Malcom McDowall delivers an unsettlingly believable performance as the embodiment of Nazi SS cruelty. He’s after James Mason, playing "Prof. Bergson," who along with his family is being guided across the Pyrenees mountains from France into Spain by Anthony Quinn, portraying a clever shepherd. The trek is perilous, forcing them to navigate snowy landscapes while McDowall, as “Capt. Von Berkow,” employs increasingly harsh methods to intimidate anyone who has offered assistance in an attempt to capture the professor. While the film’s production values aren't particularly high – and inconsistent lighting conditions likely didn’t help – the audio recording is substandard, and though there are some disturbing moments—the conclusion of Christopher Lee’s short appearance being one example—the narrative feels rather mechanical. Quinn embodies a stubborn, courageous Basque character in a manner familiar from many of his earlier roles; he essentially gets through the film with minimal interaction with viewers, and the final sequence shifts abruptly from suspenseful to absurd. The cinematography is impressive, and the plot maintains a brisk tempo, but ultimately it falls short.

Source on TMDB