The McKenzie Break

Plot synopsis:
At a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for Germans in the north of Scotland, Kapitän zur See Willi Schlüter (Helmut Griem) - a submariner – challenges the authority of the camp’s embattled Commanding Officer, Major Perry (Ian Hendry). British Army Captain Jack Connor arrives to investigate what's happening at the McKenzie POW Camp.
Connor believes the camp disturbances are a cover for an escape attempt. During a mass brawl two POWs escape dressed as British soldiers and Connor notices an outcast German POW named Neuchl (Horst Janson), being dragged from the barracks and fleeing from the Germans. He is badly beaten and later that night in the hospital is strangled before Connor gets the chance to learn about Schlüter's plans.
With Connor investigating the camp, Schlüter leads his 28-man escape party out of a tunnel the next day. Meeting the two escapees who have arranged a U-boat to pick them up, they all head for the coast. Unknown to Schlüter, Connor has broken the code used in letters sent by POWs to Germany and knows the plan.
Connor, along with General Kerr (Jack Watson), starts searching for the prisoners. The Germans head for the coast and burn their escape lorry, which is seen by a reconnaissance plane. Drawn by the burning lorry, Connor (now in an aircraft) locates the Germans attempting to paddle towards a surfaced U-boat at dusk. Connor calls in a Royal Navy motor torpedo boat (MTB) with depth charges to engage the U-boat. With only 50 yards to go, Connor orders the pilot to 'buzz' the inflatable dinghies, delaying Schlüter's craft, and with the MTB arriving, the U-boat dives, leaving Schlüter and three comrades stranded.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
An irish intelligence officer (Keith) has been given the unwanted task of figuring out what is going on in a british P.O.W. camp for german officers.
He suspects the captives, under command of a submarine captain (Griem) are planning a major prison break, and during his investigation has several confrontations with his german counterpart.
Brian Keith gives us one of his best performances opposite Helmut Griem (also memorable) in this suspenseful and highly original World War II drama.
If you enjoy realistic war movies that doesn't deal with "guys on an impossible mission", you should love the underrated McKENZIE BREAK..
In this film " The McKenzie Break " German navel officers in a P.O.W camp are given secret orders to help 28 submariners escape and return to duty.
Unable to fathom the reason, Captain Jack Connor, an intelligent officer (Brian Keith) {supurb acting} is given tactical command over the camp run by Major Perry (Ian Hendry) to ascertain the reason.
While there, Connor engages in mind games with Captain Willy Schlueter (Helmut Griem) a German Submarine commander.
Although not on the caliber of The Great Escape, this movie nevertheless gives a stirring and dramatic performance to excite audiences and the cast renders a good account of themselves.
Whereas many supposedly modern films such as `Saving Private Ryan' play along a clear black - and - white scheme (us = good decent chaps, Germans inhuman war robots), `The McKenzie Break' goes down a different path; neither of the central characters is readily likeable or even understandable.
His antagonist Kapitän Willi Schlüter is a fanatical Nazi, yet we unwillingly sympathize with him because, young and sharp - witted, he is a prisoner desperately trying to break free.Because the film does not force a constructed morality on the viewer, it is truthful and keeps us in suspense;  we are never able to predict the ending or even the next turn of events.
`The McKenzie' break is truly a neglected gem, an honest, engaging and intelligent movie that stands out among its genre..
An interesting war film that differs from others in a number of ways.
Firstly,the plot concerns German prisoners of war held in a POW camp in Scotland planning an escape.
While many films have featured Allied POWs, it's quite rare to find one that focuses on Germans held in captivity (Hardy Kruger as "The one that got away" is another example).
Another interesting point is that - in a subplot - the film has a gay German POW being persecuted and subsequently murdered by his own compatriots.
WWII story about a plot by German POWs to escape from Scottish concentration camp.
This is a splendid film that succeeds largely because of particularly nice interpretations , it deals with a daring breakout from inescapable Scottish concentration camp carried out by Nazi officers incarnated by a good star cast and magnificently realized by Lamont Johnson .
