Perhaps there are some actresses out there who look at films such as "Spartacus" and "Ben-Hur" and think, "Gee, why can't I ever be cast in a role like that?" Ms. Wynter is probably not one of them! Though this isn't nearly in the league of those epics, one would be hard-pressed to find a more eventful, episodic, put-upon female role to play, outside of Scarlett O'Hara or Cleopatra. She's a pretty, young, German student, living with her father in a war-torn house who is stunned to find an escaped American POW (Ferrer) hiding there. Mostly out of consideration for her compassionate father, she agrees to help hide Ferrer, never knowing how this one deed of kindness will come back to fulfill her life in a couple of very long months. Wynter goes through a whirlwind of circumstances including near-starvation, forced hiding, attempted rape, sexual blackmail, hard labor, coerced (almost) prostitution and sideshow-like performing until she is reunited with Ferrer, who now has the ability to improve her lot in life. Even he selflessly reintroduces her to her long-lost fiancé rather than claim her as his own by trying to pretend the man can't be located. Then just when she thinks she can at last find happiness, yet another obstacle presents itself. Wynter gives an impressively sensitive and stalwart performance here. Her usual raven hair is lightened, giving her a slightly more vulnerable appearance (compared to her later white-streaked, brunette, brittle, harpy character in "Airport".) She's given a great deal to contend with and she handles it well, often looking quite lovely in the pencil-thin skirts and attractive blouses her character sports. Ferrer delivers a kind and very caring performance, making him the man the audience knows Wynter should be with, long before the thought crosses her own mind. Michaels colors things up as a booze-loving piano player who entertains the troops to make ends meet. Other cast members include Berghof as Wynter's generous distant cousin, Hayes as an officious, distaff fellow officer of Ferrer's, Bikel as a brooding, yet boisterous Russian colonel, Dantine as Wynter's wayward fiancé and Van Rooten and Ebinger as two selfish and opportunistic boarders at Wynter's cousin's house. Rounding out the large supporting cast are Triesault as Wynter's father, Kruschen as a slimy Russian sergeant and Edwards as a considerate American corporal who aids Wynter more than once. The film is to be commended for using many authentically Eastern European actors in the cast, though Michaels tends to stick out as a result and Ebinger is horrendously dubbed by a preposterous voice double. Many of the coincidences of the script and now-corny aspects of the story detract from the overall effect of the film, but it benefits from location scenery and the committed performances provided by the well-chosen cast. Though many of the more seedy elements of the narrative are only hinted at or glimpsed, due to the censorial restraints of the time, the film nonetheless contains more than a few striking and suspenseful sequences.