movies, The Captive Heart (1946) and The Wooden Horse (1950) respectively, and had just made Emergency Call together. Steel frequently made war films in support of an older British actor. A POW camp was built on Headley Heath. At one stage the film was going to be called The Spare Man. Release Lewis Gilbert said the film earned its money back in the United Kingdom. Variety on 21 October 1953, page 181, described it as "Well-done British-made prison meller, lacks names for U.S. market", and went on the say it had "A solid all-round cast admirably fits into the plot. Anthony Steel handsomely suggests the young artist responsible for the creation of 'Albert' and Jack Warner is reliably cast as the senior British officer who maintains discipline with understanding in the camp. Robert Beatty, William Sylvester and Guy Middleton are among the principal POWs. Frederick Valk is a sympathetic camp commandant, but Anton Diffring suggests the typical ruthless Nazi type." References External links 1953 films 1953 war films British black-and-white films British war films Films directed by Lewis Gilbert Films scored by Malcolm Arnold World War II films based on actual events World War II prisoner of war films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films