Frank Sinatra busts loose and outsmarts the Nazis!

Frank Sinatra stars in this simmering mass-escape drama set in italy during the final days of WWII. The allies are beginning to push the Nazis back towards Germany when US combat pilot Col. Joseph Ryan (Sinatra) is shot down and joins American and English troops in a prison camp. The new-top ranking officer, he is initially more concerned with surviving than escaping, which earns him the nickname of "Von Ryan". But in due time Ryan takes over from the commanding British officer (Trevor Howard), then masterminds a daredevil race for freedom with the Nazis in hot pursuit. From here on it’s all blazing action, hair-raising a heroic adventure that keeps right on going until the very last scene.

Review

Forget Indiana Jones. This 1965 high adventure stars Frank Sinatra as the leader of a mass escape from a World War II POW camp in Italy. That mission accomplished, Old Blue Eyes has sundry adventures camouflaging the freed men as German soldiers, trying to fool the Gestapo, and finally doing battle with enemy planes and ground troops while trying to get a hijacked train through a blocked tunnel. Sinatra is in great form and director Mark Robson handles the endless chain of action set-pieces with panache. A great pulse-quickener. --Tom Keogh