The Last Chance (1945)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Escaping a Nazi prison train in war-torn Italy, an American and a British soldier set out for the Swiss border and find themselves leading a multi-national party of refugees for the Italian underground.
- Actors:
- Ewart G. Morrison, John Hoy, Ray Reagan, Luisa Rossi, Giuseppe Galeati, Romano Calò, Leopold Biberti, Sigfrit Steiner, Emil Gerber, Therese Giehse, Robert Schwarz, Germaine Tournier, Berthe Sakhnowsky, Jean Martin, Carlo Romatko
- Directors:
- Leopold Lindtberg
- Producers:
- Lazar Wechsler
- Writers:
- Alberto Barberis, Elizabeth Montagu, Richard Schweizer, Leopold Lindtberg, David Wechsler
- Aka:
- Die Letzte Chance
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Top 10 Cannes Palme d'Or Winners, Top Films
- Countries:
- Switzerland
- Awards:
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Reviews (1) of The Last Chance
From Palme d’Or to VHS Snowstorm - The Last Chance review by griggs
Some films feel like capsules; The Last Chance looked like one. The version I watched on a streamer looked and sounded like it was playing direct from a dusty well-worn VHS tape found at the back of a charity shop—more static than picture, more hiss than dialogue. All the more frustrating, because this is no mere curio: it won the Palme d’Or in 1946.
Leopold Lindtberg’s story for escaped POWs guiding refugees over the Alps isn’t subtle, but it doesn’t need to be. Snowdrifts, German patrols, desperate scrambles for safety—you can almost feel the frostbite, even through the murky transfer.
The acting is serviceable, the tone earnest, and the storytelling straightforward. Yet there’s a rugged sincerity here that still cuts through the fuzz. Less an action film than a survival march, it’s got grit if not polish. Palme d”or of not, it deserves better than looking and sounding like it was taped off late night telly.