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The One That Got Away

The One That Got Away

War · Drama · 1957

Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.

Movie details

The One That Got Away

1957 War · Drama 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.1 / 10

2.6K votes

Metacritic

69 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The One That Got Away?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Roy Ward Baker

Written by

Howard Clewes

Hardy Krüger

Hardy Krüger

Franz von Werra

Colin Gordon

Colin Gordon

Army Interrogator

Michael Goodliffe

Michael Goodliffe

R.A.F. Interrogator

Terence Alexander

Terence Alexander

R.A.F. Intelligence Officer

Jack Gwillim

Jack Gwillim

Commandant, Grizedale

Andrew Faulds

Andrew Faulds

Lieutenant, Grizedale

Julian Somers

Julian Somers

Booking Clerk

Court is in session

Put The One That Got Away on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.