"Oddly enough, the prisoner-of-war escape movie and the crime caper movie developed almost simultaneously, each with a like construction: the detailed preparation, the execution of the escape (or robbery), and an epilogue. Even though many other (and more spectacular) escape films followed, such as The Great Escape, this very early entry in the genre, written from first-hand experience by escapee Eric Williams, remains one of the best and benefits from the documentarian underplaying that had infused British narrative films from the early days of the war." William K. Everson