It is the early days of the war in Europe and the German war machine is victorious on all fronts ,moving across Holland on the road to eventually occupying Amsterdam .The British government is greatly concerned that e Germany will get its hands on the industrial diamonds being held in the city and at the direct instigation of Churchill they mount a mission to try to spirit the diamonds away before the Nazis get their grubby little paws on them
The mission team consists of a British army Major (Anthony Quayle)and two Dutch civilians with links to the major diamond magnates in the city (Peter Finch and Alexander Knox ).On arrival in Holland they find chaos with the roads blocked with refugees seeking to get to England and Luftwaffe raids common .There is doubt about who can or cannot be trusted and talk of spies(fifth columnists)is rife

They commandeer a vehicle and its driver a suicidal young woman -Eva Bartok -and drive to Amsterdam where the response of the diamond merchants to their plea to be handed the diamonds is mixed .The Jewish community fear reprisals and some believe the diamonds would be safer in France as they believe the French army cannot be defeated by the Germans (Obviously not students of history-they fail to realise that the French response to occuaption is traditionally "Occupy Paris-certainly sir .I presume that will be another 30,000 for dinner tonight then")

Things move to a climax with the men seeking to retrieve the diamonds from a safe as the Germans attack the bank building

The middle of the movie sags a little but it opens and closes well and benefits from some evocative moncchrome photography of a deserted Amsterdam

It is well acted especially by Eva Bartok and throws light on a neglected area of the war highlighting in particular the exemplary courage of the Dutch nation

Its not an especially exciting movie until near its end but it is enjoyable and is recommended to those seeking a new slant on the war/espionage picture

After seeing Black Book I was interested in seeing other movies about the beginning of the German invasion of Holland. I tracked this one down, but what a waste of time it was....It's very confusing when attempting to show the atmosphere in Amsterdam at this time. Hard to know the motivations of some of the characters, and in the end the only interest for me was seeing the Australian actor, Peter Finch, in an early role before he gained international stardom.
Finally it's drab, and should be avoided!

Well directed and acted film, with great black and white cinematography and widescreen splendor!! This film is highly recommended for anyone who seeks to understand sacrafice with historical fact, action and suspence!!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This movie is special for me becouse my father was stand in for Peter Finch. Now he is past away this movie has more and more value for me than ever before. This movie was shot at locations around Amsterdam and Ymuiden. You still can see all the places where they were on location.
Best regarts Peter de Graaf, Son of Pieter de graaf, How was stand in for Peter Finch.

I am related to Jan and Johan Smit. They were my great grandfather and great uncle. I have been told this story many times by my father since I was a little girl and now through the magic of VHS and DVD, I can see the movie version of what happened. It is a really wonderful story and the movie really does it justice!!