If I understood correctly from the film's dialogue, when one inserted a cyanide pill in one's mouth to escape torture and avoid spilling the beans, one counted to five and croaked. Alas, reality is different, it takes longer than that and, according to experts, it amounts to 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 the always reliable Nigel Patrick. 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 constant in these modern times, so I find unfair and even petty this insistence on most old films being "dated".
COUNT FIVE AND DIE rates no masterpiece but, in spite of the low budget, it is a sight better and more faithful to history than the bulk of current CGI-driven movies. 7/10.
