The story of a resistance action during World War Two that provoked a 10-for-one reprisal on the part of the Nazis. Richard Burton is the Nazi commanding officer and Marcello Mastroianni the priest who tries to prevent the reprisals. Both are very good in flashes; at other times each falls victim to a script that is 60 per cent literacy and 40 per cent platitudes, and sometimes huffs and puffs to little effect. Leo McKern gives one of his rare bad performances as the senior Fascist officer, but it's interesting to see former British matinee idol Anthony Steel in a minor role. The film is a little too long, but it does have its moments of truth, especially towards the end.

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