''Who Goes Next?'' is a 1938 British

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

and starring

Barry K. Barnes Barry K. Barnes (27 December 190612 January 1965) was an English film and stage actor. The son of Horatio Nelson Barnes and Anne Mackintosh Barnes, he was born and died in London. He appeared in sixteen films between 1936 and 1947. He played Sir ...

Sophie Stewart Sophie Stewart (5 March 1908 – 6 June 1977) was a British actress of stage and screen. Biography She was born as Sophia Lyal Drummond Stewart in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland in March 1908 and died in June 1977 at the age of 69, in Cupa ...

and

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

. The story was inspired by the real-life escape of 29 officers through a tunnel from

Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp was a World War I prisoner-of-war camp for British and British Empire officers ('' Offizier Gefangenenlager'') located in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany. It opened in September 1917, and closed with the final re ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany, in July 1918.

Premise

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, a number of captured British officers attempt to escape from a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

Main cast

as Maj. Hamilton *

as Sarah Hamilton *

as Capt. Beck * Charles Eaton as Capt. Royde * Andrew Osborn as F/O Stevens * Frank Birch as Capt. Grover * Roy Findlay as Lt. Williams * Alastair Macintyre as Lt. Mackenzie *

Meinhart Maur Meinhart Maur ( hu, Grünbaum Menyhért, 18 August 1891 – 27 November 1964) was a Hungarian-German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1919 and 1954. He was born in Hajdúnánás, Hungary and died in London, England. Selec ...

as Commandant

Production

The film was made at

Wembley Studios Fountain Studios was an independently owned television studio in Wembley Park, northwest London. The company was last part of the Avesco Group plc. Several companies owned the site before it was bought by Fountain in 1993. Originally a film st ...

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. It was a more expensive production than the

quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. D ...

releases that Fox had previously been making at Wembley.Low p.260.

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927–1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1938 films 1930s war drama films British war drama films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Maurice Elvey World War I prisoner of war films 20th Century Fox films Films shot at Wembley Studios British black-and-white films Films set in London 1938 drama films 1930s British films {{WWI-drama-film-stub