I had been looking for this somewhat obscure little movie because it is an early film of Stanley Baker.
The picture is set in North Africa before El Alamein when the British and German armies moved backwards and forwards across the same territory on several occasions. The story is partially narrated by an American radio man who keeps the story moving.
Stanley Baker has a small part playing a Welshman....surprise! Anyway when the Germans retake the "pub" in which so much of the action takes place they find on interrogating the staff that the daughter of the house is called Lilly Marlene and is none other than the original on whom the song is based.
This seems like a big coup for the Nazis until they find she is a very patriotic Frenchwoman who refuses to sing the song in German until her parents are threatened.
Well the Brits retake the place and Lilly is momentarily saved but there are still hidden dangers. The movie unspools in a predictable fashion and before the end we are treated to a couple of Vera Lynn songs (not sung by her).
The movie is available on an NTSC VHS.
