Danger Within

A meticulously planned escape from the POW camp begins with an escapee disguised as Capitano Benucci. Just after he steps beyond the camp perimeter, the real Capitano Benucci shoots him dead, exposing the ruse. The watching prisoners realize Benucci waited for the escapee to arrive and killed him in cold blood.

The failed escape triggers a fresh wave of mistrust in the camp. Led by Lieutenant Colonel David Baird, the escape committee concludes there must be an informer among the prisoners. Suspicion quickly centers on potential traitors in their ranks.

Lieutenant Coutoules is discovered dead in an escape tunnel, fueling fears of a traitor within. To keep up the pretense for the Italian captors, the prisoners place his body in an abandoned tunnel and claim he suffocated in a roof fall.

Based on fingerprint evidence, Captain Roger Byfold is accused of Coutoules' murder. The POWs see through the indictment, knowing Byfold is innocent, but recognition grows that Benucci intends to see him executed.

The escape committee devises a desperate plan to smuggle Byfold and two other officers out before the trial. They prepare a fence-running escape, arranging for a ladder and support outside the camp.

Three POWs attempt to scale the fence using a ladder fashioned from rugby posts, but Benucci and his outside guards lie in wait with a machine gun. The prisoners are quickly killed in a hail of bullets, marking Benucci's second cold-blooded murder of escapees.

The prisoners conclude that Benucci must know about another mass-escape tunnel and that an informer is feeding him information. This realization confirms there is a traitor among them and grants Benucci the ability to position himself for future killings.

With the clock ticking toward potential handover to the Nazis, the inmates scramble to uncover the informer. The objective becomes finding the traitor before the next escape attempt.

Lieutenant Colonel Huxley devises a plan to break out during the day, leveraging a Hamlet production in the theatre hut as cover. The strategy hinges on avoiding Benucci's anticipated ambush and surprising him with a daytime escape.

A group of prisoners, led by Captain Rupert Callender, rehearses and performs Hamlet to distract the guards. The ensemble hopes the distraction will enable a bold daylight escape that Benucci would not expect.

The Italian Armistice arrives, increasing urgency as the camp is about to be handed over to the Nazis. The inmates realize time is running out and the risk of betrayal or discovery grows.

With the threat of betrayal dangling and the armistice looming, the prisoners commit to an ambitious mass escape. They hope to exploit the Hamlet cover and slip out during daylight before capture, though the outcome remains uncertain.