It follows two young POWs - one British and one American - who escape from a prisoner transport train in Northern Italy and hatch a scheme to hike across the mountains to neutral Switzerland.

The relationships these soldiers develop along the way - with those who help them, inform on them, shelter and clothe them, and particularly those who come to depend on them - show us a side of World War II which is not often well-explored in non-propaganda films of the era. Although The Last Chance is powerfully anti-war, it is by no means a propaganda film. Rather, it is a thoughtful work of social realism depicting the power and value of humanity to overcome its own tendencies toward collective insanity.

Filmed near the end of world war II under what must have been very challenging conditions, Lindtberg's few advantages must have been that it would be easy enough to find destroyed villages, burnt out buildings and talented actors willing to make a film celebrating the human spirit for little money. The exceptional realism of the sets, the effortless cinematography, and the talented international cast (very few of whom are known for any other films) make the film very easy to watch, and no suspension of disbelief is required as the script, story and action of the plot seem to fit right in place.

There are no recognizable stars in The Last Chance, but the casting is perfect and there are some very powerful performances. The two leads (John Hoy and Ray Reagan - neither of whom ever made another film) are very good, and most of the Italian cast members give noteworthy performances.

Praised as a masterpiece of suspense by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, The Last Chance is a war film which contains very little battle action, and a surprising amount of philosophical dialog. It may be one of the lowest-budget films to win both a Palme D'Or (1945) and Golden Globe (1947), and the courage of its director in making it when the outcome of the conflict it depicts was far from clear is mirrored in the courage of the protagonists. Lindtberg also drew from his own intimate experience with central Europe during the war to create the memorable characters and story line of this brave film, and it shows.

This film tells the story of a troupe of escaped prisoners and persecuted minorities on the run in Italy during WW2 trying to make it to freedom in Switzerland. The location setting stands this film apart as well as the fact that we never see a German Nazi's face. They are only seen from a distance or passing by outside. We do get betrayal within a group of villagers, a priest who shelters refugees, and an escape plan that has to constantly change. Ultimately, the film is predictable and some characters can be annoying. Something else to consider is that the 3 main characters were all real-life soldiers who had ended up in Switzerland. Two of them were prisoners of war who had escaped from Italy and 1 had to make an emergency landing after a bombing mission and was detained there. It is this fact that swung the balance in favour of keeping onto this film to view again as we get a slice of reality. Unfortunately, the sound quality is poor.

It's always interesting to learn something new about WW2 and I never knew the role of the Italian Resistance on their home turf. So, I appreciate the topic.

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.