The continuous escapes have caused the British staff ordered 'putting all the rotten eggs in one basket' as the officer prisoners are reunited into a special concentration camp called McKenzie , being commanded by a hard-drinking Major Perry (Ian Hendry) who efforts to stifle riots of the wily Nazis .
Irish Intelligence captain named Connor (Brian Keith) , a special troubleshooter , is sent by General Kerr (Jack Watson ) to Scotland for resolving conflicts in the problematic camp .
Connor suspects astute captain Schlueter (Helmut Griem) of being the mastermind behind the scheme about a mass escape and he is supposed to stop the action .
twenty and some escaped prisoners throughout Scotland trying to make their bid to freedom .This exciting story contains thrills, intrigue, tension, excitement galore, entertainment and lots of fun .
Suspenseful WWII drama about a concentration camp from a German point of sight , it packs exceptional plethora of prestigious actors as British as German incarnating the motley group of POWs , all of them giving good acting and support , as Helmut Griem as U-boat Squadron leader who plans the massive breakout as Ian Hendry as serious Major and of course a sensational Brian Keith whose character , an arrogant Intelligence officer is sent to foil the getaway attempts .
Interesting and unusual story of a pack of German POWs plotting to break out of a prison camp in the UK and the new commanding officer's own plots to deal with them.The British Army commander played by Brian Keith is hard-drinking, clever, Irish, cynical, shrewd, complex and street wise.
Keith's captain drinks a little whiskey and plots with resolute calm.
The German sings a few Nazi songs and plots with resolute calm.
This is a fascinating World War II story that takes place neither on the battlefield or some goofy nostalgic homefront, but still contains plenty of action and thrilling suspense.
Keith and Griem fight a battle of wits and wills in this intriguing, but ultimately unsatisfying prison escape drama.
Set during WWII, Griem is a Nazi Captain being held prisoner along with 600 of his men in a Scottish POW camp.
When the current camp commander (Hendry) is unable to maintain control of the prisoners, gruff Irish Captain Keith is called in to suppress the men and maintain control over the camp.
It seems that Griem's men are burrowing a huge tunnel with plans to let two dozen prisoners escape to a rendezvous with a U-Boat.
Keith realizes what's happening, but opts to let the plan progress so that he can score the bigger coup of not only stopping the escape, but of capturing the U-Boat as well!
About one fourth of the dialogue in the film is presented in German, but without the benefit of subtitles!
The film was shot in Ireland and, oddly, Turkey, though it isn't immediately visible which parts were done in Turkey (or why!) Credibility is strained in a couple of spots, such as how can all the dirt from the tunnel fit where they put it and how does a POW get a pair of women's shoes and make-up (for the little show they do?) There is entertainment value here.
The McKenzie Break refers to a prison in Scotland during World War II where some German prisoners are very anxious to get back to the fight as they see it.
This is the early war years and the only prisoners there are Luftwaffe and Sailors, more specifically prisoners taken off captured U-Boats.McKenzie Prison is in for some big trouble, commander Ian Hendry can smell it.
It's due to the presence of U-Boat captain Helmut Griem who has taken over the leadership of the prisoners unofficially.
Griem plays Captain Willy Schluetter as I conceive Reinhard Heydrich to be, a handsome charismatic leader, totally dedicated to the Nazi cause and one stone cold killer.British Intelligence in trying to get to the bottom of things sends Captain Brian Keith who from his accent I'm guessing is an Ulster Protestant.
Keith's a smart guy, but just maybe a bit too smart for his own good.The McKenzie Break is dominated by Helmut Griem as well it should be.
Catch it by all means if it's broadcast, you will enjoy the surprise ending when neither Keith or Griem get everything they want..
It is about the use of foreign languages, in this case German, in American movies.There were several occasions when the German POWs were talking amongst themselves in this film, and - quite rightly - the medium of communication switched then from English to German.
Perhaps Griem instinctively wanted to compensate for groups 1 and 2, and surely the director wasn't in a position to tell that he was overdoing it.What some American movie makers (and this is a prime example, another one would be 'Die Hard') fail to realise is that whenever the original version of such a film is viewed by native speakers then foreign language scenes built on such premises will not work, they just make the knowing viewer cringe.
