''Danger Within'' (American title: ''Breakout'') is a 1959 British

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

set in a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

camp in

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative region ...

during the summer of 1943. A combination of POW escape drama and

whodunit A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the c ...

, the movie is based upon the 1952 novel '' Death in Captivity'' by

Michael Gilbert Michael Francis Gilbert (17 July 1912 – 8 February 2006) was an English solicitor and author of crime fiction. Early life and education Gilbert was born on 17 July 1912 in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England to Bernard Samuel Gilbert, a wri ...

, who had been a prisoner of war held by the Italians at PG 49 in Fontanellato.

Plot

A cleverly planned escape attempt, which seemed guaranteed to work, ends in disaster. Within seconds of leaving the POW camp, the would-be escapee is caught and killed by the sadistic Capitano Benucci (

Peter Arne Peter Arne (born Peter Randolph Michael Albrecht; 29 September 19241 August 1983) was a British character actor. He made more than 50 film appearances including roles in ''Ice Cold in Alex'', ''The Moonraker'', ''Conspiracy of Hearts'' and '' Vi ...

). The incident is witnessed by the other prisoners, who notice that Benucci seemed to be waiting for the escapee to arrive before shooting him dead in cold blood. Afterwards, the escape committee, led by Lieutenant Colonel David Baird (

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

), is convinced that there is an informer within their ranks. The prime suspect is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

officer, Lieutenant Coutoules (

Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...

). However, when Coutoules is found dead in an escape tunnel, suspicions that there is a traitor living among the POWs die down. In an effort to explain away his death to the Italian captors, Coutoules' body is placed in an abandoned escape tunnel within the camp and the Italians are informed he was suffocated by a roof fall. Based on fingerprint evidence, Benucci charges Captain Roger Byfold (

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and '' A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

) with the murder of Coutoules. It is obvious to the POWs that, although Byfold is completely innocent, Benucci will ensure he is found guilty and executed. The escape committee develops a desperate plan to get Byfold and two other officers (played by Peter Jones and

Michael Wilding Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...

) out of the camp before Byfold goes on trial. The three POWs scale the camp fence with a ladder constructed from two

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

posts. However, Benucci and his men are concealed just outside the fence with a machine gun mounted on the back of a truck, and the escapees are promptly mown down. It is the second time Benucci has deliberately killed escaping POWs in cold blood, even though it would have been easy to capture them alive. The escape committee realises that Benucci knew when and where the three POWs planned to escape and had positioned himself in the best place to ambush them. The only logical explanation is that there really is a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

among the POWs, who has betrayed them by passing information to Benucci. That also means that Benucci must already know about another tunnel they are working on, intended for a mass escape of POWs. The prisoners realise that Benucci could easily intervene to prevent the next escape attempt from taking place, if he wanted to. They assume that Benucci prefers to let preparations continue so the informer can tell him the date and time of the escape, allowing Benucci to wait at the other end of the tunnel to machine-gun as many POWs as he can. The race is on to find the informer, and for the rest of the inmates to escape en masse before the camp is handed over to the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

, following the

Italian Armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

. The escape plan, devised by Lieutenant Colonel Huxley (

Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from ...

), is for the prisoners to make their escape during the day, under the cover of a production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in the theatre hut by a group of POWs led by Captain Rupert Callender (

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...

). They assume that Benucci would never expect the POWs would try to escape in broad daylight.

Cast

as Lieutenant Colonel David Baird *

as Lieutenant Colonel Huxley *

as Major Charles Marquand *

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

as Captain 'Bunter' Phillips *

as Captain Rupert Callender *

as Captain Roger Byfold *

William Franklyn William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, ...

as Captain Tony Long *

Vincent Ball Vincent Martin Ball OAM (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired character actor of radio, stage and screen, active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain and then his native Australia. He has also ...

as Captain Pat Foster *

as Capitano Benucci * Peter Jones as Captain Alfred Piker * Ronnie Stevens as Lieutenant Meynell, 'The Sewer Rat' *

Terence Alexander Terence Joseph Alexander (11 March 1923 – 28 May 2009) was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama ''Bergerac (TV series), Bergerac'', which ran for nine series on BBC One be ...

as Lieutenant Gibbs *

Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Fauld ...

as Lieutenant Commander 'Dopey' Gibbon, R.N. * Steve Norbert as Lieutenant Pierre Dessin *

as Lieutenant Cyriakos Coutoules *

Eric Lander Eric Steven Lander (born February 3, 1957) is an American mathematician and geneticist who served as the 11th director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to the President, serving on the presidential Cabinet. ...

as Lieutenant Tim O'Brien *

John Dearth John Dearth (16 October 1920 – 17 March 1984) was a British actor, known for playing countless roles in nearly 30 episodes of ITV series ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''. He is also remembered for playing two villains in science fiction seri ...

as Lieutenant Robson * Robert Bruce as 'Doc' Simmonds, R.A.M.C. *

Harold Siddons William Harold Henry Siddons (17 September 19224 November 1963)Ian Whittaker Ian Roy Whittaker (13 July 1928 – 16 October 2022) was a British set decorator and actor. He won an Academy Award and was nominated three more times in the category Best Art Direction. Whittaker died of prostate cancer on 16 October 2022, at ...

as 2nd Lieutenant Betts-Hanger *

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

as POW (uncredited)

Filming locations

Locations for the film were

Chobham Common Chobham Common is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Chobham in Surrey. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a national nature reserve. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area an ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

and

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

Notes

The film was retitled ''Breakout'' for the US market.

External links

* * {{Don Chaffey 1959 films 1950s action drama films 1959 drama films British black-and-white films British war drama films Films directed by Don Chaffey World War II prisoner of war films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films

Plot

Cast

Filming locations

See also

Notes

External links