L'ultima speranza

"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.

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.

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.

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.

"The Last Chance" is a movie about escape and pursuit. It is about Italian villagers helping Jews and Allied POWs escape; and about the Allies helping the Jews as well. The setting for the film was 1943, and the place was northern Italy. This little known film was made in Switzerland and released in Zurich, on May 26, 1945 -- less than three weeks after the end of WWII in Europe. It opened later that year in New York City (Nov. 27), in Brussels (Dec.2), and in Paris (Dec. 19). It appeared in most other European countries in 1946 – but wasn't shown in Italy or Austria until 1947. It was distributed by MGM.

Most of the cast were unknown outside of Europe. The main supporting actors had much more movie experience than any of the three male leads who played the Allied soldiers fleeing the Nazis. Ewart Morris appeared in only one other movie, and John Hoy and Ray Reagan appeared only in this film. Even with their inexperience, the three leads were very good. Characters in the film speak four languages – Italian, English, German and French.

The quality of the film I have is very poor. The movie was obviously made on the cheap, but it is very well done and is an excellent story. Very little costuming or casting was needed of German soldiers. Instead, much of the filming was done of the escapees and villagers helping them. Excellent filming techniques were used. The use of key lighting with lots of shadows reminds one of the early styles used by Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford.

The movie most likely was filmed in Switzerland and part of Italy around Lake Maggiore. This 52,500-acre lake (23,870 hectares) straddles the border of Italy and Switzerland. It was a route frequently used by escaping POWs and downed Allied pilots. Other war movies have been made with escapes by way of Lake Maggiore. At the time of filming, director Leopold Lindtberg would have had no difficulty finding a burned or war- damaged Italian villages in the area. Many locals would be able to serve as extras for the townspeople in the film. These were people who had lived through such treachery and horror within just the past year or two. The film won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, and earned a Golden Globe in 1947.

"The Last Chance" is a very good war drama from WWII. At the start of the war, Italy was a fascist state and ally of Germany. But the people overthrew Benito Mussolini in 1943. And, throughout the war, Italians aided Jews fleeing the Nazis. They hid and helped American, British and other Allied downed pilots; and they helped escaping POWs. Thousands of Italians were killed by the Germans for aiding escaping Allied soldiers. No other nation during WWII did more to help those fleeing the Nazis. This is a fine movie about that time and effort.