The One That Got Away

Here's the seemingly authentic story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, shot down in 1940, author of two unsuccessful attempts to escape from England and a third, successful one from Canada. In national terms one can read this as British self-abasement (hard to imagine the Germans making The Wooden Horse), as self-confidence (no problem about acknowledging a resourceful enemy) or as unblushing commercialism (Rank determined to crack the German market). But the strongest impression is of an incredibly glamorous Krüger, with Dean haircut and black leather jacket, against whom the home side have fielded such dubious sexpots as McCowen and Alexander - this no doubt a token of the self-image of the British male in 1957. Worth noting that the film was regarded as piquant rather than as offensive; it's still worth watching, despite too many scenes of Krüger lurching across muddy fields and frozen rivers. A laconic end title states that von Werra was killed in action a few months after getting back to Germany.