The film was shot on location in the Umbrian mountains on the east side of the Apenine range, the spine of Italy. During 1943 the US and British armies were facing a reinforced German line across the peninsula from coast to coast. In order to breach the line, total air supremacy and surprise at sea were required to advance against very heavily fortified positions.
The USAF major, who is the main character is shot down flying his P45 Mustang on missions against German supply columns. As he lands he is picked up by the Italian Partisans. These communists take him into a mountain hideaway where he meets a small group of resistance fighters. The leader calls himself "the General" and the others are Aldo, the traitor, Vitorio, who gets shot, and others. The girl involved falls in love with the US major from Rhode Island, as they battle the Germans in the hills.
Having decided to lead his wing on a mission, and then being shot down, the major finds himself at the centre of the partisan group. He leads them into battle: they capture weapons and ammo whilst hijacking a German patrol. Fleeing back to the hideaway, a stone built cottage, they leave their spoils behind. They go to the local town to speak to the priest, knowing it is risky. As they sit down with a captured US airman, in the house to dinner, they are interrupted by the Afrika Korps. Overpowering their captors, shooting two germans, they escape out the window. They are harrassed as they flee; on returning they realise that Aldo, returning with a goat; "Aldo hates goats", the girl says, they declare him the traitor. Just then the Germans patrol outside firing into the cottage. Fending off they attackers they escape in small number. As they approach the main german battery shooting down US airplanes, the major shoots a flare into the sky to warn a patrol high above the mountains. They swoop down and devastate the German post as the partisans move in for the fight. As they do the general is shot in the back and dies. Our hero, the major leaves Italy when they reach the coast; "do you think we shall see him again, Father?" she asks the priest. The film ends as after the war reminiscences, the family are reunited with her young son as joy of the union.
The cast is an unrecognisable B movie cast familiar to audiences of the 1950's. The old studio system made many movies with relatively unknown individuals who were essentially not Hollywood stars. The 1950's and 1960's were also decades during which many movies were made of the Second World War, as a recollection of the male masculinity and machismo that victory brought the American imperium. This is a typical for the era of romantic heroism shot in a watery colour that emphasises the heat of the location. Competently acted with convincing small part performances, it is not a horror story.
After the war the proliferation of pictures in the shimmering sandy deserts around the world were typified by the grains of sand. Thus it may look like inferior production if not in a modern digitised format. War films often told in North Africa, or in the New Mexico/ Arizona desert had a glazed watery texture that seemed less than perfect to the audience. The similar patina can be seen in films like "For Whom the Bells Toll", starring Gary Cooper during the Spanish Civil wars. The general maybe an actor used in the other film. Rocky, barren, sparsely populated landscape is shot with the backdrop of a perfect blue sky. Intermingled are shots of genuine attacks from WWW 2 upon military positions, than switch back to the actors on the ground. This editing is not a bad continuity, as the actors approach the action sequences. Great countryside, but the film lacks some colour and definition. It emphasises however, the dirt and grime of conflict; and some hint as to the squalor of the living conditions experienced by the guerillas.
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