IMDb RATING
6.0/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.During World War II, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees while being pursued by a sadistic German.
Jim Broadbent
- German Soldier
- (uncredited)
Frederick Jaeger
- German Major
- (uncredited)
Terence Maidment
- Second German Sentry
- (uncredited)
Terry Yorke
- First German Sentry
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn an interview with Starlog Magazine, published in September 1983, Malcolm McDowell said of this movie: "That movie contains some of the best work I've ever done. I managed to pack into a dozen scenes with the whole period of Nazi tyranny in a convincingly evil way." Also, Malcolm McDowell said of this movie in Starlog Magazine, published in July 1995: "I played this real nasty Nazi who was chasing these people across the Pyrenees. We all knew real early on that the movie was not going to be any great work of art and so I was determined to have some fun with it. My attitude was that if I was going to play a Nazi, I was going to take it totally over the top and do it right. I ended up playing the character like a pantomime queen. What I was doing was so far out that James Mason turned to me one day and said, 'That's wonderful dear boy, but are you in our film? You seem to be doing something different from the rest of us'."
- GoofsBesides the wrong cliche black SS-uniform, Von Berkow wears the "basic" armband and not the SS armband distinguishable by black stripes on its upper and lower edges.
- ConnectionsEdited from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Featured review
The Passage
Malcom McDowall manages to portray the epitome of Nazi SS nastiness in this story with a worryingly natural aplomb! He is leading a party pursuing James Mason ("Prof. Bergson") who, alongside his family, is being smuggled from France into Spain by the wily shepherd Anthony Quinn. Their journey is fraught with danger as they must cross the inhospitable terrain of the Pyrenee mountains with snow up to their thighs - whilst McDowall ("Capt. Von Berkow") uses just about every brutal technique in the book to strike fear into everyone who has seen/helped them as he tries to apprehend the professor. The production standards are a bit on the low side (not that the cold and variable light quality could have been of much help); the dialogue is badly captured with a poor audio mix and although there are certainly some horrific scenes - the end of Christopher Lee's brief contribution comes to mind - it's is all just a bit on the procedural side. Quinn portrays the cantankerous, brave, Basque very much it style of many of his previous roles - he sort of grunts his way though the thing with little by way of engagement with us, the audience, and the ending goes from thrilling to silly in a matter of a few frames!. The photography is splendid, and the story has a taut pace to it - it just isn't very good.
helpful•10
- CinemaSerf
- Jun 4, 2023
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,101,186
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $70,461
- Mar 11, 1979
- Gross worldwide
- $1,101,186
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