Appendix 1: Synopses of films
harrowing war film, formlessly adapted from the first part of a
popular novel; a big commercial success in its day.’ Halliwell
1987.
Von Ryan's Express
Mark Robson, 20th Century Fox, US 1965.
Frank Sinatra; Trevor Howard; Sergio Fantoni.
•In an Italian POW camp during World War II, an unpopular
American Captain leads English prisoners in a train escape.
Exhilarating action thriller with slow spots atoned for by a nail
biting finale, though the downbeat curtain mars the general
effect'. Halliwell 1987.
The Way to the Stars
Anthony Asquith, Two Cities, UK 1945.
John Mills; Rosamund John; Michael Redgrave; Stanley Holloway;
Joyce Carey; Felix Aylmer; T’-evor Howard: ; Jean Simmons-, Z⅛>u⅛∣<xas
Set during the latter part of the second world war as American
fliers join the RAF station near the small country hotel in which
much of the action takes place. The romance, marriage,
motherhood and bereavement of the hotel manageress is central
among other individual dramas played out against the wartime
background.
The Wicked Lady
Leslie Arliss, Gainsborough, UK 1945.
Margaret Lockwood; Patricia Roc; James Mason; Michael Rennie;
Griffith Jones; Enid Stamp-Taylor; Martita Hunt; Felix Aylmer.
Costume drama set in Restoration England. Barbara (Lockwood)
steals Caroline's (Roc) fiance Ralph (Griffith Jones) but,
quickly bored with marriage, starts to lead a secret nocturnal
life as a highwayman. She meets and partners Capt. Jerry Jackson
(Mason) but betrays and kills him, adding to the murders she has
committed. Caroline becomes engaged to Kit (Rennie), the only
man Barbara has ever loved. During Barbara's attempt to kill
Ralph so that she might marry Kit he shoots her and she dies
alone as the other three discover her double life.
Woman in a Dressing Gown
23