Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Clevercell Very disappointing...

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

John T. Ryan PERHAPS THE SUCCESS of the 20th Century-Fox production of Darryl F. Zanuck's THE LONGEST DAY (1962) was the motivational energy behind this production. We could well see how this would effect the Hollywood scene; which is and has always been laced with just three words as tenets of their true faith. They are: Copy, Copy and Copy the popular and successful.HITTING THE SUBJECT of D Day, June 6, 1944 from a slightly different. Albeit comes totally fictional angle, the production team concentrated on the realm of espionage and intelligence instead of concentrating on the military.THE OVERALL FEEL of the storyline is one of great interest and realistic execution. What it lacks in the 'Action' scenes of a standard War picture, it more than makes up for with the creative use of tension, mystery and brainpower.SPORTING AN ENVIABLE cast with James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and Rod Taylor in the top billing positions, it had good box office appeal to start with. Added to that, we have support from folks like: John Banner (Sgt. Schultz!), Alan Napier (Alfred the Butler), Oscar Beregi and even Sig Ruman (still a camp guard from his STALAG 17 days).WE FOUND THE film to be engrossing, entertaining and worthy of a good review. But then again, we felt the same way about an episode of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. (On this Schultz heartily concurs.) IF WE MAY be permitted to make a suggestion to the Hollywood stupidgencia*, if you want to give us some great stories about real espionage and World War II, Schultz and I recommend these two men's life stories:A) Morris "Moe" Berg (1902-72). American Major League Baseball player (catcher) and multi-talented linguist who was agent for the United States Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the C.I.A.) during World War II.B) "Jumping" Joe Savoldi (1908-74). One tome Notre Dame Footballer, Chicago Bear and Professional Wrestler, who also had an outstanding career as a spy for the USA during World War II.NOTE: * It's our own word, first coined by the late Noel Roy, proprietor of the original ACME BOOK Store on Clark street in Chicago. Mr. Roy defined "stupidgencia" as being the opposite and the ultimate antithesis to "intelligencia" and a label he liked to put on the many phony, pseudo intellectuals that entered his store. (Also, to the many nitwits who seem to populate public life in the World.)

GusF Based on the 1944 short story "Beware of the Dog" by Roald Dahl, this is a superb World War II thriller which is brilliantly written and directed by George Seaton. It concerns a US Army major named Jeff Pike who is kidnapped by the Nazis in Lisbon on June 1, 1944. In the hope of learning the date and location of the imminent Allied invasion, they stage an elaborate hoax to convince him that it is in fact 1950 and that he is in a United States military hospital in occupied Germany, having lost his memory of the last six years. I only learned of the film's existence two weeks ago but I am fairly certain that it inspired the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Future Imperfect" and the "Stargate SG-1" episode "Out of Mind", both of which have similar premises.James Garner gives one of his best performances as Pike, a fiercely intelligent man whose extensive training in resisting interrogation techniques is what makes it necessary for the Nazis to go to such measures. The hoax is an extremely convincing one and he falls for it hook, line and sinker until he realises that he still has a paper cut that he received the day before he was kidnapped. Eva Marie Saint is likewise excellent as Anna Hedler, a concentration camp inmate who was recruited into the scheme because she was a nurse and could speak English. She pretends to be Pike's wife, which was a masterstroke on the Nazis' part as it means that Pike is far more willing to open up to her. After he realises the truth, she describes her horrific experiences in Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. Although she did not earn Pike's sympathy, at least initially, she certainly earned mine. I doubt that there is anyone who would not do as she did to prevent themselves being sent back to a concentration camp. As the film progresses and they prepare to make their escape to Switzerland, however, Pike warms to her and there is a nice, very understated love story between them. They are separated in the film's final scene but it is strongly hinted that she has fallen in love with him and perhaps the same is true of him.The best character in the film, however, is Major Walter Gerber, a brilliant American-born German doctor who came up with the amnesia hoax. Rod Taylor was certainly cast against type as a Nazi but he excels in the role. Gerber confides in Pike that he first developed the idea as a way of helping shell shocked soldiers who had returned from the Eastern Front recover from their ordeal but that, as so often happens, it was perverted by the military industrial complex. Throughout the film, Gerber finds himself in conflict with the SS Standartenführer Otto Schack, played very effectively by a suitably creepy Werner Peters. As he observes repeatedly, Schack is a practical man. When it appears that Gerber's scheme will fail, he is completely against it. When it appears that it will succeed, he tries to take half the credit. He is a survivor, telling Gerber at one point that he is content to a follower as opposed to a leader since it is safer not to stand out from the crowd. Gerber is not a good man by any means but he shows occasional glimmers of conscience. Most notably, he helps Pike and Anna to escape. However, he does so not out of the goodness of his heart but as an act of revenge against Schack after he learns that he is to be arrested. This is highly reminiscent of the final scenes of "Spartacus" in which Gracchus helps the title character's wife Varinia and their newborn son escape from Rome as a final victory over his rival Crassus. I'd be surprised if it was not directly inspired by that film. The film also has nice appearances from Alan Napier, Oscar Beregi, Jr., John Banner (who is a laugh riot), Celia Lovsky, Martin Kosleck and D-Day veteran James Doohan.The audience is aware from the beginning that it is a hoax but there is a terrific sense of tension as we wait for Pike to reveal the details of D-Day and to figure out that he is being deceived, both of which happen in due course. In the Nazis' fantasy version of 1950, FDR is still alive and his second vice president Henry A. Wallace succeeded him as President, the Wehrmacht staged a coup by killing Hitler, Goebbels and Goering in one fell swoop and surrendered to the Allies in November 1944, the Pacific War ended three months later and Himmler was executed for war crimes. With the exception of the quick and easy victory in the Pacific (since none of the characters involved knew of the atomic bomb), these were all reasonable and plausible speculations of what could have happened after D-Day and Pike takes it all as Gospel as he has no reason to doubt it. Under the circumstances, the filmmakers really had no choice but to let the audience in on the secret but it was to the film's advantage in any event. It served to make Pike a more sympathetic character as I kept hoping that he would see through the deception before revealing the details of the invasion plan. In a very clever move, the film makes great use of the fact that the invasion was planned for June 5 but was postponed for a day due to the dreadful weather in the English Channel. It is a nice reminder that history is often dramatic enough without inventing things. Even after the hoax is revealed to Pike, however, the same high level of tension is maintained.Overall, this is an excellent film which is never less than completely engrossing and which respects the audience's intelligence.

