The McKenzie Break

The German sailors held in a prisoner of war camp in Scotland are effectively running it from the inside. At their head is a submarine commander thinking about one thing: getting his men out, to the coast, and onto the boat waiting for them. The British captain sent in to restore order works out that the brawls and the mutinies are a screen. The two men start reading each other from opposite ends of the same camp. Lamont Johnson's film turns the usual escape story inside out: this time the ones trying to get away are the Germans and the ones trying to stop them are the Allies. That reversal gives the film an unusual neutrality; both commanders are capable, and both can be ruthless. The duel of intelligence between Brian Keith and Helmut Griem comes before any of the action. The tension comes out of the question of when the plan will be spotted.