Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
Directed by Robert Aldrich

Drama / War

Film Synopsis

Berlin, 1945.  Six recently demobilised German soldiers join a bomb disposal squad.  They agree that they will put half of their earnings into a pot which will be shared out equally amongst the survivors once they have completed their mission.  Two of the men could not be more different.  Whilst Koertner is a compassionate idealist, Wirtz is a self-interested cynic.  Their rivalry grows when they both fall for their attractive landlady, a French war widow named Margot.  Gradually, the hazards of the job begin to take their toll.  When one of the men with a wife and child is killed, his comrades are ready to give their money to his widow, but Wirtz vetoes the idea.  During one particularly difficult bomb disposal operation, Koertner saves Wirtz's life, but Wirtz repays him by trying to kill him...
© James Travers
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Film Credits

  • Director: Robert Aldrich
  • Script: Robert Aldrich, Teddi Sherman, Lawrence P. Bachmann (novel)
  • Cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo
  • Music: Kenneth V. Jones
  • Cast: Jack Palance (Eric Koertner), Jeff Chandler (Karl Wirtz), Martine Carol (Margot Hofer), Robert Cornthwaite (Franz Loeffler), Dave Willock (Peter Tillig), Wesley Addy (Wolfgang Sulke), James Goodwin (Hans Globke), Virginia Baker (Frau Bauer), Richard Wattis (Major Haven), Nancy Lee (Ruth Sulke), Jim Hutton (Workman at Bomb Site), Charles Nolte (Doctor)
  • Country: UK / USA
  • Language: English
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 93 min

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