Just think about what it would do to 'The Great Escape' if some of the inmates were played instead by German actors who speak English with a strong German accent..
Brian Keith is well-cast as an Irish-born Army Captain with the British forces during WWII who is penalized for some indiscretions and busted down to Intelligence Officer at a prisoner-of-war camp in Scotland; the German inmates there take their orders from a megalomaniac Nazi Kapitänleutnant, who is supervising the digging of a tunnel underneath the barracks to freedom.
The picture runs too long and has some beleaguered plot-threads (such as the sacrificial homosexual), though the match of wits between adept, assured Keith and smug, shrewd Helmut Griem is riveting.
The locations (via Ireland and Turkey) give the film a vivid and unique look, and screenwriter William Norton's dialogue is extraordinarily direct.
I have watched this film a few ti mes and think it is quite good, but the one thing that stands out to me (a female ) is the scene where Connor and the 'postmistress' are reading the letters and begin to think they may be a code.
I used to like buying war comics like Battle and Commando and used to love watching all those B & W war movies , but I was disappointed with THE McKENZIE BREAK first time I saw it probably because the plot mainly involved British guards going into a prison compound , getting beaten back by the German prisoners - Repeat every 15 minutes After seeing it again recently I do realise that my memories are somewhat simplistic but that doesn't mean the film has suddenly improved in my eyes .
Since I first saw this movie I have seen many similar movies like BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI , THE GREAT ESCAPE etc films that are either more dramatic or more entertaining than this one , that's probably the problem with TMB it's rather serious in its tone without being compellingly dramatic and the one subplot that I found interesting during its recent broadcast of one of the prisoners being a suspected homosexual by his Nazi peers is rather unexplored There's a couple of other things that stuck out in my mind about this movie and not in a good way .
One thing was when a character mentions that a couple of prisoners escaped and made it into the Irish free State .
As every schoolboy from my generation knows not one single German prisoner held in allied captivity escaped back to Germany .
Where would they have been captured and why go to all the trouble of keeping them in a Scottish POW camp ?
A very average film that will only appeal to people interested in men standing on roofs singing Nazi marching songs.
The setting is a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers, located in Scotland.
A tough, cynical, hard drinking Irishman named Jack Connor (Brian Keith) is called in to help out camp officials, since there is now much unrest among the Nazis.
Connor and the others realize that their prisoners are planning an elaborate escape, and Connor has an idea that could either lead to glory for him, or be a bad, bad mistake.There are no true "heroes" and "villains" in this interesting, unusual, even-handed narrative, scripted by William W.
Both Keith, and Helmut Griem, as his primary foe, are flawed, but charismatic.
The relationship between Keith and Hendry is kind of a thorny one, as they differ over methodology, but it's just as fascinating to watch them butt heads as it is to see Keith and Griem engage in their little chess game.Granted, the camp personnel end up not looking very good since the Germans are able to pull off so much.
Held in a Scottish POW camp, a group of German soldiers plot an escape while the Scots bring in an unorthodox Irish officer to work out what the Germans are plotting in this unconventional World War II movie.
First off, the Germans are given more screen time and juicier characters than the Allies.
Secondly, the Germans actually converse in German (with subtitles) rather than awkwardly speaking English (more common in war movies back then).
Thirdly, the film attempts to show both sides of the incident, taking on the perspectives of both the German and Allied soldiers.
Also, try as Brian Keith does to make his Irishman interesting, Helmet Griem outclasses him every step of the way as the charismatic German Kapitän, which in turns makes the Germans' side of the tale more fascinating to view.
Whatever the case, the film is very ably directed by Lamont Johnson, who would later go on to direct the classy likes of 'A Gunfight' and 'The Groundstar Conspiracy' and a solid supporting cast helps.
I'm always interested to see neglected movies that appear to have good credentials, but in this case the film's neglect appears justified.
