Seven Thunders (aka The Beasts Of Marseilles) (1957)

Set in German occupied France in 1943, two escaped British prisoners of war (Stephen Boyd, Tony Wright) hide out in the seaport city of Marseilles where they wait for an opportunity to escape to England. Based on the novel by Rupert Croft Cooke and directed by Hugo Fregonese (MAN IN THE ATTIC). Although I suppose one could categorize this as a war film, there are no battles and the film is a drama with several interesting characters in addition to the two prisoners of war. They include a street urchin (Anna Gaylor), an Englishwoman (Kathleen Harrison) married to a local, a man (Eugene Deckers) who helps fugitives escape and a serial killer (James Robertson Justice). As the story moves among its characters, you can't help but become involved in their fates. The script provides a bit humor (mostly supplied by Harrison) to contrast with the darker aspects of the story like the serial killer and the Nazi evacuation and destruction of the town. I quite liked it although some of the rear projection work toward the film's finale is pretty bad. There's a solid underscore by Antony Hopkins. With Rosalie Crutchley, Katherine Kath, Anton Diffring, James Kenny, George Coulouris and Martin Miller.