In this one, Hawkins is a German general who's under suspicion and his contact with the Allies is lovely '50s babe, Gia Scala as a German gal who seems to be a cross between real life German performers Zarah Leander and Sybille Schmitz, (neither of whom are known to have been spies), but may be based on Lala Anderson, who became famous for her recording of Lili Marlene.
The movie stretched credulity on several fronts, but there are some nice, doomed moments from Jack, particularly in the tense scene when he is almost caught. Alexander Knox plays a suspicious SS officer who has Hawkins' aide (Erik Schumann, who's rather stolid as the jealous Nazi loyalist) spying on the boss. All in all, interesting, especially since it claims to be factually based and, any Jack Hawkins is better than no Jack Hawkins. Thanks, TCM, for running this rarely broadcast film.
I'd never heard of this apparently fact-based story of Alexander Scotland, a British national whose exploits allegedly included being on the General Staff of the German Army during WWII. I haven't been able to find much about the real guy, except that a certain Lt. Col. Alexander Patterson Scotland was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and an O.B.E. from the King in Sept., 1947. You can read what little real info there is about the real guy at this spot and here. One would hope that since many of the WWII archives have been unlocked in the last decade, more info about this shadowy figure might emerge. Of course, it could be movie hype too.
I really have gotten to like the movies of director André de Toth in the last few years, particularly Ramrod (1947) and Pitfall (1948), (thanks to Klondike's generosity), though I can't say that the director's most famous film, 1953's House of Wax ever engaged me in any way.
