That's a powerful low-key speech that Broderick Crawford tells a Nazi officer that he can kill the hostages that he has now but he'll end up being hanged for being a war criminal. And what is the officer's response? "I'm going to live for many years", he replies arrogantly. This is a very intense new wave style war thriller, powerful because it looks like a filmed newsreel and is seen through the eyes of Crawford, a doctor forced to tend to German officers and tossed into the middle of a horrible situation when a bomb explodes and the perpetrator is ordered to surrender in exchange for the hostages Crawford wants to see freed.

This is probably one of the most gentle performances I've seen the Academy award-winning actor give, certainly nowhere like his characters in "All the King's Men" and "Born Yesterday". Valentina Cortese is his wife who suffers along with him with the knowledge that Crawford is a guilty party and that their grief over the death of their son has left them basically the walking dead. Another man claims accountability over the bomb, which adds to Crawford's guilt. He doesn't feel sorry for the Germans he killed, but he doesn't want to see another man take responsibility for what he did.

This is one of those films that just leaves you with a "wow!" several times throughout, with the performances and the situation already intense enough, but the pacing, photography and music adding to all of that. There were many post war films that showed the darkness of occupation (in this case German occupied Italy), so it's easy to see why this has been somewhat forgotten. But with many elements in the production that were obviously influenced by European directors (here Leonardo Bercovici, born in Brooklyn), that adds to the look that is really overpowering. I don't give out 10's very easily, but this one left me in no doubt of what it deserves as a rating.