Survivors of the World War 2 German Resistance Group attend an annual reunion at an English country house. The reunion is hosted by Colonel Price, who intends to find out which guest had bet... Read allSurvivors of the World War 2 German Resistance Group attend an annual reunion at an English country house. The reunion is hosted by Colonel Price, who intends to find out which guest had betrayed their leader.Survivors of the World War 2 German Resistance Group attend an annual reunion at an English country house. The reunion is hosted by Colonel Price, who intends to find out which guest had betrayed their leader.
Photos
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaColonel Price's house, where the majority of this movie is set, is The Edgwarebury Hotel. This is the same location as the Eaton's house in The Devil Rides Out (1968), also featuring Sir Christopher Lee.
- GoofsWhen Shane is speaking to Col. Price, Shane puts a spoon into his coffee cup as seen from a side angle. When shown from the front, Shane is holding the handle of the cup and the spoon is not in it. When the angle switches back to the side shot, the spoon is again in the coffee cup.
- Quotes
Friederich Suderman: Did he have time to name one of us?
Colonel Price: No. All he said was, "There's been a mistake."
Friederich Suderman: Well! Couldn't that mean that Gareth wasn't betrayed? That it was all a mistake?
Alfred Baum: That's why one of us stabbed him. Because he was bringing such good news!
This is therefore very much a film of mysterious undercurrents, understatements and hidden meanings, a film "written between the lines". It's easy to dismiss it for its failure to convey it's true meaning, but you do it wrong if you don't give it a lot of afterthought.
The surviving members of an underground resistance group against the Nazis meet annually in an old mansion outside London to commemorate their leader who was shot on that day by the Nazis. It appears that someone in the group had betrayed him. The new leader colonel Price, played by Donald Wolfit in a typical role of his, announces his decision to find out who the traitor was among them at their new meeting, and no one is allowed to leave the place until the issue is settled. An agent is on his way from Berlin to reveal the name. He never reaches them alive, and two American intelligence officers come importuning at their meeting to make matters worse and more complicated.
Donald Wolfit is a sure name to make any film he participates in a most memorable event. Christopher Lee as the doctor attracts all suspicion from the audience by his covert attitude as of a man who knew too much. Anton Diffring as the pianist contributes with the mood by his music, which he wants to call "Prelude to Death" which is altered to "Prelude without a name" by those who want to live. It's very reminiscent and almost a paraphrase of the Warsaw Concerto, it certainly brings the same atmosphere but is less efficient as music, while the drama story here is much more interesting and goes deeper. It's the difference between before the war and after.
At the same time it's a very intriguing murder thriller on the level with Agatha Christie, but here everything is logic and natural, it's a matter of inevitable tragedy of fate and not at all an artificial intrigue, like commonly with Agatha Christie.
- clanciai
- May 11, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Traitor
- Filming locations
- The Manor Elstree, Barnet Lane, Elstree, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK(Colonel Price's house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1