Fine acting lifts this drama from "Chrysler Theatre", unfairly compared to "The Dirty Dozen" (that earthy novel written two years later that became a classic action movie). In reality it resembles a "Combat!" tv episode, one that emphasizes dramatics, omitting the weekly quota of gunfire and explosions.
Peter Falk is excellent casting as the tough guy convict whose street-smart roughness hides a sentimental heart, and Susan Strasberg channels (and even looks just like) Audrey Hepburn as the empathetic German romantic interest.
It's structured as a caper, with Falk and three other convicts answering to military officer Simon Oakland to steal from a Leipzig bank vault the plans for an advanced German rocket that might win the war for the Axis powers. The thrills, action and scope of a motion picture are lacking, as this was a weekly TV episode, but instead the personal performances hold up well. And the bittersweet, emotional ending still is moving.
Peter Falk is excellent casting as the tough guy convict whose street-smart roughness hides a sentimental heart, and Susan Strasberg channels (and even looks just like) Audrey Hepburn as the empathetic German romantic interest.
It's structured as a caper, with Falk and three other convicts answering to military officer Simon Oakland to steal from a Leipzig bank vault the plans for an advanced German rocket that might win the war for the Axis powers. The thrills, action and scope of a motion picture are lacking, as this was a weekly TV episode, but instead the personal performances hold up well. And the bittersweet, emotional ending still is moving.