THE LAST CHANCE

When the Allies land in southern Italy in 1943, Allied prisoners of war held there are evacuated north by their captors. Some prisoners escape when a train is bombed at night, and Englishman Lieutenant Halliday and American Sergeant Braddock team up. A civilian hides them in a cart carrying sacks of wheat past an Italian security check, and they break off into the countryside. They search for a boat to cross a river, and a pretty young woman tells them an armistice has been signed. They enter a town which is strangely quiet, just before the Germans arrive to take over. The woman's uncle gives the two men civilian clothes and recommends they sneak aboard a freight train. At one stop, they watch helplessly as a woman named Frau Wittels is separated from her husband by the Germans.

They leave the train to head into the mountains where they encounter partisans who let them cross a bridge, warning them not to endanger the people in the town. They encounter a friendly priest in the church who introduces Halliday to Giuseppe, who can guide them with some refugees through the mountains. Among them are a Polish tailor and his niece, a factory worker from Belgrade, a professor more concerned about his papers than his own life, Frenchwoman Madame Monnier, Frau Wittels and her son Bernard. British Major Telford, also hidden in the church, persuades Halliday and Braddock to join the partisans.

A radio broadcast announces that Il Duce, the deposed Italian fascist leader, has been freed by the Germans and a disgruntled former fascist leaves to betray the refugees. That night, shooting is heard coming from the bridge. The priest tells the group to hide in the woods, leaving the children and old people in his charge, and persuades the three soldiers to lead the refugees to Giuseppe. The fascist informant reluctantly tells the priest that he has to take him to the Germans.

The refugees reach Giuseppe's village to find the Germans have gotten there first and killed Giuseppe and all other men of the village. The major reluctantly agrees to take the new orphans with them into the mountains. The aged tailor cannot keep up in the snowstorm, but the others find shelter in a mountain rescue hut. When the storm ends, a German patrol appears with orders to close the frontier. They bypass the hut but block the pass. Halliday proposes he create a diversion with the five bullets left in the major's pistol, but Telford refuses. Instead, the entire party set out at night, hoping to escape detection, and elude a ski patrol when Bernard draws the Germans away, at the cost of his life. The others make it into Switzerland, though Halliday is shot. A Swiss officer informs them only children, people over 65 and political refugees can remain but gets authority from the government to let everyone stay. In the final scene, they attend Halliday's funeral.

The refugees reach Switzerland, but only children, the elderly, and political refugees are initially allowed to stay. After receiving government authority, a Swiss officer allows the entire group to remain. Halliday dies and is buried in Switzerland.

The conclusion underscores both the high cost and rare mercy found amid war: not all make it, but the survivors find sanctuary after immense hardship. The Swiss government's intervention hints at the complexities of neutrality and compassion, while Halliday's death highlights the personal sacrifices underpinning every escape. The film closes with a somber recognition of loss, survival, and the fragile hope that endures when borders finally open.