Very Impressive, Especially Given When It Was Made

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2012)

Several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men (Walter Slezak) who sunk it.
This movie is not only very beautiful in its story-telling and directing, and in its character development... but it is a great morality tale, and one that could be debated in classrooms or coffee shops. Did the Allies have a reason to trust the German? Did they even have a reason to spare his life? Does morality shift in war time?
I think this film is even more powerful given that it was from 1944, when the Nazis and Allies were still at war. Making this film in the 1960s would not have been so bold, although the moral question would still arise. How would this compare today? An al-Qaeda member who had just killed several people? The analogy is not perfect, but it does make you think about the issue differently...