Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous eye of the Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country.
Written by Press kit
When Hart (Colin Farrell) sneaks out of the barracks near the end of the movie he hides from two passing guards. As the guards pass they are speaking German. What they are saying translates to: "My dog has no nose" "How does he smell?" "Terrible."
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Goofs
Factual errors:
In the beginning of the movie, the title sequence tells you that it is the HQ Battalion V Corps. The patch on Lt. Hart's left shoulder and the other staff members is the patch for the VIII (8th) Corps.
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Quotes
[Lt. Hart offers condolences upon learning that Col. Visser's own son was killed in action on the Russian Front]
Col. Werner Visser:
I killed my share of French and English in the last war; All of *them* had fathers. See more »
"Marie"
Written by Irving Berlin Performed by Tommy Dorsey Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Entertainment Under license from BMG Special Products
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