One very likely reason is that - in the print I saw on TCM, anyway - none of the scenes where the Germans talked among themselves were given titles.
Brian Keith is pretty good here, but the reputations of "The Great Escape" and "Stalag 17" will not be challenged by this flick..
is ¨the mckenzie break¨ starring brian keith.
its about german pow's held in scotland in ww2.
the pow's are plotting to escape to get back to the u-boats to help the war effort.
helmut griem gives a great performance as the ringleader and as a loyal nazi.
This is a rare movie about German POWs planning an escape from from their British prison camp.
The only movie of a similar plot I'm aware of is "The One That Got Away", another rarely seen film and one I recommend.Brian Keith is a Captain for Army Intelligence sent to a POW Camp in Scotland after a riot occurs to discover what the prisoners are really up to.
Naturally, he and the German Kapitän are soon at odds, both providing good performances in their battle of wills.Military historians would be happy to see that this movie incorporates some real events into the story.
As in the film, there actually was a break out of 28 Germans from a camp in Canada, and there were some real cases of riots, and Germans murdering Germans as well.There are many very good POW movies and it is too bad that this one pales in significance to them.
There is not much that is original or spectacular but Brian Keith and Helmut Griem make it a very watchable movie.
'The McKenzie Break' is very much in the tradition of the POW movie that seemingly dominated British screens in the 1950s.
There is the same elaborate tunnelling; the same stand-off between Brit and Nazi, prisoner and commandant; an introduction of a theatrical scene to emphasise the idea of role-playing to deceive one's enemy.
The whole film has that admirably dour emphasis on the literal mechanics of plot - of getting the job done - which is unglamorous, but has an integrity that gives you an illusion of realism, and makes the lollipops of escape, suspense or action all the more satisfying.So with the exception of colour, there is very little difference between 'Break' and all those 1950s films invariably starring John Mills and Richards Attenborough and Todd.
The prisoners are German.
In the 1950s POW movies, there was never any attempt to make the soldiers likable - they were tough professionals doing their job; the fact of their Britishness and the shared experience of the war gave the audience the involvement and emotion absent from the films themselves.
Narrative logic suggests that we will be on the side of the prisoners, the people who are trying to provoke action - the essence of film - not contain it.
The film is a game of chess between a Nazi and an undisciplined Irishman with little gra for order, justice or the English, just a gambling man's love of impossible odds.
Maybe it's some hidden patriotism on my part, but Brian Keith is a wonder, a drunken Irishman who seems to be the only one able to establish order, but actually (deliberately?) creates chaos.
Basically the story of a duel of wits between a German submarine captain (Helmut Griem), ranking officer in a Scottish POW camp, and an Irish captain in the British army (Brian Keith) who is sent to administer the camp and investigate the reasons for the POWs riotous behavior.
Until the very end, that is, when the escapees are discovered boarding a U-boat off the Scottish coast and, alerted by Keith, a British patrol boat interferes with the escape.
"Well, Willi, it looks like both you and I are in the ****house." Interesting film in which nobody really wins.
And it's unusual to see Brian Keith, as a genial, quiet, thoughtful Irishman outwitted by a ruthless German like Griem.
Keith nods and comments with a smile, "Furtwangler did it better." (Furtwangler was not only a German conductor, but a German conductor who played footsies with the Nazis.) The thrust and parry extends to prison yard scenes as well.
There's quite a bit of action.It must have been filmed in Scotland.
I don't blame Griem and the rest for wanting to escape from there.
William Norton's excellent script and expert direction by Lamont Johnson obviously structure this ambiguous and engaging film narrative.
I scored the film highly because I enjoyed watching it.
It comes as a surprise to me that someone was at this in 1970 with a humble POW movie.The inmates are tunnelling out.
That this is a British POW camp the those escaping are German prisoners is unusual and welcome.
Underneath the genre trappings there's a good little drama with a central duel between an Irish Captain in British Intelligence and the U-Boat Commander commanding officer in camp.
However, overall this is a good film and definitely one to watch if you like your post-modernism freshly minted from the 70s.