Boba_Fett1138 Of some movies it's just amazing to see how unknown and under-appreciated they are. "36 Hours" should had been a classic movie by now, since it has all the right ingredients for it in it but it yet remains a fairly unknown WW II thriller, despite it's great cast and writers involved.What makes this movie so great is how incredibly and refreshing original this movie is, though in the end the movie does become a bit too formulaic. The concept of the movie is great thriller material. A couple of days before D-Day, an American major is captured by the Germans during World War II. They attempt to brainwash him into believing that years have past and the war is over and that he is safe in an Allied hospital, so that he will tell about the Allied invasion plans, involving the Normandy invasion, as if they have happened in the past time. It's a real psychological thriller, that due to its story also has a certain unpleasant and unreal science-fiction like atmosphere all over it. The movie has some great and solid thriller moments in it, that makes this movie an unforgettable one and an extremely underrated one in its genre. It's sort of too bad that in the end the movie gets overwritten, by leaving its original concept and turning into a more formulaic WW II thriller genre movie, that tries to look more clever and complicated than it in fact really is. The movie could had definitely- and perhaps also should had been 20 minutes shorter and should had ended earlier. It downgrades the movie but definitely not enough to prevent this movie from being a great and original one.The movie has a great thriller build up. featuring lots of spy elements in it. It's psychological, while the second halve turns into more physical, which is also one of the reasons why the second halve of the movie does not works as good as the first. It isn't the fastest going movie, like we're accustomed to from '60's movies. Not that it matters though. The movie is good and tense enough to keep your interest for its entire running time, without ever looking at the clock.It was a good choice that the movie was filmed entirely in atmospheric black & white. It gives the movie a more authentic feeling, as well as a unpleasant and almost alien like feeling. Luckily the movie also features some well placed and refreshing humor, to keep things light and also provide the movie with a certain entertainment-level.James Garner is good and also believable in his role. He also shares some good screen time with Rod Taylor who also gives a good performance and plays an unpredictable character. Really great in her role was Eva Marie Saint, one year before she and James Garner would team up again for "Grand Prix". She plays a great and strong female character. Really not that many actresses around in the '60's to play a role like that and do it so believable as she did. It definitely makes Eva Marie Saint one of the best actresses of her generation. Let's hope that "Superman Returns" won't be her last role. Werner Peters also plays a good stereotypical like SS-officer, who in a way is the comical note of the movie, though in the end his character turns more and more evil.A movie most definitely worth seeing, if you get the chance to.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

ken_lan This was a very well thought out movie. My father wrote the screen-play as a ghost writer and I wish he could have received the credit. Unfortunately, it was the way things operated at the time, he was blacklisted due to Senator McCarthy... I remember his toiling away on this plot and asking us for feedback. He was only able to sell the book rights. This was because he was at one time a temporary member of the communist party. As a result of this and being "blacklisted," he moved the family down to Mexico and continued writing under a pseudonym. I hope people enjoy this movie and will continue to comment. I am trying to get another copy since the one I loaned out was never returned to me.